Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked, #1)(65)

“Either way, the implications of a betrayal within the Seven . . . forget the curse, your highness,” Anir said. “Personal feelings about witches aside, finish the marriage bond with Emilia and secure your own House before war comes. You’ll need your powers at their fullest. Whoever is organizing this must have killed Pride’s wife.”

It felt like I’d been drenched in an ice bath. “What marriage bond?”

Anir missed the note of panic in my voice. “The one you started when you bound the prince to you.”

Wrath stopped moving. Stopped breathing as I gaped in horror. Time seemed to freeze as I silently repeated what Anir said. I wanted to shout that it wasn’t true, but Wrath’s reaction said otherwise. The demon prince didn’t break my stare. “How?”

“Leave us.” Wrath barely spoke above a whisper, but Anir jumped to obey the command. Once he was gone, the demon nodded toward our matching tattoos. “Your protection charm wasn’t a bond of protection like a guardian to their ward. The translation of aevitas ligati means ‘bound forever’ as in holy matrimony. It wasn’t needed for the summoning to be successful.”

“Are we . . . are you saying we’re betrothed?” I waited, heart pounding, but Wrath said nothing. He didn’t need to. The truth was there in his eyes. He’d known all along what I’d done. No wonder he’d looked so horrified that night. I’d basically ripped him from Hell, and forced him into a betrothal. Forever. “When were you going to tell me?”

His voice came out soft. “This doesn’t change anything . . .”

“Everything’s changed.” A violent shudder tore through me as the demon continued to hold my unflinching gaze. This was all too much. The body of my best friend’s cousin. My accidental engagement to Wrath. “What happens if I don’t want to marry you? Will you force me to rule beside you in Hell?”

“Emilia . . .”

“Don’t you dare.” I shook my head. “Will I be forced to go there?”

“No.”

Right. Demon laws were based on civility. Forcing someone into marriage probably broke all of their strangely rigid rules. But I bet he’d fashion a wicked bargain for me and make it so good, so tempting, I’d never say no. Especially if the marriage bond helped give him more power like Anir claimed it would. I locked my hand at my side.

“What did Anir mean by securing your House before there’s war?”

A muscle in his jaw ticked. “I cannot share that information with you.”

“Then we’re through.” I clutched my sister’s amulet. “Te libero. I release you from whatever bond we have. When I marry, it will be for love. Not love of power or whatever other depraved thing you desire. And love is something you soulless, despicable creatures know nothing about!”

If he called out to me, or flinched, I wouldn’t know. I turned and fled as far from the demon prince and the newest murder victim as I could. I wanted nothing more to do with the cursed creatures who’d brought this suffering on my family and my city.

From this point forward, I’d find out who murdered my sister on my own.

And Wrath could simply crawl back to Hell and rot with the rest of them.





Thirty

I sat at a table facing the sea, sipping water with a slice of lemon. I’d left an anonymous note for the police with the location of Valentina’s body, and still hadn’t gotten over the horror of the night. I wanted to rush to Claudia’s, but had to wait until the police told her cousin’s family first. If they were already mourning when the authorities showed up, they’d start asking questions. Waiting invited all sorts of thoughts I didn’t want to think about. Not now, or ever.

I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid as to accidentally betroth myself to Wrath, and he hadn’t let the secret slip sooner. He must have absolutely loathed it. Especially with what Anir said about him hating witches. I fought the urge to bury my face in my hands. Knowing that he was fully aware of my error while I’d thought I was in control . . . it was humiliating. I didn’t want to consider other missteps I’d taken that he’d been too polite to point out.

As soon as I’d tipped off the police, I’d realized I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t go back home and put my family at risk. And while I could stay at the palace with Wrath, I needed time and space to sort out my thoughts and feelings. A lot happened in a short amount of time. Two more murders. A secret fiancé from Hell. Nonna’s attack. My stolen amulet. The Viperidae. It seemed the punches kept on getting thrown, and I was getting battered and bruised in the process.

The harder I clutched at normalcy, the more my world spun into chaos. Since I refused to see Wrath again for the moment, I decided to push everything out of my head and continue searching for answers in Vittoria’s death by myself. If I could solve my sister’s murder, I could prevent anyone else from dying. Every time I tried putting myself in Vittoria’s shoes, I kept coming back to her diary. It didn’t give up as many secrets as I’d hoped. And the ones it did reveal were still cryptic enough to keep me guessing.

I was going over a mental list of tasks to accomplish when the seat across from me was pulled out. Wrath dropped into it, eyeing me warily. I stared back at him for a few moments. Neither of us said anything. It seemed like my almost-husband was giving me time to collect myself. Or maybe he was waiting for me to banish him back to the bone circle again.