Page 116 of Ancient Magic

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.

---