“I’m sure you will,” she said icily. Ignoring his attempt to distract her, she considered what that actually meant. She’d be tested for each of the deadly sins.
Lust. Greed. Envy. Pride. Wrath. Gluttony. Sloth.
Seven ways for this realm to do its worst.
Camilla determined right there that she wouldn’t make it easy, on Envy or this forsaken place. Now that she was forewarned, she’d be waiting for the first indications of magic.
“Any questions, Miss Antonius?”
“What will happen in Waverly Green while we’re gone? I have a business, a life. I cannot simply cease to exist while you play your game.”
He arched a brow; she’d surprised him. Good.
“I’ll have my people craft a plausible story for our absence. And I’ll purchase some art in your gallery upon our return. Payment—”
“You will do no such thing. I do not need your charity.”
“It’s an exchange for the inconvenience, and time lost. You’re a wise businesswoman, surely you see the value in that. Any other questions?”
She saw the value in that, all right. She would find the most expensive pieces in her collection and tally them up. This might even guarantee she could pay her staff for the next two years.
Mollified, she considered what else she needed to know.
“How long will each test last?”
“That depends entirely on you. This realm thrives on sin—the way oxygen and water are the fabric of life in the mortal realms, vice is part of this realm’s being.” He paused. “We need to travel on foot until the Corridor has completed its test. Other magic is forbidden until you’ve experienced each sin and have been aligned with a House, so even if I wanted to, I could not simply bring us to House Sloth.”
“This realm needs to determine where I belong, even if I’m not staying? And you have no power over it?”
He assessed her before answering. “Vampires, Fae, shifters, and goddesses also dwell here, and while they do not normally choose to align with any demon House, the Sin Corridor will always be curious to see where you would do best. Think of it as a natural order, if you must. No matter how powerful a prince is, no matter that this is our domain, there are some laws of nature even we cannot break.”
He guided her forward, their steps silent, lost to the surreal depths of the void.
Before them, the walls around the gates were cavelike—stone panels soaring higher than she could ever hope to see unless she sprouted wings, the color a strange bluish black.
Opaque, like thick slabs of ice.
Envy placed a hand on her back, urging her forward, and had them through the gruesome gates within seconds.
She wondered whether he was only anxious to be on his way, or didn’t want her examining the gates too closely.
The moment they’d crossed the threshold, the gates closed behind them, trapping her in this strange new world of snow and ice.
Sounds returned, as ominous and wretched as she’d have imagined. Winds gusted, ice-coated branches clattered, and in the far distance she swore she heard snarls as of some great beasts.
It did not surprise her that humans had been told the Underworld was a land of fire when in fact the opposite was true. Places hidden from mortals were often disguised in an attempt to keep the humans from realizing where they were, should they ever stumble upon them.
She gazed around at distant mountains, the surrounding evergreen trees, and the steep corridor through them, yawning on and on in front of them, trying to orient herself.
Everything was buried under snow.
Even the sun—if it could be called that—was a dulled orb pinned to a twilight sky. Another storm was blowing in. The cold air smelled of nature’s violence.
“You remain remarkably unaffected, Miss Antonius. Why is that?”
“I’ve been fed stories of different realms as part of my weekly sustenance for as long as I can remember. My father frequented the dark market from the time I could walk.”
The prince waited for her to elaborate, his cool, aristocratic features as remote as this frozen land.
Of course the Seven Circles, the realm ruled quite literally by sin and debauchery, by seven dark and dangerous princes, were forbidding. Like the regal man next to her. Or rather, regal demon prince.
That would take some getting used to. Remembering he was no mortal man.
She tamped down the rush of excitement she felt, hating how the thought of his power affected her.
“That didn’t answer my question.” Envy was watching her curiously.
She lifted a shoulder but remained silent.
After lying to her and now this kidnapping, he would have to wait forever before she’d reveal any more secrets about herself.
Camilla drew in a deep breath, the cold air forcing her senses to heighten.
Envy hadn’t lied, at least not about the Sin Corridor. She’d pretended to be unaffected, but she’d felt the magic of the world circling them like a pack of wolves sniffing out potential prey. She wondered which sin would strike first, test her mettle. She also wondered if the realm would be surprised at what it discovered.
