“Micha, he’s trying to wake up Lynx!” she called out, tapping into her magic to block the male from entering the fairy’s mind.

  There was a brief flare of power before it sputtered and disappeared. Damn. She was all tapped out. Thankfully, Micha still retained his strength. Even better, his ability to manipulate the magic of the Gyre allowed him to create weapons out of nearby objects.

  “No one forced you to betray your people,” he hissed, lifting his arm and pointing a finger at Azra. “It was your own pathetic lust for power that nearly destroyed us all.”

  “No. I told you. It wasn’t me. It was the dragon. She manipulated me until I couldn’t think clearly.” Azra pressed his hands together, as if pleading for mercy. His eyes, however, remained hard with ruthless determination. He wasn’t conceding defeat, he was playing for time. “Listen, now isn’t the time or place to make any hasty decisions. Take me to Sinjon. I’m sure he’d understand.”

  “Yes, I’m sure he will understand.”

  Micha sounded almost sad as he gestured with his hand, and without warning the air was filled with jagged shards of marble from the column he’d shattered moments ago. Skye hastily backed away, her eyes wide as the lethal projectiles whizzed directly toward Azra.

  The male screeched in fury, lifting his arms to try to protect his face. It was a wasted effort. The marble sliced through flesh and bone with sickening ease, digging deep into his skull. Skye gagged at the sound of the shards sawing their way through Azra before they were zooming around to launch another attack.

  Azra’s screams were no longer anger. They echoed through the cavern with a pain that made the ground shake.

  “Stop! Please!”

  Micha ignored the pleas, his face grim as he concentrated on the shards currently slicing Azra to bloody shreds. Skye gagged, turning her back to avoid the gruesome death.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t think the vampire deserved his fate. He’d been willing to watch the world burn in a pathetic power grab. He’d gone beyond ambitious into the realms of demented. Which meant he had to be destroyed. Vampires were too powerful to survive if they were unstable. But she was exhausted, queasy, and unable to endure the sight of any more violence.

  She would be brave again tomorrow.

  An eternity passed—at least that was what it felt like to Skye—before the ghastly screams began to fade, and she released a shaky breath of relief. Was it over? Really and truly over?

  She was almost afraid to believe.

  For good reason, she immediately conceded, watching as a shimmering black streak appeared near the pedestal. It was nearly three inches long and as thin as a strand of hair. Just for a second, she tried to convince herself it was a trick of the light that glowed from an unseen source in the ceiling. Or a residual effect from Zanna’s magic. The dragon might not have physically been in the cavern, but her spirit form had been spewing a toxic brew of power. Skye could still smell the brimstone.

  Or maybe it was a protective trigger connected to the pedestal. After all, she wouldn’t have noticed the strand if she hadn’t been staring in that direction for several minutes. Maybe it was always there, waiting to release a trap if someone came too close.

  She was still busy trying to convince herself that she had nothing to worry about when the strand began to lengthen and then to twirl in a circle. Skye instinctively touched a finger to her charms, futilely hoping that there might be a spell left to toss at the latest threat.

  There was nothing. She was all magicked out.

  A damned shame since the strand had stretched and grown into a large circle that continued to expand until it touched the marble floor just inches from where Lynx was lying unconscious.

  “Um...Micha,” she breathed in warning.

  She’d never seen a portal, but she’d read an ancient manuscript that had described them. Back in the olden days, when magic flowed freely through the world, there were a few of the more powerful mages who could open a doorway from one place to another, even if it was hundreds of miles apart. She was pretty certain that was what she was looking at now.

  There was a cool rush of power wrapping protectively around her as Micha moved to stand at her side, at the same moment the outline of a large male form became visible inside the darkness of the portal.

  “I smell copper,” the vampire muttered.

  Skye sucked in a deep breath. He was right. Whoever was coming had the same coppery scent as Lynx. But it wasn’t demon. It was something she’d never encountered.

  With the confident assurance of a creature who obviously wasn’t scared to enter a strange room without knowing who or what might be waiting for him, the male stepped out of the portal. He was even bigger now that she could fully see him with long copper hair that was pulled into a braid to reveal a startlingly beautiful face. There was something almost fey about the emerald eyes and the angular cut of his features, but she instinctively sensed he was unique.

  And old.

  Mind-numbingly old.

  Without warning, the male dipped his head in their direction. “Thank you for your service.”

  His voice rumbled like thunder, echoing through the chamber.

  “Who are you?” Skye breathed.

  “You can call me the Watcher.”

  “Watcher?” Skye shook her head in confusion. “Is that your name or—”

  “You need to leave this place,” the stranger interrupted, bending down to scoop Lynx into his arms. With an ease not even a vampire could have matched, he straightened, the unconscious fairy draped over his arms. “Now.”

  Micha stepped forward. “Not until we have a few answers. And not without the crystal the fairy is holding.”

  “The crystal is back where it belongs,” the male promised.

  The temperature dropped as Micha called on his powers. “That’s for the Cabal to decide.”

  “Vampires.” The male rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed with the authority of the Cabal. “Go home.”

