Kingdom of the Wicked

373 Pages·2020·1.979 MB·English

by  Kerri Maniscalco

Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC
where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare
time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all
kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too
much tea while discussing life's finer points with her cats.
Kingdom of the Wicked

Kerri Maniscalco

www.hodder.co.uk
First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Hodder & Stoughton
An Hachette UK company

Copyright © Kerri Maniscalco 2020

The right of Kerri Maniscalco to be identified as the Author of the
Work has been asserted by her in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Cover design by Liam Donnelly
Cover art by Megan Cowell
Cover image © Trevillion Images and Shutterstock.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be
otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that
in which it is published and without a similar condition being
imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance
to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

eBook ISBN 978 1 529 35046 3

Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Carmelite House
50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ

www.hodder.co.uk
For my grandmother Victoria Marie Nucci
and my aunt Caroline Nucci.

And for my great grandparents – who immigrated
from Sciacca, Sicily to America – whose
restaurant inspired much of this story.

This may be a fantasy,
but the love of family found within its pages is very real.
Flectere si nequeo superos,
Acheronta movebo.

If I cannot bend the will of Heaven,
I shall move Hell.

Virgil, Aeneid

CONTENTS
Prologue
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight

Acknowledgments
P R O L O G U E
Outside, wind rattled the wooden chimes in warning. In the
distance, waves crashed against the shore; the frantic whispers of
water growing louder as if the sea was a mage summoning
violence. On this date—for nearly a decade now—the storm
followed the same pattern. Next, thunder would roll in quicker
than the tide with lightning cracking electric whips across an
unforgiving sky. The devil demanded retribution. A blood sacrifice
for power stolen.
It wasn’t the first time he’d be cursed by witches, nor would it
be the last.
From her rocking chair near the fire, Nonna Maria monitored
the twins while they chanted protection charms she’d taught
them, a cornicello clutched tightly in each of their little fists.
Pushing the howling gusts from her mind, she listened closely to
the words Vittoria and Emilia whispered over the horn-shaped
amulets, their matching dark heads bent in concentration.
“By earth, moon, and stone, bless this hearth, bless this
home.”
It was the start of their eighth year and Nonna tried not to
worry over how quickly they were growing. She pulled her shawl