Golden Stair (5 page)

A circle of protection snapped into place, the energy of the protective wards tingling against his skin. The first hot touch of anger slid across his mind.

“What are you doing?” he asked quietly.

The woman didn’t answer. She continued to rush around the room, putting out fires and mumbling to herself in a semi-hysterical fashion. In too much pain to think straight, Adonis just lay there, watching her and trying to stay calm. Things had gone very wrong, very fast, and he had no idea what to do about it.

She doesn’t look familiar. Surely for an attack of this magnitude it must be personal? How can she hate me if we’ve never met?
Adonis laid his head against the floor, shoving away his anger and trying to think of where he might have seen the fiery maid, what he might have done to deserve her reaction. The fact that she was a virgin made it even more confusing and also even less likely that he’d ever met her before. Not that Adonis would ever forget a woman. He was an incubus, the most attentive lover one could ever hope to encounter. He remembered every woman he’d ever kissed, remembered her scent, her curves, the look in her eyes as passion finally swept her over the edge…

Who the hell was this lunatic?

Faint sounds of clinking ceramic filled his ears and he grimaced. At some point he’d closed his eyes and as he opened them, he realized he had no idea how much time had passed. Seconds? Minutes? Hours? He looked out the window. The sun didn’t appear to have moved that much. Perhaps he’d only rested his eyes for a moment. He’d expended too much energy too carelessly. With any luck, he’d healed himself enough that he wouldn’t die, but he had no way to be sure. Idly, he wondered what he would do if this body did die. His vow would be broken, Aphrodite would no doubt have a few choice tortures in mind.

“This is going to cost me,” he mumbled.

“What did you say?”

Ivy was talking to him. Adonis watched warily as the woman set a teacup on the floor and nudged it into the circle of stone. The sweet smell of herbs swirled past his nose on a trickle of steam and he lifted his head slightly. “What is that?”

“It will heal the burns,” she said softly.

Adonis blinked. Ivy’s eyes were bright and she held them wide open as if to ward off the threat of tears. Her hands trembled and she floundered a moment then crossed her arms and clutched them to her chest. She looked everywhere but at him. Adonis chewed on the inside of his lip. The woman standing in front of him was a world apart from the woman who had nearly incinerated him just a moment ago.

For a moment there was silence, broken only by the thunder of his heartbeat as his tortured body fought to stay alive. Every breath was torture, every wisp of wind agony against his mottled flesh. His wing throbbed underneath him and Adonis clenched his teeth as he realized he had to roll over. He needed his wings if he was going to stand a chance at escape, or going home. Without any magic left, he’d be a target for attacks by goblins, but his reputation may be enough to gamble on. Or they might try to eat him alive mid-flight. Lying prone, Adonis rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, wondering if it was time to call in that favor…

Adonis started to sit up, but a fresh wave of pain convinced him to remain still. He swayed a little and settled back on the floor. A whimper fluttered against his ears and he turned his attention to Ivy. She’d clapped a hand over her mouth and was staring at him with eyes a little too bright, a sheen of sweat on her forehead. He furrowed his brow in confusion and immediately wished he hadn’t as the scalded flesh of his forehead pulsed in agony. After a few deep breaths, he gathered himself enough to speak.

“I’m the one lying here like a roasted boar,” he said lightly. “It seems the slightest bit odd that you are the one who seems upset?”

“I didn’t mean to do that,” she whispered.

“I should hope not, it’s treason,” Adonis agreed weakly. He cleared his throat, stifling a moan of pain as he forced his body into a sitting position. “Might I inquire about why you did it?” He dragged his gaze up and down her body, almost falling over with gratitude when a little pulse of arousal flickered inside him. It wasn’t nearly enough for any real magic, but the caress of it over his senses helped take the edge off his pain. He offered her the closest thing he could manage to a smile. “I thought we were getting on so well?”

“I didn’t even know I could do that,” Ivy insisted, her voice shaking along with the rest of her body.

“Forgive me, fair one,” Adonis said stiffly, trying his best to keep his tone light, “but it seems somewhat of a stretch to think that a sun elemental would cremate someone on accident.”

“I’m not a sun elemental, I’m a witch—a healer.”

Adonis narrowed his eyes. “I am an incubus, a creature born on the astral plane. I can see your aura, fair one, and you are no witch. You’re a sun elemental, and you are way too old to be surprised by your own powers.”

“I am not a sun elemental!”

Adonis raised an eyebrow as she held up her hands, her eyes wild, her voice climbing an octave higher.

“I’ve never done anything magical besides healing,” she continued, staring at her hands as if they belonged to someone else. “I just… When you told me who you were, and I realized… I knew what you were going to do…”

My reputation precedes me.
Adonis shrugged it off. He had a reputation as a rake, sure. But he’d never had anyone react like that. No one had a right to react like that, it was his life. He didn’t force himself on anyone. He was an
incubus
for the gods’ sake.

He picked up the tea despite his determination not to give her the satisfaction. He needed his strength. Besides, it didn’t make sense that she would poison him when it would be so much easier to finish what she’d started with the fire. He downed the cup in one gulp.

“You didn’t seem so unwilling,” he observed after a moment. “I wasn’t forcing myself on you.”

“I hadn’t said no yet,” Ivy fired back.

Her voice was getting stronger, even if it was still a little hoarse. She snatched a book off a nearby table, her fingers flexing as if she was considering hitting him over the head with it. The vein in Adonis’ neck thudded with a heavy pulse and he forced himself to gently set the teacup back on the floor before he gave in to the urge to crush it. His blood heated, though this time it was not with passion. Ivy was dangerously close to accusing him of rape, and if anything could bludgeon its way past the
substantial
wall of his good graces, it was being accused of forcing himself on a woman.

