Kingdom of the Feared (Kingdom of the Wicked, #3)(72)

“I’d rather bathe in pig’s shit.”

“Mmh-hmm. Speaking of pigs, if you wish for me to find my storybook ending, why do you keep warning me away from Wrath?”

Vittoria stared off at a point in the distance, though I had the impression she was actually looking inward. “If you become part of his House, you cannot corule over ours. So many things have changed, and I don’t want to lose one more familiar thing. Regardless, I wanted you to discover the whole truth before you bound yourself fully to him, so you could make a true choice, with all the facts, between love and your House.”

There was the sister with a mortal soul. “Change is terrifying, but we are the Feared. Or so you keep insisting.”

Vittoria snorted. “Are you telling me to have some dignity?”

“You said it, dear sister. Not me.” I smiled as she rolled her eyes. “You know, Wrath said there would be no issue if I wished to reestablish our House.”

Vittoria’s head snapped in my direction. “Did he now?”

I nodded. “If you stop your campaign to stir up trouble and create inner conflict, it might be something I’m interested in. But I won’t help you if you keep pitting everyone against one another. That’s not the sort of life I want anymore.”

We strolled to the end of what had been our street; the silence was comfortable, but my thoughts had shifted to more pressing matters again. Ones that needed to be addressed before we left this fantasy and returned to the Seven Circles. My sister was wanted in that realm, and we needed to ensure her safety. We paused at the next street, and I lifted my face toward the heavens. The air was balmy, the salty sea breeze pleasant. Yet chills raked down my body.

I dropped Vittoria’s arm and faced her. “If you are harboring Vesta, or Marcella, or whoever she’s calling herself, you need to tell Wrath. He will sense the truth of it, and you’ll be cleared of any wrongdoing. Please. I cannot lose you, too. Not after all of this.” I motioned to the world around us. “Please, Vittoria. Just tell me she’s alive and well and you have a damn good reason for making a powerful enemy.”

Vittoria pressed her lips together and glanced away. If I was correct and Vesta was alive—which I fully believed to be the truth—my sister was not going to confess anything to me. I had to trust she had a reason, something more powerful than vengeance that drove her.

“Who is the actual villain in this sordid tale?” I asked instead. “Us? The demons? Witches?”

Vittoria thought carefully. “Depending on whose side you’re on, I suppose it could be all of us. Though I find the most fault with witches and demons. Their dislike of each other has gone on forever, and they never should have dragged us into their issues.”

I blew out a long breath.

“No wonder it hasn’t been a simple path to unraveling the mystery. You and I schemed against Pride and Wrath. Pride was careless with his consort’s heart. Which enraged the First Witch. Sursea cursed Wrath when he wouldn’t whisk away her daughter from Pride, Wrath responded in kind, and the Star Witches upheld their duty to keep the Feared and the Wicked locked away, even if it meant sacrificing their own.”

“And on and on the blame goes,” Vittoria finished. “I don’t think it matters who the first villain is or was—we’ve all done terrible things.”

“But someone did help Vesta escape Greed’s court. And someone is truly dead.”

Vittoria stared off into the distance for another moment. “I was told the vampires came to steal you away. Perhaps there is a new threat emerging, one that’s slipping in while chaos breaks loose.”

“You were the one who sparked that particular fire.”

“I didn’t think they’d come for you. I thought they’d set their sights on House Greed.”

“Why? What is it about Greed that’s making you do such horrid things?”

“I haven’t done horrid things,” she countered. “I’ve only done to him what he’s done to others. Maybe the vampires have their own war goals, and I accidentally gave them hope of winning.”

Frustration built in my chest. If my sister would just trust me with the truth, this could all be remedied. “While I don’t doubt the vampires would love to start an internal war to distract from their own schemes, I don’t think they’re responsible.”

“Mmh.” Vittoria’s gaze took on that faraway look again. “Perhaps it’s the witches then. They probably heard of my alliance with Greed and targeted his House to start strife. I’m sure they’re hoping the demons will remove us from the playing board once and for all.”

“Vittoria,” I warned. “Stop. I know it’s not the witches or demons or wolves. Just tell me the truth. Why keep so many secrets?”

“Perhaps you’ll just have to trust me.”

“After all you’ve done? All the lies and half-truths and games?”

Anger crossed my twin’s face.

“I have been trying to work around the curse, break your magic free, reestablish connections to this world, and have done the best I can. If it’s coming across as lies and manipulation, I am truly sorry, Emilia. But I have my reasons. And you’ll simply need to honor that or continue battling me. If the witches didn’t do what they did to us, then none of this would have happened. And if you believe they’ll sit back and allow us to regain our full power without attempting to bind it again, you’re mad.” Vittoria turned to me, her expression calculating. “There is one way for us to ensure they don’t succeed.”