I bet he remembered.
“Those clothes suit you well,” I said.
“Montgomery was kind enough to lend them to me.”
“I hardly had use for them,” Montgomery added with a slight grin. At least he and Edward were back to being somewhat civil. “Besides, Edward’s the gentleman, not me.”
“That’s certainly an understatement,” Father said. Outside, a crash of thunder shook the windows. His bitterness killed what little contentment we had. I sat back, throwing my napkin on the table. Ever since Father had found out that Jaguar was alive and Montgomery had lied to him about it, he’d treated Montgomery like a dog. But all Montgomery was guilty of was sparing a creature’s life.
“When, exactly, were you going to tell us about the murders?” I asked Father, my voice tight. “Or did you plan to keep calling them accidents and having Montgomery bury the evidence?”
Father speared a dumpling and didn’t blink at my accusation. “This is my island, Juliet. Not yours. If you’d stayed inside the compound walls as I instructed, there wouldn’t be any murders.”
I nearly choked on my food. “How is this my fault?”
“You set loose the rabbits,” Father said. His voice was cold. “The islanders didn’t even know what killing was before Ajax killed a rabbit. We’ve found three more rabbits with their heads torn off.”
I turned to Montgomery, who confirmed it with a nod.
I leaned on the table, anger making me as tense as the storm outside. “Be careful with your accusations, Father. The murders started before I even arrived.”
He dismissed my comment with a scowl. “I had everything under control before you came. Now you’ve riled them up. Trying to turn them against me, but it won’t work. I’m God to them.”
“God to a pack of bloodthirsty animals.”
Alice’s face went white. Montgomery’s hand found hers in a reassuring squeeze. I was talking about her friends, I realized. And Montgomery’s.
“They weren’t animals,” Father said. Coiled rage was a tremor beneath his calm voice. “Not until they tasted blood. They were human!” He slammed his brandy against the table, sending sticky liquid sloshing onto the tablecloth. “But they won’t be for long.”
“What do you mean?” Edward asked. There was an uncertain edge to his voice like a sharp piano note.
Father turned on him, eyes flashing. “I mean Ajax should be six feet under right now. It’s dangerous to let the smart ones live, don’t you think, Mr. Prince?”
Edward’s hands coiled on the table, pulling up folds in the tablecloth. The tension between them was palpable. I had missed something, I realized. Something in their talk that first night. Some threat Father must have made. What had Edward called it? An arrangement. Maybe the arrangement hadn’t been about me, after all.
“Very dangerous, I should think,” Edward said, his voice holding something back.
“The doctor means that he’s ordered me to stop their treatments,” Montgomery interrupted. I whipped my head to face him. “He intends to let them regress.”
A deep current of fear ran beneath my skin at the idea of beastly, mindless creatures roaming the island. “You can’t do that,” I said. “If you take away their humanity—”
“Then they’ll cease to be dangerous,” Father said.
“They’ll be wild. Nothing to check their violence.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” he snapped. “I told you, most of them are pigs. Cows. Sheep.”
“Not all of them.”
“Don’t you think I’ve considered that? There are safeguards. They all have domesticated components to keep them docile. What’s more, what little spirit they might have once had was driven out of them by the procedure. Pain is an incredibly useful tool.” His fingers worked the table, and I imagined he was absently tracing the shape of a body, cutting into it. “This regression is necessary, Juliet. A fail-safe. When they regress they lose their dexterity. Everything here—the guns, the cabinets, even the door latches—has been carefully designed to only work for five-fingers.”
“Five-fingers?” Edward asked. He flexed his hand, looking at the web of cuts across his knuckles.
Father held up his open hand. “Humans. And some of the more advanced creatures, like the house staff.”
“Jaguar has five fingers, too,” I warned.
“Which is precisely why we’re hunting him down.” He turned his attention to Montgomery. “Because you let him live.”
“I’m not to blame for this,” Montgomery said. I could see the stormy rage building in him like a storm. “He shouldn’t have been created in the first place. None of them should have been!”
I couldn’t imagine he’d ever crossed my father so directly. The force of his outburst made me both elated he’d stood up for himself and terrified at what Father would do.
Father grew dangerously quiet. The clock on the mantel across the room ticked away painfully slow seconds. Montgomery’s face went white, but he didn’t take back his words.
“‘Should never have been created,’” Father repeated with a chilling calmness. “And what of your own part in it? You consider yourself innocent?”
Montgomery stared at the rain outside. His chest rose and fell quickly. “No. But no one bears the blame more than you.”
“Bah! What do you know? You’re hardly a gentleman. You said so yourself. Perhaps you should start acting like the servant you are and keep your useless opinions to yourself. And keep your dirty hands off my daughter!”
I nearly spit out my water. Montgomery’s jaw tightened.
I pulled at my collar, needing air. Edward stared at me from across the table, face so slack I might as well have slapped him. Guilt seized me. I’d told him I cared about Montgomery, so he shouldn’t have been surprised. But there’d been that night behind the waterfall. I couldn’t pretend that had meant nothing.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Montgomery said, trying to pass it off casually. But his voice shook. He didn’t look up from the table.
Father smirked. “Don’t show your lack of intelligence by insulting mine.” He poured himself another glass of brandy. His temper had cooled into self-righteousness. “Juliet, don’t tell me you didn’t know. Montgomery’s been in love with you since the day you found him again. Long before that, come to think of it. He’s been in love with the mere idea of you for years.” He took a sip. “It’s pathetic.”