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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

Two streets away from the monastery, I felt the unmistakable sensation of being watched. I pretended not to notice for a solid block before casually making my way down an empty street. If I had to resort to magic, I didn’t need any witnesses reporting my so-called devilry to the church. When we were much younger, a fratello named Carmine used to search for anyone with evil in their soul. I’d heard the church had sent him to northern Italy, but I thought of him every now and again. Especially when outside the monastery, primed to use magic.

I gripped my cornicello and squinted into the alley beside me, searching for purply luccicare that indicated a human was near. At first, I didn’t see a thing. And then . . .

A low, smooth voice spoke from the shadows. “Well, this is quite a surprise.”

Hair on the back of my neck stood on end as a man emerged from the darkness. His hair was black silk, and his eyes were an animal-like green. No human had eyes that color, and the strange, glittering luccicare surrounding him indicated what I already suspected: Malvagi. I wasn’t sure why, but I let go of my amulet and subtly tucked it inside my bodice.

“You’re . . .” Another demon prince. One I hadn’t summoned to this realm. Which meant there were other ways for them to get here. Something I should have realized sooner since Wrath had been the one standing over my sister last month. Impossible was becoming quite the joke.

I stepped back, and silently prayed to the goddess of battle and victory. The new demon smiled as if he’d read my thoughts. I wanted to look away, but couldn’t. It was as if that odd, pulsating energy of his held me captive no matter how much I wanted to scream.

Instead of panicking, I catalogued details. He was almost as tall as Wrath, and was arresting as opposed to classically handsome, but drew greater attention because of it. He had well-trimmed facial hair that accentuated the hard angles of his face. Staring at him, I almost felt a twinge of—

“Envy.” The demon managed to make a singular word sound both threatening and inviting. “And you are . . . intriguing.”

I didn’t want to be intriguing. I didn’t want to be alone with him. I wanted to escape. I didn’t manage to accomplish any of those things. I stood there, frozen with bone-deep terror. The Wicked hadn’t been seen in this realm for almost one hundred years. Now at least two of them were here.

I couldn’t quite grasp why, but I felt this prince was different from Wrath. There was something about him that came across as lethally angelic. But if he ever had a halo, it was broken now. I wanted to drop to my knees in supplication and also scream for mercy.