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I blew out a shaky breath. “Did you find anything out about the spell on the diary?”
“Not really. The magic is old, definitely not of this realm. But there’s something else that’s strange about it. I need more time to really—”
“No!” I reached over and gently squeezed her shoulder to soften the blow of my words. “I want you to forget all about the spell and the diary. Please. It’s too dangerous.”
Claudia narrowed her eyes. “Does whatever happened have to do with the vision I had?”
“Maybe.” I rubbed my temples. A giant headache was starting. “Listen, I—I’m not sure what happened tonight, but the Wicked are here. And I think their arrival has something to do with Vittoria’s diary. Whatever the reason, I don’t want to draw any attention to the book. Or you.”
“Did you speak with one of them?”
I nodded. “The Prince of Envy and I just had a lovely conversation. It started with me almost carving out my heart.”
I expected a sharp intake of breath, or some indication that my friend was completely terrified that the Wicked were indeed roaming around Sicily. Maybe she thought I’d hit my head. She calmly went to the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of herbal spirits she’d made. She poured us each a mouthful and set my glass in front of me.
“Sit.” She pointed to one of the wooden chairs. “Drink this. It’ll calm your nerves.”
I plopped into the seat and brought the glass to my nose. It was mint and something citrusy. Maybe lime. I tossed it back, relishing the sharp flavor. “Grazie.”
Claudia drank hers down, and put the bottle away.
“You don’t seem surprised,” I said. “Did you know they were here?”
“I suspected.” She pressed her hip against the table and sighed. “When the murders started and the hearts were stolen, I immediately thought of the curse.”
“You mean the blood debt between the First Witch and the devil?”
“No,” she said slowly, “I mean the curse.”
I drew my brows together. Wrath said the devil wanted to break a curse. “Was the curse placed on witches, or someone else?”
“That’s just the thing.” Claudia moved around the table and dropped her voice. “No one knows for sure. Dark witches believe it was the price La Prima paid for the vengeance spell she cast on the devil.”
That was plausible. Dark magic demanded payment. But casting a spell on the devil… I shuddered despite the sweltering summer heat. I vaguely recalled Nonna mentioning it, but she didn’t seem convinced of its validity. “Why did she curse the devil?”
“Old stories claim he stole her firstborn’s soul. From that day forward the devil was trapped in Hell for eternity. His brothers could travel between realms within reason, typically the days before and after a full moon, but he would never set foot outside the underworld. And that wasn’t all. Supposedly he’d only retain his full powers if a witch sat on the throne beside him, wearing the Horn of Hades to keep the balance between realms.”
“The Horn of Hades? Is that a crown?”
“There’s no written documentation on what it is, or how it works exactly. My aunt thinks part of the curse included removing or blocking our memories. She also believes that’s what really happened to old Sofia Santorini; that her scrying session unveiled something about the curse it wanted forgotten.”
“By ‘it’ you mean the curse? Like it’s its own entity?”
Claudia nodded. “It’s strange that no one recalls certain details. Everyone has a slightly different myth or legend, but no one knows the truth.”
“Nonna never mentioned any of this.”
“Not surprising. My aunt said witches of the light don’t believe La Prima would cast such a dangerous spell. It goes against their image of what it means to be goddess blessed. Who knows?” Claudia lifted a shoulder. “Stories twist each time they’re told. Maybe it’s all fiction now. The only way anyone might know the truth is if they had the first book of spells created by La Prima. And I’ve heard tales that the Wicked are searching for it. There may be a spell in it that will allow the devil to break the curse and travel between realms again without needing a witch queen.”
Unease crept through me as I thought about the strange grimoire sheets Vittoria had hidden away under the floorboards. There was no way my sister had found La Prima’s missing spell book.
And yet… there was the ancient magic binding her diary that wasn’t of this realm. Was the secret location of the first book of spells written within those pages? I’d think it was impossible, but I’d been learning that impossible was another figment of the imagination.
So if it was true, then how in the world did my twin find it?
I scooted my chair back from the table and stood. Until I figured out the answers to all of my questions, I didn’t want anyone else near Vittoria’s diary. If it had a spell the devil was after that could release him from Hell, it was more dangerous than I’d originally feared.
“Will you get the diary for me?”
