He grabbed me by the shoulders, shaking me with the strength of his terrible grip. “Suffering is temporary! And so are you! I almost lost you. You would have died, leaving me here alone. When I saw you on your sickbed, inching ever further out of my reach, I swore I would never let that happen. You are mine. You belong to me. And I will be damned if I let the sickening frailty of flesh take you from me. Do you think I enjoyed what I had to do? I hated it. But I had to do it. All my work, all my sacrifice, has been for a single purpose: I am going to defy death. I am going to steal the spark of creation from it, to make life eternal, untouchable by corruption. And I am doing it for you. When I succeed—and I will succeed—then you will count yourself the most blessed creature on God’s earth, because you will no longer be subject to Him. I will step into that place. I will be your god, Elizabeth. I will re-create you in my image, and we will have our Eden. And it will never be taken from us.”

“You are mad.” My voice trembled, but I could contain my fury. And I could wield his own as a weapon against him. He was already on the edge of losing himself to his blind passions. I just needed to push him. “I feared you were mad when I saw your laboratory in Ingolstadt. I protected you by destroying it. I should have known that the danger was what you carried inside—in your mind, in whatever you have where a soul should be. You are mad, and I will have nothing to do with your sick perversion of Eden. You say you created an abomination? You are one, Victor. You made a monster because that is all you are capable of being yourself. I am finished with you.”

I braced myself for one of his rages. I was counting on it. He would lose his ability to function rationally, devolving into a pure destructive force. I could escape then. I would run to town and summon the constable. If he struck me, it would help my case.

But Victor only sighed. He released my shoulders, then walked to the door, closed it, and locked it. His actions were so much the opposite of what I had expected that I simply stood watching. If he had attacked, I would have fought back. Instead, he leaned against the door. He looked so cross, I had to tamp down my instinct to divert his attentions and make him smile instead.