Kingdom of the Wicked (Kingdom of the Wicked, #1)

by Kerri Maniscalco

You know as well as I do how much humans fear witches, and how willing they are to commit the very sins they accuse us of. In

cavorting

A woman with a little power was terrifying to some.

“I can’t sit here while the person who killed her walks free. Please don’t ask me to trust in a witch I’ve never met, or in goddesses I’m not sure really exist. Vittoria deserves justice.”

I kept thinking about how she was dressed. I had no idea where she’d gotten the white gown.

Was she secretly about to marry Domenico? Or had she planned something else?

Get her DIARY. Idioto

Maybe my sister had, but I couldn’t fathom why.

What if she was a willing sacrifice ?

I rolled onto my side, contemplating the most troubling questions of all; if she hadn’t taken her protection amulet off, who did and where was it now?

I imagined myself burning.

An ember of anger was slowly igniting within me, reducing the person I used to be to ash.

She didn’t understand the hatred I was being consumed with. Didn’t see how I longed for revenge.

white, gold, and pale purple—she was working a few different charms. Some for clairvoyance, some for luck, and some for peace.

Young women died. Life resumed. Such was the way of the world, at least according to men.

muslin

A singular, mournful note hung in the air, sending a shudder down my spine.

It was a place in the floorboards where Vittoria hid things.

diary,

They were spells torn from a grimoire I’d never seen. I scanned the script, but couldn’t quite identify what it was used for. It listed herbs and specific colored candles and instructions in Latin. I

Or I would have, if the pages weren’t stuck together.

A dark suspicion took shape.

My sister had spelled it shut using magic I’d never seen before. Which meant she’d known exactly how dangerous her secrets had been.

Nonna said the dark arts demanded payment since they took from something instead of using what already was.

“Nothing of this realm will do what you seek. Put it back where you found it, child. Its very presence calls them.”

“The Wicked. This magic stinks of their world—it wants to be found.”

Unless… An idea slowly formed, one that made my pulse race. If my sister had summoned a demon, maybe she’d had it use its brand of magic to seal her diary.

She never could have predicted the way her death would change me. There was nothing in this world or the next that would keep me from solving her murder. And I would solve it.

Tomorrow night, I’d try and summon one myself. Then, if it worked, I’d make a bargain of my own. In exchange for a small favor, I’d ask it to break the spell on her diary.

In the end, the monster we feared didn’t come from Hell. He came from privilege.

He might be powerful and wealthy, but justice would find him.

I’d have the demon I summoned break the enchantment on Vittoria’s diary, and then I’d have it locate the mysterious dark-haired man.

Bone magic when used improperly can be part of the forbidden arts. Using the bones of animals—claws, nails, fangs, shells, and feathers—allows a witch to connect with the underworld. They must be gathered ethically, not sacrificed, as is popularly thought by humans. To harness their power, create a bone circle and include herbs and objects of intent.

The sea might be worried, but I was not.

I’d not been entirely sure where I was going when I left the house, but felt drawn here. Vittoria used to find reasons for us to venture up to this cave as often as she could when we were children. It was almost as if she were here, guiding me now.

fratello

Then I had to formally invite a demon to join me, using Latin, their native tongue.

aevitas ligati in aeternus protego.

“Bound forever in eternal protection.”

so if I invited one to join me, I had to formally uninvite it and send it back to its realm.

The goddess of storm and sea wasn’t pleased.

Nonna said once darkness was invited in, trouble shortly followed.

Silence swept around the chamber, sealing off the pleas of the sea. I crept over to the edge of the circle, the tiny jar of blood in hand, when a powerful blast of wind tore through the cave.

Blood splattered the ground around the perimeter, which was no good for me. It needed to be within its border to entice the demon.

The metal glowed as if pleased with my offering. Not wanting to think too hard about a blade that gloried in a blood sacrifice,

Nothing happened. I was about to start chanting again when it began. Smoke swirled around the circle’s edge like it had been trapped in a jar, never crossing into the rest of the cave. It pulsed with energy; almost lovingly caressed my hand. I

A sound like a crackling fire

sucked in a sharp breath as I finally met his gaze. Dark gold irises with flecks of black stared back at me. Beautiful. Rare. And lethal. Even though Nonna claimed their eyes were tinged red, I knew in the very marrow of my bones what he was.

luccicare

narrowing in on the fresh cut on my arm. A slow frown formed before he hid it.

“Vaffanculo a chi t’è morto.”

am the Prince of Wrath, general of war, and one of the feared Seven.”