  Micha stiffened, prepared to attack, but with the same liquid ease that he’d entered the cavern, the creature stepped back and disappeared into the portal. A second later the opening snapped shut, as if a door had been slammed.

  Skye blinked. “Well that was weird.”

  “He has the crystal.”

  He did, but Skye wasn’t as upset as she should be. It could be that she was just too tired to work up concern for the stupid red stone. But a part of her accepted that the crystal was truly where it belonged.

  A low rumble shook the cavern and for a moment Skye thought it was Micha’s power being unleashed in a belated attempt to stop the stranger from disappearing. It wasn’t until chunks of stone started to fall from the ceiling that she realized the entire cavern was shaking, as if it was about to collapse.

  “We really need to go,” she rasped, stumbling to the side as the mosaic floor buckled beneath her feet.

  Micha didn’t hesitate. Grasping her hand, he raced toward a large crack in the wall that had exposed a hidden passageway. Was this how Azra had managed to sneak up on them? Probably, but right now Skye wasn’t interested in anything but getting out before the mountain landed on top of them.

  The threat of being buried beneath tons of granite tended to put her priorities in order.

  Chapter 20

  Seated at a small wooden table that had been arranged in the center of his bedroom, Micha savored the glorious sense of peace.

  He had a few fragmented memories of their return trip to New Orleans. He recalled his servants rushing to assist them the second they’d climbed out of the mountain, and being whisked through the air on his private jet. And even being half carried down to his private lair where he’d collapsed into bed with Skye held tightly in his arms.

  It was a full twenty-four hours before he had regained enough strength to take a hot shower, although he hadn’t bothered to dress, instead pulling on a black silk robe. He planned on staying in his lair for the next month. Maybe year.

  Once his brain felt clear enough to hold a coherent conversation, he’d made a call to Valen, revealing what had happened. In return, Valen had shared his confrontation with Kane and the fact that the large vampire was currently a guest in his dungeons.

  Eventually he would contact Sinjon and give a detailed explanation of Azra’s descent into madness, but he wasn’t ready to be forced to travel to Greece to make a full report. Or worse, have the powerful leader of the Cabal and his vast entourage appear on his doorstep.

  He had more important matters on his mind.

  Far, far more important.

  Leaning back in his seat, Micha studied the woman who was busily polishing off a bowl of jambalaya and an entire loaf of garlic bread.

  Skye Claremont.

  Like him she was wearing a silk robe, although it was several sizes too large, and her hair was a damp mop of curls that framed her face with wild abandon. Micha was convinced he’d never seen anyone more beautiful.

  More importantly, her deep sleep and an hour soaking in a bubble bath had restored the flush of health to her cheeks and the electric tingle of magic that hummed around her like a forcefield.

  It was going to take time for her to recover her full strength, but he could sense she was settling into the lair. A knowledge that filled a place inside him that Micha hadn’t realized was empty. And a desperate hope that she intended to stay.

  Swallowing the last chunk of bread, Skye pushed aside her empty bowl and reached for the glass of wine, releasing a soft sigh of contentment.

  Micha bit back a groan as he was forced to battle the urge to toss aside the narrow table and scoop Skye into his arms. He wasn’t a stickler when it came to etiquette but it seemed only polite to let her finish dinner before pouncing.

  “Did Maya have any information about the Watcher?” he forced himself to ask.

  Skye had been on the phone with her friend when he’d escorted her into the bedroom to reveal the feast he’d ordered while she was in the tub. And once she had hung up, she’d grabbed a spoon and devoured the meal with a gusto that warned she wasn’t in the mood for chitchat.

  Now he was hoping that she’d discovered some information that would allow them to track down the creature that had disappeared with Lynx and the crystal.

  It seemed impossible to believe that anyone—even a demon—could dig a pathway to the cavern. The entire mountain had collapsed as they’d been rushing away. But he wasn’t going to take anything for granted. His logical brain wasn’t satisfied with the vague certainty that the dragon was safely locked in her hibernation.

  Skye wrinkled her nose. “I’m not sure. She was weirdly cagey when I described him. Almost as if she didn’t want to discuss who or what the Watcher might be.”

  “Is that unusual?”

  “Maya is like a two-by-four to the face. There’s nothing subtle about her.”

  Micha grimaced. He had deliberately blocked out the private conversation between the two mages, but no one could have missed Maya’s shriek of fury when Skye told her friend that she intended to remain in New Orleans.

  “Including her opinion of vampires.”

  “Exactly.”

  Skye chuckled, not nearly so worried as Micha about her friend’s reaction. Of course, she wasn’t the one who was going to end up with a boil on her ass if the older mage managed to get close enough to curse him, he wryly acknowledged.

  “We can continue our own research here,” he concluded, dismissing his concern. “There has to be information about the crystal and original Lynx hidden in one of the manuscripts I’ve collected.”

  “I also warned Maya that there might be other Lynx wannabes out there,” she said, her brow furrowed as she drained the last of her wine in one gulp.

  Micha frowned. “Is something bothering you?”

