She peered closer. The scene depicted was whimsical yet dark: flowers shifting to become weapons and animals seemly engaged in battle.

Camilla understood. Nature was a violent mistress, her beauty a mask to hide her cruelty.

Camilla slowly circled the column, pausing on the most fascinating scene yet. A scorpion, vulture, and ibis, all dancing around a sphere. More animals and geometric shapes were spread throughout, but this grouping seemed different.

She laid her hand on the cold stone in reverence, wondering if magic had been involved in its creation.

Envy paused, glancing over his shoulder, his expression inscrutable.

“Stay there, Miss Antonius. No matter what.”

The fine hair along her arms stood on end and she instantly became more alert.

He hadn’t asked her to wait, there was steel in his command.

Now the carvings didn’t seem so much enchanting as ominous.

“Is this not your brother’s estate?”

Envy’s hand flexed toward his right side, to the place where she knew he hid his dagger.

“In this realm it’s considered an act of war if a prince shows up in another’s circle uninvited.”

“Yet you continue to waltz in, brother.”

Before he could turn back around, the point of a blade erupted from Envy’s chest.

It happened so fast Camilla’s scream was ripped from her throat at the exact moment the blade was yanked back out of the prince.

Envy dropped to his knees, his expression one of cold fury as gold blood spurted from the wound, splattering brutally across the snowy steps.

“Touch her”—his voice was laced with malice, even as it faded to a mere whisper—“and I’ll annihilate you all.”

Even bleeding as horrendously as he was, Camilla felt the promise in his words.

Keeping one eye on his attacker, Camilla rushed to the fallen prince’s side, but as she dropped before him, Envy vanished.

She frantically patted the ground where’d he’d been—had he been cloaked by some invisible force? But he was truly gone. Only a small pool of blood remained carved into the snow, its color a harsh reminder that he was Other.

She glanced up at Envy’s killer, taking stock of what she might use to defend herself, quieting the voice that said she’d never stand a chance against him. She’d have to try.

His hair was a unique shade caught between silver and gold, his eyes the palest shade of blue she’d ever seen. They were like two diamonds gazing back at her, hard and cold. Utterly without emotion.

The demon was studying her closely too.

After an uncomfortably long stretch of silence, he slowly returned his dagger to its sheath. He’d said Envy was his brother, so…

“You must be the Prince of Sloth.”

He gave an insolent half bow, then said smugly, “He had that coming for a good century.”

“You murdered him.” Camilla couldn’t believe how cavalier the man was!

Amusement warmed those icy eyes a fraction.

“I assure you, he’s only been sent back to his circle. He will probably return by nightfall, fully healed, but this time he’ll have the decency to send a missive first. Come. Miss Antonius, was it?”

Camilla nodded, weighing whether she should believe him, but Sloth turned, giving her his back.

In his mind Camilla clearly posed no threat. She supposed she could use that to her advantage, if needed.

“Welcome to House Sloth.”

HOUSE SLOTH WAS unlike anything Camilla had ever experienced in even the most upper-crust homes of Waverly Green. She doubted even the king or queen of the realm could boast such wealth. She’d never seen their castle; they lived in Sundry, a city far north of Waverly Green that served as Ironwood Kingdom’s capital.

And not simply wealth of objects, but of knowledge.

Inside, they entered a circular foyer.

Multiple corridors were accessible from the entryway, the rambling castle spanning beyond sight in all directions.

For all intents and purposes, it appeared to be an enormous library.

Every hallway she could see was lined with dark wooden shelves filled with leather-bound books. Brass sconces burned quietly along tasteful paneling, and plush handwoven rugs lined the hardwood floors.

“This is breathtaking.” Camilla slowly spun to take it all in. “I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”

Below their feet, a compass rose was inlaid in gold.

Sloth gave her a bashful look, so unlike his brother’s arrogance. And unlike the dagger-wielding demon prince who’d just stabbed Envy through the chest.

“Come,” he said, “I’ll give you a tour while we wait for my brother to arrive. If you’d like,” he added. “If you’d prefer to go straight to your guest chambers, that can be arranged.”

Camilla smiled tentatively. She’d rather learn what she could, right now.

“If it’s no trouble, I would love a tour.”

Sloth inclined his head.

“I am curious, though,” she said quickly, “about the column out front. The carvings were so beautiful. What do they mean?”

Sloth seemed pleased she’d noticed.

“It’s our interpretation of the Twin Pillars, although unfortunately not an exact replica.”

“I haven’t heard of them,” Camilla admitted.

“It was an ancient site dedicated to the stars and night sky, though some argue it signified the Seelie and Unseelie courts. The pillars attract lightning, and when it strikes them, they glow, and the constellations carved onto them are meant to project into the amphitheater where they sit. One pillar is said to be good, and to reflect harmony and prosperity, gifts from the old gods. The other is rumored to be evil, and to depict cataclysmic destruction, offering a warning in a sense. Or so some of the more plausible theories go. No one is really sure, of course. What we do know is that they offered the Fae a direct pathway to the mortal lands.”

“I would love to see the real ones someday, then.” Camilla could only imagine what a sight that would be. How magical it must feel to see the heavens greet the Underworld, a union that shouldn’t exist.

“Unfortunately, they’re now hidden below my brother’s circle, bound there by magic.”

“Why?” Camilla’s heart sank at the thought of the ancient site being defaced.

“The Unseelie King’s obsession with mortals grew in such a way that it endangered them and the boundaries of our world. Lennox was warned to stop his antics, but he didn’t take kindly to being commanded by a demon, no matter that my brother rules over all Underworld realms. Lennox felt that as the Unseelie King of his own island to the west, he, and his court, should not be held to the same rules. So we had to limit his access, for the good of all.”

“One person ruined it for everyone.”

“Not a person,” Sloth said gently. “It’s imperative to remember that no beings you meet in the Underworld or any of the shadow realms are human. No matter how human they appear.”

“Right, of course.”

He gave her a tight smile, then motioned ahead.

“Inside, House Sloth comprises two hundred and thirty thousand feet of shelving.”

Camilla was still considering the Pillars, but Sloth drew her attention back to him.

“Last count there were one hundred and eighty-seven thousand books, sixty-four thousand specimens, twenty thousand pieces of art, including sculptures, and nineteen hundred weapons. Each artifact is housed within the reading chamber most suited to its subject.”

Camilla couldn’t wrap her mind around those figures, but she saw he wasn’t embellishing the number. The ceilings in every direction soared at least thirty feet, and shelves with ladders utilized the entire space.

House Sloth was utterly magnificent but somehow still retained a sense of warmth and invitation, despite its size and grandeur. Perhaps it was the overstuffed chairs arranged in alcoves throughout, or the large oak beams, weathered from age, decorating the vaulted ceilings. In any case, a part of her wished to immediately curl up with a book and lose all track of time.