Back Kingdom of the Wicked
Chapters (58)
  1. About the Author
  2. Title Page
  3. Imprint Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Map
  7. Contents
  8. Prologue
  9. One
  10. Two
  11. Three
  12. Four
  13. Five
  14. Six
  15. Seven
  16. Eight
  17. Nine
  18. Ten
  19. Eleven
  20. Twelve
  21. Thirteen
  22. Fourteen
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Seventeen
  26. Eighteen
  27. Nineteen
  28. Twenty
  29. Twenty-One
  30. Twenty-Two
  31. Twenty-Three
  32. Twenty-Four
  33. Twenty-Five
  34. Twenty-Six
  35. Twenty-Seven
  36. Twenty-Eight
  37. Twenty-Nine
  38. Thirty
  39. Thirty-One
  40. Thirty-Two
  41. Thirty-Three
  42. Thirty-Four
  43. Thirty-Five
  44. Thirty-Six
  45. Thirty-Seven
  46. Thirty-Eight
  47. Thirty-Nine
  48. Forty
  49. Forty-One
  50. Forty-Two
  51. Forty-Three
  52. Forty-Four
  53. Forty-Five
  54. Forty-Six
  55. Forty-Seven
  56. Forty-Eight
  57. Acknowledgments
  58. Endmatter page 1

“What kind of object would she need to summon Greed? A dagger, like yours?” I couldn’t remember seeing the blade on him when I paid his gambling den a visit. More evidence that he was summoned. “Maybe it’s still in our bedroom.”

“Afraid not.” He shook his head. “It would have been here the night she was murdered. Whoever killed her must have taken it when they left. There’s no scent in here that can be traced, though. If it’s a demon, I’ll have to track it a different way.”

“Unless you were right earlier and she didn’t actually summon a demon,” I mused aloud. “Maybe she stumbled upon someone else trying to summon Greed and they killed her. Or maybe they’d summoned a lesser demon and it attacked.”

Because the manner in which her heart had been ripped out . . . only some terrible creature could have done that. I wouldn’t let myself forget that I knew of only one demon who was in this chamber with my murdered twin, mere moments after she’d lost her life.

“It’s possible, but I don’t believe it was a demon.” He stared at the altar where my twin’s body had been discarded. “A lesser demon would typically go for the throat, the viscera—it wouldn’t target one organ and leave. Especially something large and fierce enough to inflict that sort of damage on a body.”

No Pride. No Greed. No clues. This excursion wasn’t going as planned.

I thought about the grimoire sheets I’d found. Wrath said certain color candles and objects were required when summoning a particular demon House. Trouble was, neither of the two sheets Vittoria had contained a spell that included pink and gray candles. Anger built inside me again, needing a release. Or a target.

“It’s funny.” The air was warm, but the blade I pressed into Wrath’s back felt like ice in my hands. He stopped breathing. “You can’t lie, and I believe that’s true enough, but why can’t I find evidence to support your claims of innocence?”

“Are you asking me to comment on your own perceived incompetence?”

“Did you place the candles here as evidence that night to shift blame to Greed? You must have realized my sister had summoning spells for your House, and it would implicate you.”

“I was unaware you summoned me using any spell other than your own. I’ve never had contact with your sister, aside from the night I discovered her body. You do recall that I need to find out who’s killing the witches, too, correct? Maybe more than you do.”

“Why? Because of the curse?”

“If we’re to simplify, yes.”