I stood there, unmoving. It was the place Wrath’s tongue moved across me the night I’d almost died in the Viperidae attack. He’d also traced it again earlier tonight. I tentatively reached up and brushed my fingers across it. Coolness bit into my skin. I frowned. “What does it do?”

Nonna didn’t seem at all pleased. “It allows you to summon the demon who placed it there without the use of an object that belongs to him. As long as the prince of Hell draws breath, nothing will prevent him from answering the summoning.”

“You mean . . . I can just summon him without his dagger?”

Nonna nodded slowly. She seemed on the verge of a lecture, so I quickly let my hair fall back down. “It’s a dangerous thing, Emilia. Who placed that on you?”

There was no point in lying. “The Prince of Wrath.”

“Are you certain?” she asked. I nodded. Wrath had been the only one who’d touched me. I tried not to think about his lips on my neck earlier tonight. Or how it had made me feel. Nonna just stared for another minute. “I suppose there’s no denying it now.”

“Denying what?”

“The prophecy. Back when I was a young woman, I was entrusted with being one of the keepers of the Horn of Hades.”

I was at a loss for words. I replayed her confession and somehow managed to formulate a few decent questions. “Keepers?” I asked. “How many are there? And what prophecy?”

“Patience. I’ll get to that, bambina.”

My hand moved to my sister’s amulet. “Did you ever wear them?”

“No, never. Each generation, dating back from when La Prima first handed them off, a witch was chosen to guard them. We were told of an ancient prophecy involving twin witches. When they were born, on the night of a terrible storm, only then could the amulets be worn.”

I took a deep breath. It was a lot to absorb at once. “How do you know Vittoria and I are the subjects? Maybe there are other twins . . .”

“No other twin witches, both with magic, have been born into this line.”

“Ever?” I asked. Nonna shook her head. “What exactly was the prophecy about?”

Nonna took another long pull on her wine, her expression sad. “The twins would signal the end of the devil’s curse, and would be forced to make great sacrifices to keep the gates of Hell intact. If they choose to do nothing, Hell will reign on earth. The twins are meant to bring balance to both realms. As above, so below.”

My heart thrummed. There was something about that phrase, something buried deep . . . I’d heard it before, twice. The first time when I was under Lust’s influence. And then when I was recovering afterward with Wrath. “What does that part mean, exactly?”