Kingdom of the Feared (Kingdom of the Wicked, #3)(62)

The vampire looked up at me, her eyes flashing from warm brown to rose-gold. The face that stared back at me was my own. A perfect replica.

Goose bumps rose over my body. It was like looking in a mirror. Not in the familiar or comforting way of being a twin, but an invasive foreign way that made me feel vulnerable. Every detail, from my newest SEMPER TVVS marriage tattoo that Wrath shared to our bond tattoo, was also on the vampire.

I pressed a hand to my chest, and she mimicked the movement. It was eerie, having someone mime your actions less than a second after you’d moved. My gaze cut to the charm, and I suddenly knew what the organic material was: my hair.

Somehow, some way, she’d gotten a lock and had performed dark magic. It was something Nonna Maria always warned us about and why she’d insisted we burn our nail and hair clippings. I’d thought she was overly cautious and superstitious. And yet she’d been correct. An enemy had used them against me. If Nonna feared us, then why protect us?

I didn’t have time to sort out any theories. Wrath glanced to me, his expression inscrutable. “Ask her what her mission was.”

Understanding what he truly meant, I inclined my head. I whispered the Latin that would force the truth from her. She had just enough time to shoot Blade a worried look—still wearing my face—before the spell lashed out and gripped her. “Why were you sent here?”

Unlike my twin, her will wasn’t nearly as strong; she broke easily. “To seduce the king.”

Fury fueled my magic, and I speared into her mind, demanding more truth. “For what purpose?”

A tear rolled down her cheek. My cheek. “To distract him.”

“From what?” My voice was low, nightmarish with power. “Tell me details of your mission.”

She swallowed hard, the words burning in her throat to be set free. “To distract him while Sursea incapacitated you and took you to the vampire court.”

“WHY?” I was shaking with fury now. They’d dared to come here, to separate us again.

“I don’t know! I was only told to entertain the king until you’d been secured.”

In a move so swift that no mortal could ever hope to achieve, Wrath was suddenly behind the vampire who wore my face. His expression was the coldest I’d ever seen.

Here was justice in its purest form. It was not kind or merciful. Good or evil. It was just, harsh. Like nature. Wrath gripped her head and twisted, the sickening pop indicating she would not live to cast another illusion. Wrath wasn’t done yet. Instead of letting her body drop to the floor, he twisted harder, tearing her head clean from her shoulders with his bare hands.

I swallowed hard as my face slowly melted back into her own. There was no blood, given that she was already dead. No gore. But the sudden end… the finality of her true death… caused me to shudder. Blade stared coldly at the scene, though I noticed one hand had curled at his side.

Wrath said he had the opportunity to leave this circle unscathed. And while the vampire would be set free, he certainly wasn’t leaving without suffering a loss. It just hadn’t come in the form he’d expected. Fool that he was to attempt to trick the devil.

My husband handed the severed head to Blade. “Take this back to your prince. If he ever attempts to steal my wife using parlor tricks or any other means again, my queen and I will eliminate every last vampire from this realm.”

Blade took the head, his jaw clenched tight. “That was his betrothed.”

“Then he should have taken more care to protect her from his enemies.” Wrath stepped over the body, placing himself closer to the vampire emissary. It was a subtle maneuver that also blocked me from any attempted retribution. “Instead, he sent her here to fuck me while you used the witch to kidnap my wife. Did you truly think that illusion would work? That I would be so easily manipulated by subpar magic? That I would for one second mistake her for my wife?” The demon leaned in. “You saw a small taste of what my queen is capable of. If I don’t kill you first, she will. Now get the fuck out of my circle. And don’t come back unless you mean to start a war.”





SIXTEEN


“I didn’t want to think Vittoria was serious about the vampires,” I said as Wrath entered the kitchen on silent feet. Daybreak was fast approaching, but I couldn’t sleep. “Or that they would use her information to scheme up another problem on their own.”

I went back to chopping herbs while he headed for the icebox. Fragrant parsley and dill filled the air, the scent fresh and welcome after the last few horrendous hours.

My sister and Nonna Maria in the Shadow Realm. The vampires.

It had been another emotionally taxing night, and no matter how exhausted my body was, sleeping felt like an impossible task. Too many thoughts and worries were racing through my mind. Each time I thought I knew where to start detangling this mess, a new thread knotted itself together. There was still the murder or fabrication of Vesta’s murder to figure out, the rest of my curse to break, and our marriage ceremony to perform to seal our vows.

A ceremony Wrath hadn’t mentioned or pushed for, even after the vampires had tried to wrench us apart. If we completed the bond, I imagined any future kidnapping attempts would end. Something Wrath had undoubtedly considered, and yet no arrangements were being made. I wanted to believe it was so I could continue investigating Vesta’s murder without officially becoming a member of House Wrath, but doubt crept in.