My fire. My anger. That ancient, terrible power I’d only barely scratched the surface of. They all belonged to me. “I see the goddess who rules it.”
“I see my equal. My queen.”
Wrath handed me his blade, his lips curving seductively. He seemed lighter, slightly less weighed down, like a nightmare was finally over. I wasn’t as sure but held my tongue. There were still plenty of things I couldn’t yet remember, which meant even with some of Wrath’s power inside me, the curse wasn’t fully broken.
My memories were only just starting to slip out through the crack we’d made, and I had a terrible suspicion that many more unsettling truths were waiting to be revealed.
Wrath pulled me against him, and tucked within the safety of his arms, I hoped perhaps he was right. That even if the curse wasn’t completely broken, maybe things would be better now. He angled his mouth close to me and whispered, “Welcome back, your majesty.”
SEVEN
“I need to sign the blood oath.” Wrath pressed a kiss to my forehead, then pulled his trousers on. It was so normal, mundane, after the cataclysmic realization of who I was. After what we’d just done, not to mention the scene we’d created and the potential consequences of Wrath’s destroying part of his brother’s castle. And terrorizing the duke. Goddess above. The duke. After his fear had worn off, I imagined he’d be embarrassed to have soiled himself in front of other members of the nobility. The last few hours felt like a wild, years-long fever dream. “We can discuss everything in detail once we’re home. Will you be all right?”
I kept staring at my reflection in the mirror. I was not a witch. I was the goddess of fury. If I didn’t just witness the truth, I’d still not believe it. My irises slowly returned to the warm brown I’d been used to for so long, another reminder I was not fully free from the curse yet. “Yes.”
Wrath watched me, noting the moment I really looked at the dagger. It wasn’t his House dagger as I’d thought it was. Up close it was slightly smaller than his. Lighter.
The snake also didn’t have lavender eyes; the gemstones in this dagger were dark pink. Vines twined around the hilt, winding delicately around the serpent, much like the vines I’d summoned earlier in his bathtub.
“It’s yours,” he said, answering my unspoken question as he shrugged on a crisp, new shirt. I searched for a memory of the dagger but didn’t recognize it at all. Wrath moved before me, tilting my chin up until I met his steady gaze. “I never had the chance to give it to you before. But it is yours. I designed it myself.”
My attention dropped back to the dagger. I liked the feel of it. The weight. It was perfect for me. Just like the clothes he’d had waiting in my wardrobe when I’d first entered this world. Because Wrath knew me. For goddess knew how long. I was no eighteen-year-old witch; I was an ageless being. Unable to handle the full scope of what that meant, I shook those thoughts away, concentrating on the weapon in my hand. I had my own House dagger.
Worry gnawed at me.
“Now that we completed the physical part of our marriage bond, will the decree you made earlier about Vittoria apply to me?” I asked.
“You’re not officially a member of my House until you swear a blood oath.” He buttoned his shirt, seeming to choose his next words with care. “And the decree gives each House the authority to do as it sees fit. Technically, that allows me to do just that without breaking the oath. We will find Vittoria before my brothers can. You won’t have to swear a blood oath unless it’s what you want. In fact, I might see how we can arrange for us to swear an oath together.”
If I didn’t already know I loved him, that would have sealed his fate. I looked at my dagger again, a new realization forming. “Vittoria is the goddess of death, isn’t she?”
“Yes.”
Hysterical laughter bubbled up my throat, but I choked it down, refusing to start crying instead. I’d prayed to the goddess of death and fury countless times after Vittoria’s “death.” She was the deity I connected with most during my quest for vengeance. Now I knew why.
Except it was all much more complicated than I’d ever imagined. Instead of one deity, there were two goddesses: Death and Fury.
Even now, seeing my eyes change color from my power, I had a difficult time accepting it. I’d grown up. Had a mortal family. Lived a fairly unremarkable life in Palermo before my sister “died” and I’d accidentally summoned the king of Hell.
Or maybe not so accidentally? It could not have been a coincidence that Vittoria had left the incantation needed to summon Wrath where I’d find it. I just needed to know why.
Did she think he was the key to freeing the rest of my memories? And if she believed that, then why would she tell me to not marry him now? Was it really only because she believed that in order to join his House, I’d have to give up something of me in return? There was clearly much more to the story, considering some of her actions didn’t quite line up with her words.
