Page 86 of Unforgiving Queen

“Nobody has found it,” I murmured and signed at the same time. “Isn’t it just smarter to let it rot? You’re being paranoid.”

Four sets of eyes landed on me.

“If we burn him, there’ll be no evidence,” Isla claimed stubbornly.

“We should leave it,”my sister agreed with me. “You want that asshole to be the reason we get caught and sent to prison? Nobody checks the DNA of the bones buried in those catacombs.”

Phoenix had a valid point. The tunnels and catacombs were used in the late seventeenth century and an estimated six million dead bodies were placed throughout its tunnels. What was one more?

“I just don’t know about going back there,” I grumbled. The chances of being caught were greater if we all went together. I rubbed my arms, noticing how the usually soft material of my Lou & Grey sweater now felt rough and itchy against my skin. “And where will we burn the body? Inside the catacombs?”

There was only one section of the catacombs opened to visitors. The tunnels beyond that were next to impossible to access. It didn’t stop us last time, but we’d been lucky in our recklessness, and it helped that the city was a ghost town in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day.

Athena didn’t seem happy about our plan either. “The air is thin down there. I’d never felt so queasy.” She visibly shivered and scrunched her nose.

“Must’ve been all the dead people,” Raven reasoned, although she looked slightly pale too.

I twisted my necklace. “I should go alone.”

“Absolutely not,” Raven protested.

“Fuck no,” Isla hissed. “Are you fucking nuts?”

“Don’t even think about it.”

“We go together or we let that body rot there,” Athena said. It was useless to point out that bodies in the catacombs were rotting already. She was in her drama mode. “Isla’s the exception since her husband is a grade-A stalker.” We all snickered at that. Enrico Marchetti was obsessed with his wife, and none of it seemed to bother her. “On second thought, let’s just drop the dead body topic and discuss Isla’s sex life?”

Raven shrugged. “Nah, my sex life is better.”

Heads turned to look at her. “What sex life?” we asked in unison.

Raven just smiled smugly. “I don’t kiss and tell.”

“That won’t last,” Phoenix signed. “Should we take bets?”

That got all the girls riled up until Isla brought the voice of reason. “Get serious, ladies. We have to get rid of the evidence. Especially now.”

Especially now that I would marry the son of the man I murdered.

“I cannot believe you’re getting married,” Athena muttered. “What if we kill him too?”

It didn’t escape me how Phoenix flinched. She hated Dante as much as she loved him. It must be our family’s curse. Loving the wrong men. Except, Dante wasreallywrong for her, considering he was her half-sibling.

“We’re not killing anyone,” I said. “Now hear me out on this whole catacomb thing.”

“Oh, this ought to be good,” Raven exclaimed. “Hold on, let’s refill our drinks before Reina lays it on us.”

She stood up from her spot on the couch and refilled our drinks, even handing me another beer. I placed it on the coffee table. I’d need my wits about me to reason with my sister and friends. Alcohol could come after.

“Okay, we’re ready,” Raven announced, taking her seat again. “Tell us why we should let the youngest member of our gang handle this alone.”

“I don’t mind dead people,” I said, causing Athena to choke and cough. My eyes darted to the window, only seeing the endless darkness. Sometimes it felt like I was a living, breathing catacomb.

“You don’t mind dead people?” Athena repeated, drawing out every word for effect. “Or having a bonfire with a dead man’s bones?”

I shrugged, meeting her eyes. “No, I don’t. It’s better if only I get caught than all of us.”

“That literally makes no sense,” Phoenix claimed.