“Henry is alive, and the world is much more wretched for his presence in it. And as for my motivations with Justine, do not be petty,” he snarled, his very denial confirming he had killed her out of jealousy. “I needed a healthy young body. My previous attempt was chaotic. I had to work with so many parts. Unsure of my technique, I made everything larger so it would be easier to see and manipulate. I used animal pieces to adapt for size and shape. I thought it would be wonderful. Something new. But it was an abomination. I could not repeat that mistake. I needed to refine the process. To perfect it. To work with a single body, or as close as I could get, instead of so many different ones.”

“I saw her.” A sob escaped me. Even now I saw Justine, carved with Victor’s violent quest for control. When I thought of her, I more often saw her dead face than her beloved living one. Victor had taken her from me in memory now, too. “I dug her grave myself.”

“You took her?” His fists clenched, white skin pulled taut over the knuckles I had kissed to remind him to release that tension. The hands I had held and looked to for protection. The hands that had strangled William and framed Justine! He took a step toward me. “How dare you follow me! You were told to stay. I gave you every opportunity to be innocent. If you are upset, it is your own fault.”

“I thought I was protecting you! I thought the monster was stalking you, and that I would save you!” I waved my journal at him, then threw it to the floor. “I wanted to protect you as I thought you had protected me. But it was all you. You had her on a table like a slaughtered calf! You snuffed out the brightest, purest light in the world so you could possess the flesh of it.”

He snorted derisively. “You overestimate her value. She was simple. Not even intelligent. What would she have contributed to the world if she had lived another decade, three, even four more? Nothing. And now her body is wasted. In death, she was to serve the highest purpose there is.”

“She loved your brothers! She raised them!”

Victor brushed his fingers dismissively through the air. “Anyone can teach a child. Governesses are interchangeable. You had no qualms about getting rid of Gerta.”

“We did not kill Gerta!” I hesitated, then covered my mouth in horror. Gerta had gone, had disappeared an hour after Victor left me. We had never heard from her again.

Victor had solved the problem for me.