Envy paced around the small cell, running a hand through his hair. He worked his jaw as if he’d come up with an idea but was silently arguing with himself. Finally, he stopped and turned to me. His expression was cold. His eyes twin pits of fathomless hatred. “Your sister wants me.”
I blinked as his meaning sank in. “You’re going to what? Offer to sleep with her?”
“We are on the brink of war, Emilia. I’ll fuck her senseless if I must. I’ll use my sin and make it so good she’ll envy any other lover I take after her. It might buy you time to slip out of the cell.”
“What about you?” I asked, hating that I’d even consider going along with something that clearly made him look on the verge of experiencing my husband’s sin. “If I slip away, you’ll still be trapped. With her. There’s no telling if shedidmurder Greed’s commander. And I’d hate to see what she’d do to you if you betray her.”
“Your concern for my welfare is truly touching,” he quoted back to me, earning himself an offensive hand gesture. “I’ll move so I’m near the cell door. Then I’ll shove her toward the mattress, be as rough as she likes, and slam the door before she knows what we’re doing. If we’re lucky, I won’t have to touch her more than the prodding toward the bed.”
“I don’t like it. There’s—” A low, rattling cough startled us both. I shot the prince an accusatory look, and he shrugged. “How did you fail to mention there was another person here?”
“Regenerating a heart is no small task. I awoke shortly before you did.” Envy strode over to the bars, peering into the semidarkness. “Who’s there?”
Another cough. It didn’t sound good.
“Hello?” I asked, coming up beside Envy. “Wrath?”
“Emilia?”
My heart clenched painfully. It wasn’t my husband. I couldn’t tell if I was relieved or more worried for his welfare. But still, I recognized that voice.
“Antonio?” He coughed again, the sound closer. As if he were in a cell beside ours. “Are you imprisoned, too?”
His quiet laugh turned into racking coughs. “She promised I’d see my mother again. If I did everything she said. She wanted me to pretend I killed those girls. If I played my part, she swore she’d bring my mother back. Just like she did to the wolf. Angel of Death. That’s what I’d thought. Who else but an angel could bring back the dead? I thought maybe she’d bring the witches back, too. I didn’t know… I didn’t know she wanted vengeance against their families.”
I closed my eyes. His actions made sense. He’d never been the same after his mother’s death. Had abruptly joined the holy brotherhood, withdrew. Grief wasn’t simply a shadow that followed people around; it was the worst sort of companion. It was an emotion that could either encourage someone to wither away through sorrow and tears or turn them into a monster. Craving vengeance like blood. Justice. Retribution. As if spilling blood would bring that one person back. I would know. It was the very same spark that ignited my current path.
It was cruel of Vittoria to dangle that sort of impossible hope in front of his face. Inhuman. I grasped onto the belief that some noble side of her was still left.Somethingredeemable. A bond between us that could never be broken. If there wasn’t, then perhaps Greed had been correct. Maybe she was not meant to be saved.
“She deceived us all, Antonio. Even me.”
Envy flashed a look that statedhehadn’t been deceived, and I motioned for him to keep his troublesome mouth shut. He held up his hands in mock surrender and went back to his corner to lurk and plot.Goddess, grant me strength to deal with superior, arrogant demon princes.
“Would you want to go back home now?” I asked when my old friend hadn’t said anything else. “It’s not too late, you know.”
“Home.” He said the word as if testing it out and finding the taste a bit too bitter for his liking. “It’s all another deception, isn’t it?” Before I could think of a response to comfort him, he said, “Domenico never leaves her. Even when she comes down here, he stands at the end of the corridor, guarding. And he’s not alone. It’s hard to make out, but there are usually several others. They brought a new one here. She doesn’t come near the cell, but I see her watching. She seems wilder than the others. Like a feral dog that can’t stand being caged. Domenico seems on edge whenever she’s near. Which is all the time lately.”
“How do you know she’s new?”
“I heard them whispering the night she arrived. Something about her being unable to travel between realms. Domenico and another wolf had to retrieve her.”
I glanced at Envy. His expression was strained. Even if our plan to lock Vittoria in our cell worked, we’d have the wolves to contend with. Which wouldn’t be too troubling if it wasn’t for my festering injury and lack of a weapon. I also wasn’t sure what Envy’s power did, but I wondered if being in a place locked by goddess magic tampered with his abilities at all. Judging by his bleak reaction, it wasn’t good. And if there was a new wolf who put the others on edge because of her inability to travel to the Shadow Realm, I didn’t want to come face-to-face with her. I strained to see around the bars again.
“Do you know if the new wolf is still here?” I asked.
A terrible sound—bone crunching, followed by a squelching noise—broke the silence. Vittoria stepped into view, holding a dripping, severed heart. Horror turned my blood to ice.
She couldn’t have…
“There. Now we don’t have to hear him prattle on and he can see his mother again. Itiswhat he wanted.” I dropped to my knees and retched. My sister slowly knelt, meeting my gaze, Antonio’s heart still beating in her hand. “Did you wish to fuck him first? I can bring him back. I forgot you had that crush. He’ll be as good as new if I act now. I’m certain it won’t hinder his performance, though he is mortal, so he’s probably not that impressive on his best day. Though, given how much he liked to talk, perhaps his mouth might be pleasing enough.”
“What is wrong with you?” I cried.
“I am doing exactly what I was created to do, Emilia. When will you do the same?”
While battling the wolves, I’d made a vow to myself to do everything I could to unlock my full power, but there had to be some other way for me to achieve that. When I returned to House Wrath, I’d search every damn grimoire I could for a solution.
Vittoria tsked at me and stood, summoned a glass jar from the ethers, stuffed the heart inside, and twisted the cap to keep it secure. It vanished in a wisp of smoke. Gone with the rest of her morbid collection. It made me think of a dream I once had—the night I’d gotten hypothermia and Wrath nursed me back to health. I’d seen images of hearts in jars.