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“What did Anir mean by securing your House before there’s war?”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “I cannot share that information with you.”
“Then we’re through.” I clutched my sister’s amulet. “Te libero. I release you from whatever bond we have. When I marry, it will be for love. Not love of power or whatever other depraved thing you desire. And love is something you soulless, despicable creatures know nothing about!”
If he called out to me, or flinched, I wouldn’t know. I turned and fled as far from the demon prince and the newest murder victim as I could. I wanted nothing more to do with the cursed creatures who’d brought this suffering on my family and my city.
From this point forward, I’d find out who murdered my sister on my own.
And Wrath could simply crawl back to Hell and rot with the rest of them.
THIRTY
I sat at a table facing the sea, sipping water with a slice of lemon. I’d left an anonymous note for the police with the location of Valentina’s body, and still hadn’t gotten over the horror of the night. I wanted to rush to Claudia’s, but had to wait until the police told her cousin’s family first. If they were already mourning when the authorities showed up, they’d start asking questions. Waiting invited all sorts of thoughts I didn’t want to think about. Not now, or ever.
I couldn’t believe I’d been so stupid as to accidentally betroth myself to Wrath, and he hadn’t let the secret slip sooner. He must have absolutely loathed it. Especially with what Anir said about him hating witches. I fought the urge to bury my face in my hands. Knowing that he was fully aware of my error while I’d thought I was in control… it was humiliating. I didn’t want to consider other missteps I’d taken that he’d been too polite to point out.
As soon as I’d tipped off the police, I’d realized I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t go back home and put my family at risk. And while I could stay at the palace with Wrath, I needed time and space to sort out my thoughts and feelings. A lot happened in a short amount of time. Two more murders. A secret fiancé from Hell. Nonna’s attack. My stolen amulet. The Viperidae. It seemed the punches kept on getting thrown, and I was getting battered and bruised in the process.
The harder I clutched at normalcy, the more my world spun into chaos. Since I refused to see Wrath again for the moment, I decided to push everything out of my head and continue searching for answers in Vittoria’s death by myself. If I could solve my sister’s murder, I could prevent anyone else from dying. Every time I tried putting myself in Vittoria’s shoes, I kept coming back to her diary. It didn’t give up as many secrets as I’d hoped. And the ones it did reveal were still cryptic enough to keep me guessing.
I was going over a mental list of tasks to accomplish when the seat across from me was pulled out. Wrath dropped into it, eyeing me warily. I stared back at him for a few moments. Neither of us said anything. It seemed like my almost-husband was giving me time to collect myself. Or maybe he was waiting for me to banish him back to the bone circle again.
I took a few deep breaths.
“How did you know where I was?” He gave me a long, measured look, then glanced pointedly at the tattoo on my arm. I was definitely going to kill him. “You said you could only find me if I accepted the blood trade. You never mentioned the tattoo.”
“If I told you the ink was part of a marriage bond, you would have immediately run. I needed you to have time to trust me.”
I went to argue, but shut my mouth. It was true. If I’d known what the tattoo meant the first night I’d summoned him, I would have sent him straight back to his realm. “Trust is usually earned because both parties are honest.”
“I have not lied to you.”
I loosened a breath. “Not technically, no.”
A waitress came out and cheerfully recited the menu. Wrath seemed skeptical, but let me do the ordering without complaint. Thirty minutes of strained silence later, she brought out our food. Wrath considered it as if it were a complicated equation he was sorting out.
One steaming plate of scampi, some arancini, a platter of antipasto—stacked with prosciutto, peperoncini, soppressata, provolone, marinated olives, and artichokes tossed with oil, vinegar, oregano, and basil—and a basket of grilled bread graced our little table.
I kept waiting for the demon to pull the waitress aside and ask for warmed blood or raw innards, but he seemed content with my choices and I certainly wasn’t going to be the one to put the idea of uncooked offal in his head.
Wrath did surprise me by ordering a pitcher of red wine with orange slices, and poured a generous amount for each of us. I sipped my wine, enjoying the sweetness of it despite myself. I wanted to escape from my dark thoughts for a while, and the dinner and wine were helping. I hadn’t slept all night and it felt good to just collect myself and regroup. Wrath piled a plate with food, and slid it in front of me before serving himself. It took all of my concentration to not topple out of my chair from the shock.
He caught my eye and scowled. “Good manners are hard to break, no matter how unpleasant the company I’m forced to keep. Plus, you served me the dessert. It’s only fair to return the favor.”
I smiled, which seemed to rankle him more, and tucked into my food.
After a few minutes of watching him poking around at the sc
ampi, I skewered one with my fork and held it out to him. His suspicion deepened. “What are you doing?”
“This is langostino. It’s like a baby lobster. I’m pretty sure you’ll like it. Unless you’re afraid…”
Wrath accepted the shellfish as if in challenge. He must have enjoyed it, because his focus shifted to his plate and he didn’t look up again until he’d sampled a bit of everything.
While he experienced the wonder of human food, I ate my scampi, enjoying the fresh lemon they’d used to cut the richness of the butter. Theirs was a bit heavier with citrus than ours, and I decided to experiment one day soon.
Maybe if I sliced a lemon in half, and grilled it facedown—
