Kingdom of the Feared (Kingdom of the Wicked, #3)(100)

“If they believe the First Witch is here, they’ll strike. So you’re going to move Sursea.” I eyed him speculatively. “Instead of banishing her like you’d bargained for, you’re going to send her to House Pride, aren’t you?”

Admiration glinted in his eyes. “My brother was only too willing to oblige my request. Sursea never agreed to when she’d be banished. Only that she would be. After what she did to corrupt his marriage and steal his wife, he’s been waiting for an opportunity like this.”

The memory of Claudia when she was still Lucia flitted across my mind. I shifted to the other side of the tub to face the demon. “Does your brother still love her?”

“Lucia?” Wrath asked. I nodded. He pulled my leg onto his lap and began rubbing the soles of my feet, thinking. “Only he can answer that. I know he’s never stopped searching for her. He believes she’s alive somewhere. That perhaps her mother put a spell-lock on her, too.” His attention dropped to my chest, where my mortal heart had been. “Now that you and Vittoria are restored, he’s more determined than ever to find Lucia and see if his theory is correct.”

“But did he ever love her, or was it his pride and ego that made him covet her? I imagine she would have been quite the conquest as the daughter of the First Witch. The one witch who was supposed to lead others to guard the realm and keep princes of Hell in line.”

Wrath leaned back, his expression thoughtful. “My brother was and is still widely known for his dalliances. Mostly because it is an image he wants to project. He’d never once proposed to any of his lovers. Nor has he ever so much as spent more than one night with anyone since Lucia.”

“You’re certain he never slept with Vittoria?” I asked, thinking of our previous conversation.

Wrath’s mouth lifted on one side. “Your sister is the only other being that matches him in a lot of ways, which was why her betrayal hit him so deeply. But I still don’t believe they ever consummated that relationship. By then, he’d already been trying to work on issues in his marriage, but Lucia distanced herself. Personally? I think she loved him as much as he loved her, but they might have been too dissimilar for it to last. If things were different, if he’d met Vittoria first.” He lifted a shoulder and dropped it. “I do know none of that matters until he finds out what happened to Lucia. Regardless of what anyone may think, Pride is loyal.”

“If Lucia asked him to stop having dalliances, do you think he would have?”

Wrath considered that for a minute. “At that time, I believe he already had stopped. And if he hadn’t, he would have done anything she asked of him. At his court, dalliances are not scandalous or looked down upon the same way they are in the mortal realm. If that was what made her unhappy, he likely wouldn’t have even considered it a possibility. Not out of callousness, but ignorance.”

I looked my prince over closely. “Is that how you feel about taking lovers?”

He gave me a slow, devilish grin. “No, my lady. I’m quite satisfied with my wife.”

“Good answer, husband.” I thought back to my friend’s memory, how troubled she’d been by her decision to leave without writing a note. “You believe Lucia was murdered?”

“I never found a trace of her when I looked. And when the new murders began, I thought perhaps one of Pride’s enemies had found her.” He lifted a shoulder. “After finding you again, I believe she may be alive and well. Pride had searched for witches with the strongest bloodlines matching hers, the ones with the most goddess magic, but he hasn’t located any direct descendants. He has a chamber dedicated to grimoires and witch history. He’d hoped if he’d found the right bloodline, he’d work backward until he found Lucia.”

Wrath continued to massage my feet, and my mind drifted through the tangle of lies, deceptions, and schemes everyone had been involved with, both together and separately. No wonder it had been hard to unravel. When Vittoria had said the devil was looking for a bride, that had been true. Just as breaking the curse did, in a twisted way, involve the devil marrying within a certain time frame. In this realm Wrath had only six years, six months, and six days before all was lost, while nearly twenty years had passed on the Shifting Isles.

Our bond and my subsequent sacrifice because of it did break the curse. However, the murders of the witches unfortunately tangled with Pride’s quest to find Lucia—he had been seeking women descended from Star Witches, in the hopes of finding his former wife.

Unbeknownst to him, Vittoria sought the Star Witches, too, but for her own gain—she hunted them down because their matriarchs had spell-locked us long ago.

And Wrath had investigated each of those murders to see who was killing anyone that was potentially related to Lucia. I recalled the night I summoned Pride—unlike when I’d summoned Wrath, Pride had been unable to appear.

Wrath’s hand slid up to my calf and he squeezed gently. “What are you thinking now?”

“I finally understand why you were trying to stop the murders,” I admitted. “The curse took your wings, but it locked Pride in the Seven Circles, correct?”

“Yes. When it went into effect, it took something from each prince. Pride lost his ability to travel outside our realm, hindering his attempt to locate Lucia.”

Knowing what I did now about the night Pride’s wife left, that had to be terrible. Rushing home after Wrath nearly destroyed his brothers, only to find his wife gone without a trace. Then to be locked in the Seven Circles without any way to search for her… it was another form of hell. Especially if he truly hadn’t done the things Lucia believed he had. It was tragic for both of them.