hand tightened. “Is he? And where’s that?”
“The netherworld.” Phanes’s tone turned silky as one wing extended toward the watery wall. “This waterfall hides a secret entrance to its prison section. If she goes through here, she can rescue her father with none the wiser. That’s why I insisted you come with me,” he added with a glance my way. “You must feel how thin the veil is here, so you know that I speak the truth.”
I did feel the netherworld so acutely that it reminded me of when I had ripped it open to drop Dagon’s soul into it. Ashael had also confirmed that Phanes’s realm floated on top of it, so it wasn’t inconceivable that Phanes had stumbled across a weak spot in the veil separating the land of the dead from this world.
“Why does your father need to be rescued? He’s the bloody warden of the place,” Ian said.
Phanes’s mouth quirked. “Not anymore, and I confess to being curious as to how he ended up as an inmate. My sources only knew about his new status. Not how he acquired it.”
I wasn’t about to tell Phanes anything he could use against me. So, I just said, “You know why” to Ian very quietly.
“Ah,” he said after a pause.
Did he understand now why I’d had to come? I hoped so.
“So,” Ian said, glancing from me to Phanes. “You found her and told her that her da’s now locked in his own prison, and offer to help get him out. She required that you heal me first, which you did. Now, you want her to storm your secret entrance into death’s gates. That about it?”
“No,” Phanes said before I could reply. “She also seeks an annulment of our betrothal, which only her father can do.” His mouth turned down. “She still favors you over me, though why, I have no idea.”
“You should be glad of it,” Ian said at once. “Saves you worlds of trouble. I’ve had enemies cause me less stress, and that’s on a good day of being with her.”
“Should I leave you two alone?” I asked in an acerbic tone. “Maybe you’d enjoy discussing me more if I weren’t here.”
Ian’s wrist flicked in an indulgent gesture. “You can stay. Most time I’ve spent with you in weeks, after all.”
So he’d decided on emotional retribution. I wished we could just brawl it out. That would have been quicker.
“I wasn’t aware of the time difference until recently,” I replied, then shot a hard look at Phanes. “You didn’t tell me that when you had me come with you.”
“And I should have?” he said with open disbelief. “The difference between our worlds is negligible even to the human race. He’s a vampire. I’m surprised he even noticed.”
Gods, that man! “Even if you didn’t deem it important, you still should have mentioned it,” I said curtly.
Ian snorted. “You’re one to talk. You’ve made it quite the habit to make up my mind for me, haven’t you?”
I gave the wall of water a longing look. Flinging myself headlong into the netherworld had never felt more tempting.
“There is one thing I’m unclear on,” Ian said, turning his gaze to Phanes now. “Why would you help her storm death’s punishment playground? You gain nothing. In fact, you lose a powerful fiancée. What’s your real angle here?”
Phanes’s wings fluffed, reminding me of an angry swan. “I need not explain myself to you—”
“Did you think I wasn’t going to ask the same thing?” I interrupted. “And you do need to explain yourself to me, or I’m not going near that watery gateway, let alone through it.”
His golden eyes fixed on mine.
“I already told you that I, too, did not want this betrothal, and that was before we met. Now that we have, I know we are not a compatible match.” He shrugged. “You are very beautiful, but you argue with my every command, question me in front of my people, constantly make unreasonable demands—”
“Welcome to my world,” Ian muttered.
“—and most insulting of all, prefer another to me,” Phanes said, with an imperious wing flap at Ian, who winked at him.
“Still, I would have married you if you were willing,” Phanes went on in a more reluctant tone. “In your world, you have many chances to elevate your status beyond what you are born with. In mine, there are few. Marriage is one, and you are the daughter of one of the higher gods. In lieu of that . . . alliances are another.”
A gleam lit Ian’s