  “Just a feeling that I’m missing something,” Skye muttered. “Something important.”

  “It will come to you.” His gaze skimmed over her delicate features, lingering on the dark eyes that smoldered with an ancient power that had prevented the world from being consumed with flames. But that wasn’t the only thing he could see. There was also a sweet, utterly vulnerable woman who had been forced to sacrifice her entire life for her gifts. It was time that she be allowed to discover what made her happy, not what others wanted from her. “Right now we have more important matters to discuss.”

  She stilled as his voice lowered, the air thickening with an awareness he no longer bothered to hide. Just for a second he feared that she might not be in the mood for what he desired. She had, after all, been on a road trip from hell that had ended with a life-or-death battle with a dragon. No one could blame her for needing some alone time to decompress.

  Fiercely attempting to reconcile himself to the fact their night together would have to be postponed, Micha was prepared for her to rise to her feet and leave the room. Instead, she leaned forward, her expression softening with an invitation that made his unbeating heart leap in joy.

  “What could be more important?” she asked.

  Micha smiled as he reached for the Café Du Monde box. “Dessert.”

  “Oh,” she groaned in pleasure. “That smells amazing, but I’m stuffed.”

  “Who can resist beignets?” he teased, flipping open the lid. “Golden, deep-fried dough smothered in powdered sugar.”

  She waved them away. “Later, I promise.”

  “Later is good,” Micha assured her, setting aside the box as he held her dark gaze. “Much later.”

  “What about you?”

  “I’m not hungry.” His smile widened. “At least not for beignets.”

  A flush touched her cheeks. “You need to feed.”

  “When you’re ready,” he said, sharing his hope that she would eventually agree to become his donor. The thought of tasting blood from anyone but this female was repugnant. “There’s no need to rush. We have an eternity together.”

  Holding his gaze, she reached across the table to grasp his hand. “I’m ready.”

  Micha trembled. He’d put a lot of effort into bracing for her uncertainty. Feeding a vampire was not only incredibly intimate, but most creatures feared it would be painful. The fact that she sounded eager to offer her vein was making him tingle in all the right places.

  “You’re sure?” The question left his lips before he could halt it.

  Still gripping his hand, Skye rose to her feet. “More than sure.”

  Her voice was steady, the scent of laurel leaves scenting the air. Micha readily straightened, tugging her around the table so he could scoop her off her feet.

  If she was ready, he was more than ready.

  In fact, he was starving.

  “Let’s make ourselves more comfortable,” he murmured, using his powers to switch on soft music and dim the candlelight.

  “Very romantic,” Skye assured him as he perched on the edge of the bed, with her snuggled on his lap.

  “Not really.” He gazed down at her, engraving each delicate feature in his mind. Before he’d traveled to New York he would have sworn that he was perfectly content with his life. He had no interest in being distracted by lovers who would demand his time and attention. It had taken one glance at Skye Claremont to realize his life would never be complete without her at his side. “I’ve been a recluse for too long to have any skills in the romance department,” he admitted, regretting the lack of luxury. He fully intended to refurbish the entire lair once Skye was settled in.

  She reached up to brush her fingers over his cheek. “Then you must be a natural.”

  He bent his head to brush his lips over her mouth. “Or perhaps destiny formed each of us to perfectly fit together.”

  “Agreed.” Her hand moved to cup his cheek, a sudden shiver racing through her body.

  Micha froze, reminded of the first time she’d touched him. They hadn’t fully discussed what had happened in the cavern before it started to collapse. Or what it meant for the future. It’d been enough that they had survived. Now he realized he had to know.

  Tilting back her head, Skye eyed him with concern. “Is something wrong?”

  “I’m trying to find the nerve to ask,” he admitted.

  “Ask what?”

  “Is the vision you saw when you first touched me gone?”

  Her fingers stroked over his face, pausing to trace the thrust of his fangs as if fascinated by their razor-sharp edge.

  “It is,” she murmured in distracted tones.

  “And no new ones?” he pressed.

  “No visions.” She touched her fingertip against the point of his fang. “Just dreams.”

  Micha shuddered as a ravenous hunger blasted through him. He desperately needed to sink his fangs deep into her soft flesh, sucking her warm blood as his cock slid deep into her body.

  “Do they include me,” he rasped, his erection hardening to press tight against the curve of her hip.

  “Yes, but...” her words trailed away with a deliberate enticement.

  Desire clawed through him, joining the gnawing hunger until he struggled to think clearly. The heat and scent of her was enough to cloud his mind, but the feel of her snuggled in his lap was dissolving his thoughts until only his most basic instincts remained.

  “But what?” He was proud he managed to form the words.

  As if determined to shut down his brain completely, she reached to grasp the lapels of his robe, tugging them apart so she could slip her hands beneath the silken material.

  “You didn’t have so many clothes on,” she said in husky tones, smoothing her palms over his bare chest.

  Micha made a choked sound, his muscles clenching as the friction of her warm palms skimming over his body set off sparks of desire.

  “That can be rectified,” he assured her, brushing his lips over her forehead.

  “Can it?”