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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

“That’s a lie.” I stepped back, shaking my head. Claudia was safe. Antonio had taken her to my house—my stomach flipped. They could have been intercepted or attacked on the way. Fear clawed its way into my heart. “That can’t be true. The wards . . .”

“Are down.” He offered his arm again. “Your family should be with the prince by now; the more you struggle, the harder it will be on them. He does not like to be kept waiting. Boredom is a terrible affliction in the Kingdom of the Wicked.”

“Envy is—he’s at Sea & Vine with my family now?”

Alexei nodded.

I wasn’t going to simply take a vampire’s word for it. I offered him a hateful grin as I whispered a forbidden truth spell. Alexei wasn’t mortal, so I ignored the glimmer of wrongness I felt by invoking a forbidden power.

“Did Envy have Claudia break the ward on my family’s home?”

He gritted his teeth as the truth was wrenched from him. “Yes.”

“Are they at my family’s restaurant now?”

“Yes.”

I dropped my sister’s amulet as if burned. I recalled the way Envy had forced me to take Wrath’s dagger to my heart, ready to gouge it out. Then I imagined him doing the same thing to my family and friends. In fact, he might have already started his games. Our kitchen had cleavers and knives and all sorts of tools that could be used as weapons, or torture devices hanging on the wall. I imagined that was why he’d chosen it as our meeting place.

Without wasting another moment, I ran.

I tripped over my skirts, and the taunting sound of the vampire’s laughter followed me down darkened roads. I ignored him. He no longer mattered. Getting to Sea & Vine was my only focus. I charged down narrow alleys and uneven streets, jumped over buckets of waste and shoved through lovers holding hands and strolling under the light of the moon.

I covered the mile in what felt like moments, and burst through the front doors, panting. I quickly scanned the room, searching for blood and gore and signs of a struggle.

My focus landed on the demon prince.

“I do love punctuality.” Envy shut a pocket watch with an audible snap. “You’re right on schedule, pet. The show is about to begin.”

Thirty-Nine

Thirty-Nine

“It’s truly a shame about your grandma.” The Prince of Envy sat at a corner table, his back to the wall, surveying the bounty of food set before him. The room was empty except for the two of us. I couldn’t decide if that was comforting, or more terrifying. “All that power, gone.”