Kingdom of the Feared (Kingdom of the Wicked, #3)(36)

“If a demon harmed a wolf under my care, that demon would no longer breathe.”

“Even if that demon were a high-ranking official of a court you’d aligned yourself with?”

“Especially then.” Vittoria’s attention slid to Envy. “If you continue smirking at me, I’ll tear your heart out a second time, demon.”

“Vittoria,” I said sternly. “Have any of your wolves been slain or stolen in the last week or so?”

“Why do you need to know that?” she asked. I gritted my teeth. It was a familiar deflection tactic that Wrath used when he was avoiding a question.

“I found out werewolf blood can overwhelm demon senses. There was quite a lot of it found around Greed’s commander’s remains. You remember Vesta, don’t you? I’m sure you must have met when you’d made that alliance with House Greed.”

“I didn’t pay much attention to Greed’s lapdog.”

“You sound bitter,” Envy remarked. “Did she refuse your advances, too?”

I wanted to press the issue, but my sister obviously wouldn’t speak in front of a demon. “Why am I here, Vittoria?”

She wrenched her attention from Envy and took my measure. “I want you to accept your full power. It’s time to shed your mortality, punish our enemies, and reclaim our House.”

“How in the world am I supposed to shed—”

I halted what I’d been about to say. A memory was rattling around, trying to slip free.

Our House… I flicked my attention to Envy, who seemed very interested in my internal struggle. At his House of Sin, I’d said seven hells, and he’d corrected me to eight. I’d been focused on the truth-spelled wine and had let it go, not wanting to waste an opportunity to gather information I’d been after then. I closed my eyes briefly, allowing the memory to materialize.

“House Vengeance.” I snapped my attention to my twin as its name came rushing back. An eighth House. “I can’t remember anything else about it.”

“That’s a story for another time,” Vittoria said evasively.

Envy chuckled. “Please, feel free to share your House secrets. I’ve certainly been curious about it. My brothers, too.”

“Have you never been?” I asked Envy, drawing my brows together. “Or Wrath?”

“No. And none of my spies or any other prince of Hell’s spies has succeeded in entering that circle, either.”

“Is it not here?” I asked, looking to my twin again. A flash of mountains crossed my mind. Snowcapped and treacherous. Isolated. “That’s what you meant by taking back what is ours by birth,” I said. Vittoria nodded but didn’t elaborate. Of which I was grateful. I couldn’t remember anything specific of our House and needed to absorb one life-altering event at a time. I was also fairly certain that was why she didn’t want me to join House Wrath. She wanted me to rule over our House of Sin. And I would likely have to give that up for our rival court. “You mentioned something about shedding my mortality. How am I supposed to accomplish that?”

“All you have to do is let me remove that mortal heart they gave you.”

Time seemed to abruptly halt. “What?”

Vittoria drifted closer to the cell. “I’ll make sure it’s quick, near painless.” She nodded to my chest, to the claw marks that still burned. “Those will heal instantly. No infection. No scars.”

I clutched a hand against my chest, stepping backward. She was serious. My twin wanted to take my heart. “I don’t… what do you mean that someone gave me a mortal heart?”

“I mean, you were shackled from accessing your truth. You were given something mortal in hopes that humanity would bleed into the fabric of your soul. They wanted you tamed. Who do you think would have done such a thing?” Vittoria leaned against the bars again, the magic sizzling against her skin. She didn’t seem to notice any pain. Or care if she did. “You know. Suspect. And yet you still don’t want to accept what they did to us. What she did. They took our power because that’s how much they feared us. Feared the vengeance we’d reap.”

“No.” I shook my head, the denial sitting uncomfortably. Because I knew I was lying to myself. I knew my sister was telling the truth. And yet I couldn’t—wouldn’t—allow myself to admit it. Out loud or even silently. “Nonna wouldn’t. She couldn’t have done that. Why would she?”

“It’s a spell-lock. Meant to bind. Cast by the darkest sort of magic. Human sacrifice.”

“Nonna hates dark magic. Almost as much as the Wicked.” I glanced to Envy, who was uncharacteristically quiet. Sadness. That’s what flashed in his eyes before he looked away. He believed it to be true. Bile seared up the back of my throat; I felt close to retching. “She would never kill a human. We weren’t even allowed to use bones or dark spells.”

Because we probably would have discovered the truth much faster, a little voice whispered in the back of my mind. Vittoria didn’t say another word, instead granting me the space to come to terms with how much our grandmother kept from us.

My stolen mortal heart broke. Knowing it had come from a human… part of me wanted to have my twin rip it from me at once.

“Don’t.” Envy was suddenly in front of me, shaking his head. “Don’t even consider it. You’re not ready. Trust me.”