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

by Kerri Maniscalco

He didn’t. I knew exactly what it meant. They were offerings for the goddesses to help guide a moon daughter back from darkness.

“Thank you.”

They weren’t meant for the ritual. They were for me. Their fragrance was the first bit of true pleasure I felt after mine had been stolen away.

“There are victors and victims. Decide who you want to be.

Irish carve crosses from rowan wood and wear them to keep fae away.

“If your grandmother is against you learning to defend yourself, I’d start asking questions.”

Or maybe… maybe he was admiring me in that way that someone did when they were noticing you for the first time in a different light.

“Princes of Hell are neither good nor evil. We just are.”

“They said not to use them. To never use them.”

“Bones and black mirrors. Black mirrors and bones. Piles of bodies and ashes of the fallen. Bones of the dead, and the dead are dust because I’ve seen the raven’s wings beating against the crescent moon. The moon is a fang, waiting to sink its teeth into us all. Devouring. Devouring blood and bone until we’re dust.”

“I hear it. It whispers to me and sometimes it’s so loud I can hardly think.”

They’re all talking at once—the bones of the dead, and the dust of the stars, and the devouring moon with its vicious grin. The goddess who is and is not, is vengeance.”

“It said I would know. That they’d tell me. The dead shouldn’t mind. The dead have no mind, no will. No memory. Our minds were made for forgetting. The locks don’t fit the keys. I only used the bones because it said to. Lovely stars were supposed to light the way, lead me to them. I was supposed to help. They won’t stop screaming… make them stop screaming!”

Inferus sicut superus. The book needs blood.

“Angelus mortis. He’s coming and going, and is a cunning thief who stole the stars and drank them dry. He will take you. You’re already gone. In the end, you choose. But he’s also chosen. I’ll mourn. I am mourning. Like leaves on the wind.”

“The angel of death claimed you. Changed you. You are here, but not there, there is where you will be, your life is ended. Same but different. For eternity.”

He’s coming. No, no, no. He’s here, no longer there, but here. He walks among us, hidden in shadow. Like death.”

“Run.”

“You mustn’t linger; he’s searching for you.”

Fear made monsters of men.

He has the book. The heart. He needs the body to steal the soul.”

“Yes. But Domenico isn’t.”

“He said he’s not ready, and he will not move. Time is slipping like water through his hands. But still he waits. He waits and waits. He wants her to choose. He knows she will. Soon. Then he will take her heart, too. And her soul. He wants to kill again. The ultimate prize.”

Alexei.

“It will be hard for him to give you up when the time comes. But he will. Do not delude yourself into thinking you matter to him.

You are standing between him and something he’s sought for a very long time.

“Close. I want both your amulet and your sister’s. And you’re going to give them to me.”

“Because I have in my possession something you want.”

“I don’t have the other amulet.” I kept my focus on my parents, trying to think of a way out of this. “My half was stolen the night my grandmother was attacked.”

Each brother is conspiring

“Let me provide a bit of advice: accusations without evidence are worthless.”

Thats What wrath said

“Wrath will never be the hero in your story. He’s carved from something other. In fact, he might be the biggest liar of us all.”

“If you don’t believe me, then ask Wrath about the final soul he has to collect. The one that will grant him freedom from the underworld, regardless of the curse.”

“Am I? I thought you knew better. Why do you think he, the mighty demon of war, cares about safely escorting a witch to the underworld?”

Wrath’s anger seemed to dissipate when he noticed the look on my face. He stepped forward, hand outstretched, stopping only when I shook my head again.

I was angry with him, but I was furious with myself more. I realized I’d wanted to trust Wrath. More than I’d even admitted to myself.

“Envy is many things,” I said, my voice low. “Despicable. Selfish. Conniving. But he doesn’t hide those things. He told me what you were really after. He told me what he wanted, and what he would do if I didn’t listen. He’s made terrible threats, acted on them, but he never deceived me or pretended to be anything other than what he is.”

“Silentium.”

cimaruta

“No, bambina. You’ve been Marked by a prince of the underworld in a different way. It’s supposedly a high honor among their ruling Houses. Very few are given them.”

“See?” Nonna appeared behind me and traced the area. She must have used some spell because suddenly a tiny, shimmering S gleamed back at me. I squinted. Or was that a snake?

“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.”

“Love is the most powerful magic. Above all else, remember that. It will always guide you where you need to go.”

There, buried a little by dirt, was a glint of silver. Whispers excitedly chittered.

Strangely enough, not one of them so much as breathed in my direction.

During ancient Roman times, an olive branch was given by an enemy as a gesture of peace.

Hell. My family had fled, Antonio was kidnapped by Envy, and my best friend’s mind was still trapped between realms. Umbra demons had infiltrated this city, and I had no idea how to get rid of them all.

A pawprint clutching what appeared to be a fennel stalk. My gaze fell to the side of his food cart—the same symbol was painted there.

benandanti

“I’m not sure. But she was the one who told Greed to bargain with me. When the deal was struck, she made me promise to keep my word to him.”

A united front to fight the true enemy.