Nino laughed. “I’ve been a loyal servant far longer than that actually.” His face was lit with an unwholesome excitement, as if he’d been waiting for this confrontation. “And you didn’t even recognize me, the senior game warden from your Tivoli country estate. But why would you? You prefer indoor pursuits, don’t you?”
“What the hell does that mean?” Aldo said.
Hefting the gun higher, Nino threw him a look full of hatred. “It means I know what you did to my daughter, you bastard! You and your friends.”
“What daughter? I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Nino gave a choking laugh. “The sad part is that I believe you. You’ve ruined and murdered so many girls over the years. Why would my Gina stand out in your memory?”
“I’ve never killed anyone, let alone a woman!”
“Then where is she, figlio di cane?”
The Conte shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know! I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
Shaking with rage, Nino raised the gun again, his finger beginning to squeeze the trigger.
“Stop!” Isobel yelled. “At least tell him when your daughter disappeared. And what she looked like! Maybe he’ll remember.”
Nino paused, turning to look at her. “It was three summers ago. She was a beautiful girl with rosy cheeks and light golden brown hair. Gina favored her mother.”
Behind him, the count’s expression changed. He did remember the girl. But the guilt on his face told her knowing the full story would only make things worse.
“Nino, please explain something to me,” she said. “If you think the Conte is responsible, why are you punishing Matteo? Or do you think he harmed your Gina as well?”
“Matteo wasn’t even home that summer,” the Conte interjected. “He was traveling the continent with his friends.”
Nino said nothing.
“Is that true, Nino? If it is, why are you doing this?” She gestured at her fallen husband who was still writhing and panting for air in quick tortured breaths.
“He took my only child...so I’m going to take his.”
“But why this way? This curse, the way he was before I met him—all of those deaths. There were so many innocents lost. He couldn’t stop. Why harm so many others, vulnerable women just like your daughter?”
A flash of pain passed over Nino’s face. “What did I care after my Gina was gone?” he cried.
Isobel stilled. He was lying.
“There weren’t supposed to be any innocents, were there? The first demon didn’t kill indiscriminately, did it? It was supposed to kill Aldo and any of his peers.”
“I don’t understand,” Aldo rasped.
She swung around to face him. “Matteo’s first bad spell happened unexpectedly. You said you were going to have a gathering that weekend—a party. And the first victim was one of your friends.”
Mouth dropping open, Aldo nodded and Nino made a choking sound.
“I should have known better than to ask for what I did,” Nino said. “It was stupid of me not to realize that the Conte would gladly sacrifice those beneath him to feed the demon’s bloodlust. The best I could do was seek employment as one of Matteo’s minders and wait till he self-destructed. At least the Conte would have to watch his paragon of a son, his pride and joy, deteriorate into madness. It was only a matter of time. I knew how the curse worked, what the signs of the demon’s emergence would be.”
It made a twisted sort of sense, and she found herself acknowledging his story with a nod.
“And so it was safe enough for you to be near Matteo, watching and waiting to make sure your plan succeeded. But you didn’t cast the curse did you? You said you asked for it...”
Nino acknowledged her words with a tilt of his head. “It took every cent I had, and months of waiting for the witch to do the work. He came all the way from Sicily, but it was worth it. In the end, he even gave me a discount. Aldo Garibaldi has destroyed many lives with his rapacious business practices, overcharging tenants and pushing people off their land. It was only a matter of time to find a connection the witch would care about. He was happy to help. I never expected the Conte would find another with enough skill and power to undo it all.”
Isobel cast a helpless glance at her husband. He was trembling violently now, and the hole in his aura she’d made had expanded into a gaping wound. Nothing else could invade since he’d fallen in the circle of salt, but he couldn’t survive like that for long. She needed to finish and close the hole.
She drew Nino’s attention back to her. “You wanted me to run away.”
His first words to her had been about Ottavio falling asleep during his watch and he’d paid close attention to everything she did in the conservatory. He’d probably spied on her notes in the library as well, else he wouldn’t have known that she had finished formulating her purge ritual.