“Explain.” Wrath’s voice promised violence. “Now.”
An explanation for how my prince made it here was exactly what I desired, too, but our conversation would have to wait until we could speak privately. What had been left of Pride’s court fled the room, not bothering to stay and witness what promised to be quite the show. The prince of this circle watched as the last one rushed off and left me and the three demon princes to our private battle. Pride gave his brother a haughty look.
“You didn’t think I’d simply welcome a queen without first testing her loyalty, did you?” Pride said, ignoring the anger rolling off Wrath in waves. “Your judgment hasn’t always been the best where she’s concerned. We all have a right to know her true motives this time.”
This time? Testing my loyalty? I still didn’t know what transpired before my spell-lock, but the more I gathered, the more I knew Vittoria and I had schemed against Pride and Wrath in the past.
“This was a test?” I asked, looking between Pride and Envy. “All of it?”
“Not quite all. I told you I choose myself over all else. And this benefited me.” Envy shrugged. “It was his idea. Except it didn’t quite go as we’d planned. Still, a test was necessary, given what happened… before.”
“How comforting.” I pressed my lips together, furious that the curse wouldn’t allow for more details and that my memories were still under siege. “What was your original ‘test’? Have you been working with Vittoria? Did she even kidnap you, or was that a fabrication as well?”
Envy didn’t bother looking to Pride or Wrath but instead met my hurt stare. “Once your carriage left Greed’s, we were going to send the Umbra demons after Wrath again. Our plan was to see how far you’d go to rescue him. You may say that you love him now, but your motivations haven’t historically been so… noble. The Umbra demons worked quite nicely last time. I’d been leaving here to gather my forces, but then your sister showed up and ripped out my heart. I ended up in that cage, and here we are. Reunited.”
I glanced at Pride. “And you didn’t bother to help him?”
“Envy being removed from my circle suited me well enough. Plus, there was little time to act. She’d grabbed him and immediately had a wolf take him to the Shadow Realm.”
“Vittoria could have hurt him.”
Pride’s gaze darkened. “Your sister does have an impressive record of hurting others.”
Wrath slowly took the steps leading up to his brother’s gilded throne. I hadn’t noticed before, but the chair was fashioned like a lion. The great beast’s legs and claws were the arms of the chair, and his head and mane were the back. The lion’s mouth was open as if roaring.
My prince towered over Pride, who still managed to sit indolently. “I don’t give a shit about your test. Vittoria brought wolves onto our land; you should have stopped her.”
“It’s not as if I asked her to do so, and it ultimately served my needs.” Pride’s voice turned hard. “Just like how Envy was aware she’d traveled to the vampire court in the south, doing the devil knows what, and didn’t bother telling anyone except Greed. You know how prickly they’ve gotten. Rumor has it they are plotting. And our dear brother here didn’t share any of that, did you?” he flung at Envy. “So why am I being raked over the coals for serving my best interests?”
Envy smiled. “Are you jealous Vittoria went to the vampire prince instead of seeing you?”
“Stop,” Wrath said. “Our land was breeched by wolves. Vittoria is stirring up discord with vampires none of us need. She ripped out Envy’s heart, potentially killed Greed’s commander or aided her in escaping, poisoned me, and kidnapped my wife. And this little test of yours seemed justified? All while we are trying to solve a murder to avoid an internal war?” Wrath looked ready to strike his brother off the throne. I was surprised when he didn’t. “You not only gambled with my wife’s safety, but with the peace of our land.”
“And I’d do it again. Now we know for certain Emilia isn’t scheming against us. Or you. The end justified the means, whether or not you like it. Tell me,” Pride went on, rising to his feet, “there wasn’t a seed of doubt in your mind. Not one.” Wrath’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t deny the accusation. “Now you know.”
My husband glanced at me, and I straightened my spine. I had doubted him. For months. I could not fault him for any doubts he might harbor for me in return. What mattered now was building our new future. Together. The foundation was there, and with some work, we could make it in the end. The longer Wrath held my gaze, the more uncertainty started to creep in. It would be all right, wouldn’t it? Surely this was a temporary hurdle we’d overcome. It had to be. My husband’s forbidding expression eased. But Pride’s voice broke the moment.
“Besides, I refuse to believe we’re all going to allow one miserable goddess to succeed in sowing discord among us. Let her try with the wolves and vampires. If Greed is irked that my test might have inadvertently taken you away for one night from his boring investigation, he will simply need to get over it. Everyone knows Vesta was unhappy there. He’s just angry he lost something valuable. You know how pissy he gets when a gamble goes wrong for him.”
Despite my anger at being deceived by these princes of Hell, I recognized this as an opportunity to potentially gain valuable information. “How do you know Vesta was unhappy?” I asked. “Do you have spies at other courts?”
Pride’s expression turned as wicked as the gleam in his eye. “Pillow talk, darling. People tell me all sorts of interesting things after I grace their sheets.”
“Who told you about her?” I pressed.
“She did, naturally.”
I drew up short. That was quite an unexpected answer. The princes couldn’t lie, so he had to be telling the truth. “When?”
Pride lifted a shoulder. “Maybe a week or so ago? I can’t recall.”
Envy pinched the bridge of his nose. “You fucked Greed’s commander. Are you that daft?”
“She sought me out, for your information,” Pride snapped. “She couldn’t keep her eyes off me, and I returned the favor, lest I damage her ego.”
“And then she was murdered,” I said, my tone hard. “Do you think Greed would harm her if he believed she gave you private House information?”
“Of course not.” Pride didn’t sound as sure.
Wrath studied his brother intently. “How did you end up in the same place together?”
“She came here. To one of my gatherings.” Pride glared at us. “What? I received an official request from House Greed for her to attend. Didn’t he tell you?”
Wrath and I looked at each other. Greed had not mentioned anything at all about sending his commander to a rival demon court. “You said she sought you out,” I started, mind spinning. “What did she wish to talk about?”
Pride shrugged. “Mundane things. The ball. The wine. The portal. My bedroom.”
“What was her interest in the portal?” I asked, sensing we were close to unearthing a clue.
“The same as anyone’s,” Pride snapped. “She wanted to know if it was secure and if it only went to the Shifting Isles. As if I’d leave something like that unattended.”
“Was there anything she said, anything at all, that might have been peculiar or out of place?”
“We didn’t do much talking after that.” Pride gave me a hard look. “If you’re through interrogating me, I’d really like a bottle of wine. This evening has turned rather dark.”
My chest suddenly ached again, reminding me of my injury. I wanted to interrogate the idiotic prince more but needed to tend to my wound. And Pride seemed to need a break—his anger was growing, and it was never a good thing to push a prince to feeling another sin.
Wrath strode down the steps toward me, not missing anything. “Let’s go home, my lady.”