“I cannot—”
“Yes. You can and you will,” Vittoria said. “Look at the truth.”
My eyes burned as tears prickled behind my lids. This was the final blow, and I refused to allow one single tear to fall.Enough.Something inside me snapped. I was tired of sadness and devastation. I was over all the endless lies and manipulations and days and nights spent crying. My twin was right. I deserved to know the truth, to see it once and for all.
My spine straightened as I set my attention back on our unassuming home. I called forth my magic’s source and aimed it straight at the shimmering part. “Show me the truth.”
My voice echoed with power just like when I’d cast a truth spell. Magic whipped out and sank into the exterior walls like claws, shredding and ripping apart the illusion. I watched impassively as the facade was stripped away, revealing a stone temple.
Our home was glamoured. And I’d never known, never sensed the magic that had been used. Because Nonna kept us ignorant. The truth didn’t break my heart this time; it made me furious. There was no coming back from this deception. A line of demarcation had been drawn—the Emilia before her entire world shattered, and the goddess of fury after all had been revealed.
“What else?” I demanded, gaze fixed on our so-called home. “What else has been an elaborate illusion? A fucking lie.”
“I’ll leave you two.” Domenico quietly entered the temple, not sparing either me or Vittoria a second glance. I braced myself for the final betrayal I sensed was coming.
“This is not truly Sicily.” Vittoria exhaled. My attention finally left the house that wasn’t our home to settle on my twin. For once, she seemed pained. “Welcome to the Shifting Isles.”
EIGHTEEN
I flinched asif I’d received a physical blow.
I’d thought I’d felt the worst sting of betrayal when I’d learned my grandmother used dark magic to murder innocent witches to bind us.Thiswas agony. Unrelenting, torturous, emotional agony. Vittoria said nothing as the initial shock slowly began to wear off.
“The Shifting Isles.”Thiswas why she told me to meet her here, that night in the spirit realm. I glanced down the street, stomach twisting. It was all a lie. Every last part of it. Down to the very world I thought I knew. No wonder Wrath hadn’t wanted to say more when I’d asked about the isles. It was something I had to discover on my own. I was grateful no princes could travel here now. I needed time and space to reconcile just how much had been kept from me without the demons around.
I’d once asked Wrath where mortal souls were sent, and he’d vaguely spoken of an island off the western shore of the Seven Circles. Given the map lesson my sister had shown me the last time I saw her, this location definitely fit that description.
“This is where mortal souls are sent.” I didn’t ask, but Vittoria nodded. “The prison of damnation.”
“Yes.” My sister’s voice was quiet, soft. As if she sensed my power was searching for anyone to latch onto. To punish. Or maybe there was some human part of her left after all. A part that understood how deeply this particular wound went. “Some would consider this to be the worst of the circles. The island shifts time and place. Becomes the reality you choose it to be. Or the reality someone else chooses. For a time.”
“And do the mortals here know? That this is…”
“No,” Vittoria said softly. “Most mortals are entirely unaware that this isn’t truly the city or country they believe it to be. Only select supernaturals know the truth. And some souls that escaped to the demon realm and fight for a chance to return here.”
“I see.” Hell. That’s what it felt like. Not the Seven Circles where the demons ruled. Not the devil’s elegant castle. Or in any of the Houses of Sin where vice and debauchery reigned above all. Here. In the place I’d once called home. This isle was where hell truly existed. “We’ve never been part of the mortal world.”
“No, we haven’t.” My twin’s attention dropped to the ground as if she couldn’t bear to look at me. “The Star Witches would never allow that risk. They sent us here, to this time and place, where witches had to remain in hiding. We could step through to another reality now if you’d like. It helps. To see the truth play out.”
“No.”My tone was harsher than I’d intended. “I cannot… I just—I’m not ready.”
Seeing another reality, another time or dimension, would snip the last thread of sanity I’d been clutching. Vittoria offered a small smile. “All right.”
“Have the witches somehow been alerted to our presence here?” I asked. My sister shook her head. That was positive at least. “Are they able to summon us through a blood sacrifice?”
“We are not like demons or other supernaturals. No one can summon gods.”
My mind spun onto the next question. “How often does the isle shift?”
“From what I know, it’s multiple underworld dimensions folded on top of one another. It’s hard to explain, but there are infinite realities happening at once. Though it’s not always a perfect system. At times there will be slight inconsistencies only noticeable to those who are native to whichever time or place is the current reality. Many will simply overlook any oddities they might notice; the truth is much harder for them to digest, and therefore they avoid it. Magic and science are both hard at work, ensuring none of the timelines fully bleed together.”
Which was why it had taken Wrath so long to find us. He’d had to search a place that could be anytime, anywhere. It was an incredible feat that he’d managed to locate us at all…
“You.” My gaze snapped to my twin. “You summoned a demon, which alerted Wrath to where we were.” I thought back to the note I’d found on Wrath’s desk. “Greed. You’d summoned Greed under the guise of forming an alliance. Then you left those summoning spells for me to find, just in case.” Hope blossomed in my chest. My sister couldn’t be all bad. “Why?”
Vittoria grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently before letting go. “Because one of us deserves a storybook ending.”
I wrapped my arms around my twin and hugged her tight. “That doesn’t sound very House Vengeance of you.”