Chapters (58)
- About the Author
- Title Page
- Imprint Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Map
- Contents
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Acknowledgments
- Endmatter page 1
I glared at him. I might be helpless, but I didn’t have to appear so. “I’ll sit as long as you promise to spare my friends and family, and leave here once we’re finished. And by ‘here’ I mean this city.”
“You’re not in a position to be making demands. But I respect your effort. Now sit. Drink.”
With little choice, I joined Envy at the table. He nodded toward the goblet of wine. I picked it up, and pretended to take a sip. I didn’t trust him to not have tampered with it before I arrived. If he was planning to sneak me back to Hell, he’d have to take me by force.
“You’re the one who’s been working against Pride,” I said.
He didn’t deny it. He watched me in an unnervingly close way—like he was seeing through layers of skin and bone, and found the heart of who I was and all I aspired to be.
“I understand why Wrath is intrigued by you.”
Intrigue was probably the last thing Wrath felt toward me. “Did you ask your vampire to deliver me here just to discuss your brother?”
“He loves a good challenge. It’s the war in him; makes him want to conquer and win at any cost.” He took another sip of wine, his attention straying to my neck. “It will be hard for him to give you up when the time comes. But he will. Do not delude yourself into thinking you matter to him. We princes of Hell are selfish creatures. We do not suffer the same range of sentiments as mortals, and those born to this peculiar realm. You are standing between him and something he’s sought for a very long time. In the end, he will choose himself. As we all do.”
I set my goblet down, the contents splashing onto the worn wooden table. “If this is what you came all the way from your wicked kingdom to say, that’s unfortunate. You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know. Nor are you telling me anything I particularly care about.”
I saw the exact moment I walked into the carefully laid trap he’d set for me. He cut into a stuffed sardine with impeccable manners. After he washed down the bite of food with more wine, he gave me a lazy smile, though his gaze was sharp enough to stab.
“If you’ve figured out my brother so well, why don’t you tell me what he’s really after? I’m sure a smart girl like you already knows, and doesn’t need my humble assistance in that matter.”