Then, Ian groaned, and sat up.
I fought a sob as I flung myself next to him on the bed.
“Ian? Ian! Can you hear me?”
His eyes cracked open, their vivid turquoise shade even brighter than I remembered. Or maybe it only seemed that way because it felt like an eternity since I’d seen his eyes.
“’Course I can hear you,” he murmured. “You’re shouting.”
I tried to say something else, but it came out as half laugh, half sob. He was healed, gods, fully healed and awake! If I died now, I’d die happy.
His eyes opened all the way, though he still looked a little drowsy, as if his comalike state had left him sluggish. Then his fingers brushed my cheek, and his brows drew together.
“Why are you crying? And who’s the wanker with the wings?”
Phanes muttered something in a language I didn’t recognize. Then he returned to speaking in an ancient dialect of Greek.
“I’ve held up my end of our agreement, Veritas.”
Yes, he had. Ian was healed, awake, and the air around him was starting to crackle with energy as his power regenerated, too. I was so relieved, I started to tremble.
I allowed myself another moment to stare at Ian while feeling his hand on my cheek. Such a little thing, yet the emotions it generated couldn’t be measured.
I couldn’t leave him now! Not yet!
But a promise was a promise. Besides, I couldn’t risk Phanes taking back this incredible healing if I reneged on my part of our agreement. Nothing was worth that, not even the pain it caused me to pull away.
Ian sat up straighter. “You smell upset. What’s wrong?”
“Veritas,” Phanes said again.
“Sod off, or I’ll rip you in half,” Ian snapped.
Any moment, the last bit of mental sluggishness from Ian’s coma would lift, and he’d realize who Phanes was. We had to be gone by then.
“I’ve got to go do something,” I said in a voice husky from regret. “But I love you, and I’ll be back soon, I promise.”
I held out my hand to Phanes right as recognition darkened Ian’s features. The look he shot Phanes then was pure murder.
“Wait. I know who you are—”
He never finished the sentence. Phanes took my hand, and at his touch, Ian and the rest of our surroundings disappeared.
Chapter 4
I was too upset to marvel at the whirling darkness around us. Normally, I couldn’t see anything while being teleported because the transition from one place to another was almost instantaneous. This wasn’t, and it looked like Phanes had swept us up inside a tornado made of black smoke.
I didn’t care. All I could think about was Ian’s face when he realized I was leaving—and who I was leaving with.
I’d make him understand, once I got back. Hopefully, this chat with Phanes would take no more than an hour or two. Yes, Ian still might be furious with me, but his anger would be a welcome sight compared to watching him hover near death the past ten days.
You did what needed to be done, my newly merged, icily logical half argued. Phanes healed Ian as promised, and leaving with him was the agreed-upon payment.
I could have told Ian where I was going and why, I countered.
Only if you wanted to watch the two of them fight to the death, she replied. Ian wouldn’t care that Phanes had healed him. As soon as he realized who Phanes was, he’d try to kill him.
She—I—had me there. Ian was fearless, and he was also the only person that had been more upset than I was to find out that my father had arranged my betrothal to Phanes before I was even born. He absolutely would’ve tried to kill Phanes, and I hadn’t bargained with Phanes to heal Ian only to see him risk his life as his first conscious act.
But, oh, his face!
I was so upset, it took a few moments to notice that the whirling chaos had stopped. Clouds now spread out in every direction, lit by rays from a sun I couldn’t see because of all the fleecy whiteness. It was nearing 2 a.m. back in the Hamptons. We must be on the other side of the world for it to be daylight here.
Several gleaming marble temples rose up from the clouds at different levels, as if their wispy masses hid the mountain that the temples were built on. I also caught glimpses of forests and rivers. For some reason, this place looked familiar, though I was certain that I had never been here before.
Olympus, I realized as I looked around. It wasn’t quite right, but this place greatly resembled how ancient Greeks had described Mount Olympus, the mythical home of the gods.
We must be on some hidden island, possibly in the Mediterranean, considering the knock-off Olympus theme. Phanes or someone else had shrouded this place with glamour so it remained unseen by humans, vampires, demons, and those pesky modern satellites. This wasn’t the first magically-shielded island I’d been to. Supernatural creatures of all kinds used magic to keep their private getaways, well, private.
I turned to Phanes, who was staring at me with surprise.
“Your hair, your face, your”—his hand swept out, indicating my body—“everything is different.”
I glanced down. The glamour I normally wore as my Law Guardian persona was gone. Now, I looked like my real self: mid-twenties, much curvier, taller, with different facial features set off by silvery hair that had blue and gold streaks in it. My bronze skin color was the same, though, hinting at my Middle Eastern heritage on my mother’s side.
Phanes stared at me like it would hurt him to pull his gaze away. “You are radiant. Why would you conceal such beauty with that plain appearance?”
My look said I didn’t appreciate the disparagement. “Long ago, my vampire sire, Tenoch, disguised me from my enemies by glamouring me with his deceased daughter’s appearance. I have been proud to wear her visage ever since.”
Phanes was silent. Then, he inclined his head in a formal way. “For my unintended insult, I apologize.”
My opinion of him rose. Some people never admitted a fault, which let you know right off that they were untrustworthy.
“Apology accepted, and my compliments on your island’s security. It takes a strong magic shield to instantly negate the glamour of anyone entering it.”
His expression changed back to his normal, confident one. “My security is the best. Now, come. I’ll take you to my home.”
We walked on the clouds, which of course couldn’t be real clouds or I’d be falling, not walking. But they felt solid and steady even if they looked wispy and formless. Phanes or someone else must’ve glamoured the ground. No surprise that Phanes wanted people impressed by his island.
As soon as our feet touched the white marble steps leading up to Phanes’s ancient-looking temple, the clouds disappeared. Lush gardens replaced them, bordered by a forest that spread out until I could no longer see the other temples. A group of centaurs galloped toward the temple, their humanoid upper bodies in stark contrast to their equine lower halves.
“Lord Phanes has returned!” one of the centaurs shouted.
More people came out from the temple. Some looked like regular humans, some looked part animal and part human, and some . . . damned if I knew what they were.
“Behold,” Phanes thundered, hoisting my arm over my head. “The daughter of the Eternal River bridging life and death!”