I felt the weight of Wrath’s attention as it settled on me. I shifted to see him, surprised to note the level of incredulity he wasn’t bothering to hide. Right. Like he’d have a nice long chat about soul collecting with the enemy. I lifted my hands in placation, and looked away. Inexplicably, I turned back to him a breath later.

“Why do you think hearts are being taken?”

“Are you asking so many questions in hopes of frightening off the messenger before I can scare information from him?”

“I want to know what you think.”

There was such a long pause, I didn’t think he’d answer. “We don’t have enough information to speculate. And it’s unwise to make assumptions without fact.”

“Do you believe anything would want to . . .”

“Eat them? Yes. Plenty of creatures find freshly beating hearts to be the most supreme delicacies, witch. Then there’s the ritualistic significance. Sacrifice. Sport. Summoning. And plain old depravity. That level of sadism isn’t limited to one species, so we’re back where we started.”

I felt sick. “A simple yes would have sufficed,” I said quietly.

“What you want is for me to say something comforting.” His voice was like steel when he faced me. “Lying and saying your sister felt no pain serves no purpose to you. I imagine, no matter the reason, whoever or whatever took her heart, did so while she was very much alive and very conscious. I promise you, there is no strategic value in getting lost in emotional entanglements. Hone your anger and sorrow into weapons of use, or go back home and cry until the monsters come for you. Because come for you they will.”

“I’m not afraid of monsters.”

“You may think so now, but my brothers delight in bending creatures like you to their will. They’ll feed you their emotions and siphon yours until you don’t know where you end and they begin. There are many forms of Hell. Pray to your goddesses you never have to experience them firsthand. You need to be sharp and focused, or you’ll end up just as dead as the others.”

Tears pricked my eyes. Not from sadness, but pent-up rage. “I am focused, you steaming sack of horse manure. All I dream about is avenging my sister. Don’t you dare accuse me of being too emotional. I will destroy anything that gets in the way of achieving my ends. Even you. And I’m not scared, or else I never would’ve summoned you to begin with!”