For now, I couldn’t imagine how our lives as goddesses had been covered up. Magic was the likely source, but I’d never heard of such a spell. Every memory I had of our life seemed real. If it was a glamour, it had been cast by someone with immense power. Someone like La Prima Strega.
I thought of Nonna Maria, of the secrets she’d kept from us. The stories she’d twisted about the Wicked and the First Witch and the devil’s bride. Nonna told us that when it came to the Wicked, nothing was ever as it seemed. But maybe the true villain had been much closer all along.
To even think that made my stomach clench. A betrayal that large was unfathomable, though nothing would surprise me now. The people I’d loved unconditionally were turning out to be morally questionable, and the creatures I’d been conditioned to hate were not so terrible after all. My world was collapsing around me, from the ground up. It seemed as if a giant chasm split open and was swallowing me whole. Wrath reached over and stroked my arm.
“I can’t… I can’t remember much else.” I glanced back up at Wrath. “Will I regain all my memories? Or will the past always be fuzzy?”
Instead of answering, Wrath summoned clothing—a velvet gown, gloves with buttons running up the side, and a traveling cloak—from the ethers and laid them on the bed. Little vines and flowers were embroidered along the edges. Rose-gold and black.
A blend of his colors and mine, apparently.
I forced myself to focus instead on what had driven us here and the new consequences of failure. “The duke mentioned several interesting things about Vesta. Did you hear any of it?”
“Most of it,” Wrath admitted. “Vesta wasn’t from here originally. My brother Greed supposedly wanted to wed her. And she was distracted lately. Couldn’t scent blood, but inquired about it in detail. A curious amount of werewolf blood would be present at any scenes she’d attended. All, unfortunately, is court gossip without fact. Though I’m particularly intrigued by the blood. It’s unusual enough for the commander of an army to be unable to trace information one can easily and effectively glean from scenting the scene, but on top of that, wolf blood frequently appearing is perplexing.”
“If she was unhappy here, those inquiries might indicate she was trying to find a way to fake her own murder. If it were me and I couldn’t scent the same information a demon could, I’d want to know every last detail to craft a believable ruse. Perhaps those instances of werewolf blood before were for practice. Maybe she was seeing how much was needed to overwhelm a demon’s senses.”
My sister had certainly proved that feigning a murder was possible. Until I found irrefutable proof otherwise, I’d remain suspicious that Vesta might not be truly dead. A new thought occurred to me, but it was another complex riddle, one that needed time to sort out.
“What is it?” Wrath asked.
“Things aren’t quite making sense. Vittoria chose to strike an alliance with Greed. It was supposedly to unite his court and the werewolves, but it’s peculiar that his commander should be ‘murdered’ under such mysterious circumstances. Especially when Vittoria is an expert at crafting a believable death. If Vesta is truly as talented as Greed had claimed, I find it hard to believe she was easily overtaken. No one hearing the attack can be explained away by a ward, but—for the sake of argument, let’s remove werewolves from the equation—who would have had access to her private suite? Your brother didn’t mention anything amiss outside her chamber. No scratches or forced entry. Which means she must have known whoever she’d allowed in. There has to be more to his story. Will you question your brother and see what he says?”
“Of course. But we might have a better chance of learning the details from your sister. Greed will not likely cooperate with a rival House, even if he’d sought our assistance.” Wrath pulled on a pair of leather gloves, hiding our new marital tattoos. “After you dress, the carriage will be waiting for you out front. I’ll meet you there shortly. Wife.”
Despite everything chaotic and wrong, a smile tugged at my lips. “Husband.”
It felt right. More than right. It felt like coming home.
The demon prince drew me close, kissing me fiercely enough that I melted against him, then left. Our game of deception wasn’t yet over. He had one more part to play. Hopefully, Greed would be annoyed enough by the destruction of one of his gaming halls and wouldn’t press for my signature or appearance. He’d want me as far away from Wrath as possible, lest I set off his brother’s temper again and ruin the rest of his castle. I’m sure the duke was already in his ear, too. Nobility didn’t care to be made fools of.
Which made me wonder if that could potentially be motive for someone to murder Vesta. At this stage, I wasn’t ruling out any possibility. Greed’s behavior was certainly odder than usual, continuing to cast him into question for me.
I pulled myself together, quickly dressed, and had just stepped outside into the softly falling snow, reaching for the coach door, when Wrath appeared. It should be disconcerting that someone so large could move so silently, but my husband was a predator who only pretended to be civil.