“I’ve offered you no violence and you nearly killed me,” he said, his voice tight with restraint. “Perhaps you’d like to reconsider how you’re speaking to me?” All traces of good humor melted from his face, leaving her with the blank stare he so rarely managed.

“How did you even find this place?” she demanded. “Are the others coming as well? Did you lead them into this dimension?”

“This dimension?” Adonis echoed. His shoulders drooped. He narrowed his eyes. “Others?”

“Yes. How did you find it?”

Adonis folded his arms across his chest and tilted his chin forward. “I was flying with an angel friend of mine and we…became separated.” He gestured at the debris around him, encompassing his own wounds as well. “As you can see, it was not intentional.”

“You were flying with an angel?”

Flying with, flying on. Semantics aren’t germane here.
“Yes.”

“You’re referring to the Angel of Death, adopted son of the king of Meropis.”

Adopted? Angel of Death?
Adonis penned a mental note to learn more about Patricio after he escaped his current predicament. If he escaped. He surveyed Ivy, the emotions he could see boiling just under the surface. Sun elementals were known for their lack of self-control nearly as much as their fire. If he could push her, it was possible she would slip up enough to allow him to escape. Of course, she might fry him too, but then what was life without risk?

“The angel I was flying with was not Prince Patricio,” he corrected her. “Her name was
Helena
, and she was a delightful young lady who is probably wondering what happened to me.”
Assuming she’s noticed I’m gone. Flighty woman, that Helena
.

“Don’t bother lying to me,” Ivy spat.

Her gaze flickered over his body and she tilted her head in consideration. Adonis looked down and started when he discovered his body had healed to the point that the oozing burns of moments ago were just bright pink skin now. He continued to heal, so fast he could practically see it. He snatched up the teacup from where he’d set it down and sniffed the remains. It didn’t smell any different from any number of herbal teas he’d had in the past. Cherry bark, slippery elm, and a few other odds and ends. Wide-eyed, he found himself peering at her in a new light.

“No one can get into this dimension except me and my mother,” she said firmly. “I don’t know how you got through the gateway, but you must have raped a lot of women to get that kind of power.”

A split second later, Adonis was on his feet, his entire body straining against the magic of the circle. His muscles burned with desperation to get out of the spelled area, his vision clouded as the world seemed to narrow down to just the screeching harpy in front of him. Ivy shrieked and jerked backwards. Adonis’ teeth bit into his lower lip as his canines dropped. His wings flared out around him as he struggled to rein in his temper.

“In my six-hundred years,” he choked, “I have never taken an unwilling woman.” His voice bled into a whine not unlike a wolf about to attack. His knees trembled as he pushed against the magic circle holding him, a voice inside him howling the need for vengeance, the conviction that he must make her take back her blasphemous accusation. “Not once, nor would I ever. Kill me if you’re going to, but know that I will not sit here and listen to you accuse me of such heinous crimes. Of the two of us, the only one who has demonstrated any thirst for violence is
you.
”

Suddenly a pink light bobbed into his line of sight again. Instinctively, he jerked back, nearly going cross-eyed as he tried to focus on it. His lips parted as he realized it was the will o’ wisp that had caused him to fall into this blasted tower in the first place. Emotion radiated from the ball of light.

Calm. Smooth waves of peace rolled over him, slowing the rush of blood in his veins and blunting the edge of his temper. Without meaning to, Adonis relaxed and stopped straining against the circle. Irritation ratcheted up his pulse as he realized the fey was using glamour on him. He gritted his teeth and slashed his claws through the air toward the fey, batting at it like one would swat an annoying insect. “Spare me your glamour,” he snarled. “I will deal with you later.”

He turned his attention back to Ivy, pausing when he noticed all her attention was on the will o’ wisp. She wrapped her arms around her body, turning away from the fey even as her gaze remained locked on it.

“What is that?”

Adonis frowned. “It is a will o’ wisp. A member of the fey.”

Ivy closed her eyes and raised her hands to her temples. The trembling in her hands and sudden rigidness in her spine piqued Adonis’ interest and he tilted his head, waiting for her to say more.

“You’re lying,” she said quietly. “I told you, only my mother and I can get through the gateway to this dimension.”

“You keep saying that,” Adonis muttered, “but I’m here. A will o’ wisp is here.” He shook his head. “The evidence is right in front of you, why do you keep insisting on something that you have to know isn’t true?”

“I have the evidence of twenty years of not seeing another creature within sight of this tower. And my mother’s word.” She opened her eyes and tilted her chin up. “Unless of course you think I should take your word over that of my own mother?”

Adonis bit back a curse. This woman had lost her mind. Another dimension? No creatures for twenty years? What was she—

Suddenly something behind the woman caught Adonis’ eye. He looked past her to a row of paintings leaning against the wall beside the bookcase he’d crashed into. They were gruesome even in their beauty, vivid battle scenes filled with copper blood and ash skies. Adonis squinted and then his jaw dropped as he recognized some of the monstrous figures.

“That’s me,” he said softly. “And that’s Patricio,” he squinted, “though to be fair, he’s never looked like that in person.”

Ivy straightened her spine, nodding a little too quickly. “Yes. Yes, that painting is of you and the dark angel from Meropis. You can see from the painting that my mother has told me the truth of you, the truth of what you really are. I captured you rather well, don’t you think?”