“I am not always plagued by envious thoughts.” His green eyes flared with an emotion that wasn’t based in sneering or his namesake. “My brother’s temper caused something important to be taken from me. I hope to one day return the favor. It is not envy I am motivated by. It is retribution. Something I imagine you and I share in common, though I doubt you’ll admit it, even with the truth wine.”
He hadn’t phrased it as a question, so the spell didn’t compel me to answer. “I would do anything to have my sister back. You ought to forgive whatever sins have come between you and Wrath. Happiness should be the only thing that matters.”
“I don’t give a devil’s damn about his happiness.” He glared at his wine, but left it untouched. “It’s obvious you do care, though. More than you’re probably comfortable sharing. Are you in love with him?”
I clamped my teeth together, and gripped my glass. It was no use. The words bubbled up. I clutched on to the phrasing Envy used and allowed the truth to pour from my lips. “No. I am not in love with him. But I do not deny there’s an attraction. He brought me to this realm, sold my soul to his brother, and lied about being my potential husband.”
“The lady doth protest too much.”
“Shakespeare.” I all but rolled my eyes. “How pompous and unsurprising that you’d quote him. Should I be envious over your education now?”
He watched me over the rim of his glass, his gaze sharp. “Odd, isn’t it, that a peasant from Sicily would have such refined taste in books. Or reading anything at all, for that matter.”
I prickled at his insinuation. “We may not have had money and servants, your highness, but we know how to read and write.”
“I assume you’ll tell me your proficiency is because of the spells your grandmother taught you. Or the recipes from your little food shack, or some other such drivel.”
“What are you getting at?”
“It’s simply curious, is all. And you do know how much I enjoy curiosities.”
I grinned. It was the perfect segue into my next line of questioning. “Why are you so interested in collecting objects?”
“I’m mostly interested in divine objects. Well, that’s not entirely true.” He laughed, as if he couldn’t believe the truth was still pouring so freely from him. “I’m only interested in one fully divine object now: the Triple Moon Mirror.”
“What is that?”
He snapped his fingers and a servant appeared. He whispered something too low for me to hear and the attendant dashed away. A moment later, he returned, holding an etched glass case. It was plain, unassuming. I immediately leaned across the table, hoping for a better view.
“It’s a mirror of the gods. Goddesses, I should say.” He ran his pointer finger along the glass case, then rubbed it against his thumb as if checking for dust. “It is said it has been embedded with the Maiden, Mother, and Crone’s magic, and can show you the past, present, and future upon request. It used to reside in this case, or so I’ve been told.”
Past, present, future, find. Chills raced along my spine. It was almost exactly what the enchanted skull had said, even down to the Maiden, Mother, Crone aspect.
Envy flipped the lid back, showing a deep lavender crushed velvet bed, indented where a hand mirror once sat. I did my best to not react. But my heart was thrashing wildly in my chest. If there was a divine object that could show me the past, it would solve my sister’s murder.
Excitement coursed through me. This had to be what the skull wanted me to find. I was certain of it. If I had the mirror, I no longer needed to worry about marrying Pride or Wrath and choosing my place in their House of Sins.
“It sounds like a children’s legend.”
“All legends contain fragments of truth.” For a second, his gaze was far off again. “Anyway, it is said one needs the Crone’s book of spells, the Temptation Key, and the mirror in order to activate the goddess magic.”
“Let me guess,” I dropped my voice into a conspiratorial whisper, “you’ve collected all but the mirror.”
“My dear, I believe it’s time you viewed my curiosities yourself.” Envy stood. “Shall we?”
SIXTEEN
Envy pushed open the ornate doors with exaggerated showmanship and stepped back, suddenly the gentleman, and allowed me to cross the threshold into his curiosities chamber first.
Dubious about his true intentions, I hesitated for a moment. I doubted he’d led me into a vampire nest, though anything was possible when it came to him.