Page 104 of Ancient Magic

Chapter 18

Micha instinctively stepped to block Skye from the vampire who was strolling toward them with obvious pleasure at their shocked expressions. He wasn’t sure what astonished him more. The fact that the vampire had followed them to the cavern. Or that he’d seemingly appeared from thin air.

“Ambassador?” Lynx appeared equally stunned, his brows drawing together as he stared at the vampire wearing a long black robe. “Sinjon’s servant?”

Azra hissed, continuing to move forward. “I’m no one’s servant.”

Micha struggled to wrap his brain around the realization that the ambassador had arranged his kidnapping.

“It was you,” he hissed.

Azra shrugged. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

“You arranged the keycard to get Lynx into Valen’s lair and told him where to find my room,” Micha clarified.

The male stopped a few feet from Lynx, a smug smile curving his lips. “Guilty.”

“No. That’s not true,” Lynx burst out, his eyes wide as he stubbornly refused to believe that he’d been used and manipulated by a vampire. “It was Igor.”

Azra folded his hands together, looking like a prophet confronting his naughty disciple. Micha, however, sensed a wariness beneath the male’s calm demeanor.

It was almost as if Azra was afraid of the fairy...

No. Micha shook his head. It wasn’t Lynx he feared, it was the energy pulsing from the crystal clutched in the fairy’s hand.

“Igor was a lump of muscle who proved to be a convenient tool, but he didn’t have the brains to tie his shoes without a vampire giving him directions,” Azra taunted.

“A lie,” Lynx snapped. “He was the one who sought me out and revealed my destiny.”

Azra laughed at the claim. “You gullible fool. You made it all so easy.”

Micha narrowed his gaze. Ah. Now he understood. Azra couldn’t take the crystal by force. He needed the fairy alive to handle the thing. Was his plan to gain control of Lynx’s mind and force him to his will? Was that why he was deliberately provoking him? That seemed the most obvious explanation.

“Was Kane involved?” Micha abruptly demanded, stepping forward.

He could try to overpower Azra. He was stronger than the male, despite being a thousand years younger. But he had to get closer. Oh, and pray that the male didn’t have any nasty weapons hidden beneath his robe.

“He was, but he had no idea he was being used,” Azra conceded, grudgingly glancing in Micha’s direction. “As usual, Kane was oblivious to everything but his obsessive fear of losing power. He’d approached Sinjon a dozen times over the past two centuries, complaining that he should be offered a Gyre in the new world. I suspected that it would only be a matter of time before he found an excuse to challenge Valen for his territory, and so I laid my plans. Then Valen conveniently mated a mage with the sort of magic that was destined to strike fear in the Cabal, and I knew it was the perfect opportunity.”

“What plans?” Micha demanded.

Azra pursed his lips, perhaps considering his options. The vampire didn’t have many, Micha reassured himself. No doubt he could smash his way into Lynx’s mind and force him to obey his will, but he still had Micha to deal with, along with a powerful mage.

“First I began with Igor.” Azra forced himself to answer the question, pretending they had all the time in the world.

Micha took another step forward. “Why him?”

“I needed someone close to Kane to prod the impulsive idiot into making his challenge to Valen, plus I knew only a demon could approach the fairy.” He sent a sneering glance toward Lynx. “He would never have trusted a vampire.”

“Damn right I would never trust a leech,” Lynx spit out in fury.

“How did you convince Igor to betray his master?” Micha hastily regained the vampire’s attention. Azra appeared calm, but there was a layer of ice spreading across the marble floor near his feet.

His control was razor thin.

Azra sent him an impatient glance. “It was simple. I promised to kill Kane and free his mate.”

Micha arched his brows. “Why was his mate imprisoned?”

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