Page 81 of Ancient Magic

“Those might appear to be a symbol of my strength,” he agreed, not adding that the flesh-eating vines he’d created to protect the hexed sword were one of his favorite endeavors. “But they didn’t save me from certain death. This did.”

They continued to circle the open space in the center of the room, as Micha focused on the magic that vibrated around them. They were smack in the middle of the Gyre, and the power was a tangible force. Spreading his powers, he concentrated on condensing the magic until it was squashed into a layer beneath their feet. At least that was how he envisioned what he was doing. Since he’d never encountered another vampire with his gift, he had to make it up as he went along.

The hit-and-miss method had led to a few disasters, but now he could feel the air thickening beneath their feet, creating a platform that allowed them to defy gravity.

It took several seconds of twirling with buoyant ease before Skye gasped in shock. “Are we floating?”

“We are.”

“Oh.” She smiled in pleasure. “I like this power. But how did it save your life?”

“It was when I was first traveling the world on my own. I’d heard rumors of stone etchings from the earliest days of fairies that revealed them in their true form. Of course, it had to be hidden in flooded caves beneath a remote island. I’d been there less than a week when the local volcano rudely decided to erupt. Before I could escape I was surrounded by rivers of molten lava.”

Her smile faded, as if she sensed that his amusing story hadn’t been amusing at the time. Honestly, Micha had been inches from a painful death.

“So you floated away?” she asked.

“It was more of a lurching meander just an inch above the liquid magma, but I managed to make it to the nearby sea where I’d left my boat.”

She studied him with a searching gaze. “I’m very happy you survived, but I sense you’re making a point.”

Micha’s hands spread across her lower back as he continued to hold them above the ground.

“I am,” he assured her. “I wanted you to understand that strength comes in many forms. You might not possess the raw power of your friends, but that doesn’t lessen your gifts.” He twirled faster, pressing her tight against his hard body. “And...”

“And what?”

“And I wanted a legitimate reason to hold you in my arms,” he confessed.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, deliberately nestling against the hard thrust of his arousal.

“So it was a pickup line to lure me into your bedroom?”

“Literally,” Micha groaned, tilting his head down to scrape the tips of his fangs along the curve of her neck.

“I feel like I have wings,” she whispered.

Micha was drowning in the dizzying scent of sweet desire and laurel leaves, his soul molding and realigning as it created a space for his destined mate.

“I suspected you were an angel from the moment I saw you.”

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