Golden Stair Read Free

book down on the grass and had his other hand buried in his cloak. If Patricio kept his sword bared, Kirill would answer him with a weapon of his own.
     
    Eurydice covered her mouth, nervous energy filling the tree until she could scarcely hold still. She couldn’t breathe with Patricio’s blade to Adonis’ neck like that, too afraid that the demon had finally pushed the angel too far.
     
    “You are worthless.” There was an eerie calm in Patricio’s voice. “You run around Nysa climbing on top of anything with a hole between its legs, never paying a shred of attention to your kingdom. You’re incapable of love, of loyalty. Surely that must be a crime worthy of punishment?”
     
    Every word out of Patricio’s mouth was like an arrow in Eurydice’s chest. Her eyes burned with tears as she watched Adonis’ face, searching for some sign that the angel’s words had reached the demon’s battered heart.
     
    “You know as little about me as I do about chastity,” Adonis answered, his voice rough, not with fear, but with the astral energy that swirled inside him. His eyes were the macabre eyes of a jack o’ lantern, empty but for the fire burning to ward off evil. “You think you’re so high and mighty because you have this divine purpose, but we both know the truth of your life. You’re miserable and you hate anyone who isn’t, anyone who dares show a shred of true happiness despite the atrocities life throws their way.”
     
    His voice cracked a little and a tear slid down Eurydice’s face. Hold on, Adonis. I swear I’ve found a way to help you.
     
    “No one has a perfect life, wings,” Adonis continued, his voice echoing with restrained power. “But some of us make the best of it.” He leaned forward, pressing his neck against the sword until the trickle of blood grew to a steady stream. “And another thing. You would never hear me refer to a woman as a ‘thing with a hole between its legs.’” He leaned back, wrinkling his nose at Patricio. “Have a little respect for the fairer sex, Your Highness. ”
     
    For several moments, there wasn’t a sound to be heard in the clearing. No one spoke, no one drew breath. The vein in Patricio’s neck throbbed and his knuckles whitened around the sword. After what felt like an eternity, he eased the blade away from Adonis’ neck.
     
    Eurydice collapsed against the inside of her tree and Kirill, Etienne, and Saamal all visibly relaxed, shoulders drooping with relief. Patricio kept his gaze locked on Adonis as he raised the sword to the World Tree, wiping the demon’s blood on the bark. She drew away from the knothole, unnerved by the cold look in the angel’s eyes, combined with sensation of wet steel raking across her tree. Without a word, he cleaned his blade on his robes, cut his own flesh, and added his offering to the wood.
     
    There was no further banter, no laughs…
     
    Just silence as the other princes followed suit. Eurydice rode the swell of the magic, enjoyment muted by the last few harrowing events of the evening. For the first time, she worried that the prophecy was in true danger. Patricio was closer to the edge than she’d thought.
     
    She returned her gaze to Adonis. Perhaps the coming events would ease the demon’s wild ways and reduce the friction between him and the severe angel.
     

Chapter One
     

     
    “Applying chamomile leaves directly to a deep wound will aid the muscle tissue in…”
     
    Ivy trailed off and let the healer’s journal droop in her lap. She planted her elbow on the plush green arm of the wide chair and dropped her chin into her hand. In her mind she half-heartedly finished the sentence from the journal as she stared into the fire dancing in the fireplace.
     
    Absent-mindedly, she played with the thick braid of her hair, stroking the part of it that she could reach. The long golden strands disappeared over the edge of her chair, falling down to the floor where they lay in a pile of thick, shining