Magic and Mayhem: A Collection of 21 Fantasy Novels

by Jasmine Walt

  Axel hissed, shocked his father had shown such a hologram to Lynx. Worse, he didn’t like his part in it. “Thanks for your faith in my integrity. It must have been a hologram, so don’t let it upset you.”

  Lynx looked anything but convinced. “Tell me why you want to kill Tao.”

  Axel shined the flashlight up and down the passageway, ensuring they were alone, then leaned in close, whispering, “That idiot Lukan attacked Mott this morning, so now Mott commanded me to kill my cousin right after the last wedding celebration.”

  Lynx’s eyes grew to the size of the two full moons currently hanging over Cian.

  “That’s not all. Mott’s now so paranoid, he thinks Tao plans to kill him, too, even though that’s crazy.” Axel decided not to add that his own life was also in jeopardy if he didn’t murder his cousins. That knowledge would put undue pressure on her, and he wanted her to choose him because she wanted him, not because she felt compelled by threats.

  Lynx rubbed her temples. “And you’re the obvious choice as the killer.”

  He hated the disgust in her voice. The only consolation was that it was laced with a generous dollop of confusion.

  “I came to your room. Mott found out. It made me a prime target for doing his dirty work.” It burned Axel to admit it, but maybe his father had been right, and his arrogance had finally caught up with him. Except that Mott had made him the most tempting offer of his life. Axel cautiously dropped the news. “Our mad emperor says I can have you if I do it.” As Axel expected, Lynx looked sick, so he shared his problem, “As much as I want you, Lynxie, I could never harm Tao for you. Lukan? No problem. But Tao—”

  Lynx looked confused rather than repulsed, so he asked, “What are you thinking?”

  She shook her head. “To be honest, I don’t know. The vision seemed enough to confuse, but not to clarify, and now you tell me all this. What am I supposed to believe?”

  That she still didn’t trust him stung.

  “How about trusting me?” Axel asked.

  Lynx looked as if she’d sucked on a lemon. That hurt even more.

  “I told you, you saw a hologram, and you can never believe them. They’re all rubbish, created in my father’s lair to frighten and control people who have no idea something as basic as electricity even exists.”

  “I know what I experienced, Axel, and it wasn’t . . . only a hologram. I definitely saw Tao with an axe in his head.”

  Anger and determination hardened Axel’s face. “Well, I didn’t put it there.”

  She must have believed him, because she lay against him, resting her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her and brushed her forehead with his lips. She leaned into his kiss, making him want to forget Mott’s sordid business and to kiss her like there was no tomorrow.

  But that was impractical, given the constraints. It was a matter of time before one of the many people searching the labyrinth for her would stumble across them.

  Axel straightened and eased away from her so he could look at her face. “I have a plan that will solve all this without unnecessary bloodshed. Unfortunately, it involves negotiating with Lukan. Never a pleasant experience, but it can’t be helped.”

  “‘Unnecessary bloodshed’?” Lynx’s breath hitched. “What does that mean?”

  “A death is unavoidable, Lynx, but I’ll be damned if it’s someone I care about. Between Lukan and Mott, right now Lukan is the lesser evil. I intend to make him a deal—his father’s death in exchange for you.”

  Lynx jerked away as if he’d hit her. “I have no love for Emperor Mott and see no reason to mourn at his death, but Axel, you’re assuming I want you. How can you be so presumptuous when I told you last night I’d never be your lover?”

  Axel laughed. “You’re talking to Axel Avanov. ‘Presumptuous’ is how I get things done. And I’ve changed my mind. I no longer want you as my lover.” The tensing of her body told him he’d scored a direct hit with that rejection. It emboldened him to say, “I’m looking for a much longer term commitment from you.”

  Some prizes were worth even more than crowns. Women like Lynx of Norin didn’t blaze into his life every day. Once in a lifetime, if he was lucky. He’d be an idiot not to offer to bind himself to her with the strongest ties in the world. Then he’d spend the rest of time making sure he deserved her.

  A rush of emotions, none of which he understood, flashed across Lynx’s face, and her hand went for her missing feathers. At that moment, he could have killed the she-witch for cutting off her braid.

  Lynx dropped her hand into her lap. “Are you saying you want me to marry you?”

  Heart pounding with a mix of hope, uncertainty, and a dollop of fear that she would reject him, Axel took her hand and kissed her calluses. When she didn’t protest or pull away, he ventured, “Would that be so bad?”

  “You ask me that after you’ve admitted you intend to murder your uncle?”

  “He intends to murder Tao and Lukan.” Axel leaned in close for emphasis. “He’s also threatened to kill your parents. Isn’t that enough reason to preempt him?”

  Lynx nodded, encouraging him to add, “And why has Lukan avoided you since you got here, when the whole court knows how much he’s been lusting for you?”

  Lynx shifted out of their pool of light. Axel responded by repositioning the flashlight.

  Lynx let out a resigned sigh. “All right, Axel, I suspect it’s because he’s worried about the Dmitri Curse. If I’ve been having weird visions that make me disappear into thin air, then there’s a good chance he has, too.”

  Axel cocked his head to the side, listening. Someone was calling Lynx’s name. He exhaled a frustrated breath.

  “My search party?”

  “Yes. Decision time.”

  Lynx drew in close, whispering, “First, I need straight answers. Is Mott planning to harm the two of us?”

  “I don’t have a straight answer about you,” Axel whispered back. “But work it out, Lynx. If Lukan is worried about the Dmitri Curse, what are the chances of him pitching up for your wedding? Hell, the man can’t even show up for breakfast. How long do you think Mott will let you live after that failure?”

  “I thought I was your reward for killing his sons. He wouldn’t break your new toy, would he?” Lynx’s voice was flippant, but he could see fear in her eyes.

  Axel chewed his lip. He had run out of options and now had to tell her the whole story. “My name is also on Mott’s kill list. If I don’t murder Tao and Lukan, I die. I guess you’re as expendable as the rest of us. Probably more so, given that you can’t even claim to be family.”

  A flash of light told Axel the other searchers had entered their passage.

  Lynx must have seen it, too, because she lunged over him and grabbed his hand axe. “Don’t leave me defenseless, Axel.”

  He put his hand over hers, stopping her from taking it. “Agree to be mine, and I’ll give you a whole arsenal to protect yourself with.”

  Lynx hesitated, and her eyes flickered closed. Her face writhed with indecision. Whatever her internal struggle, she finally looked at him and said, “Can you promise me you’ll sort out Mott?”

  “I give you my word. I won’t let anything happen to you or your family.”

  She licked her lips, her eyes tortured. He was beginning to give up hope when she said, “Give me your axe.”

  Axel’s heart soared, and his breath came easy again. Never had he imagined proposing to a woman—and being accepted—over the handle of an axe. It explained why he was willing to risk everything.

  A voice called. “Is someone there?”

  “Oh no, the she-witch,” Lynx hissed, looking around.

  “What’s she still doing around?” Axel asked, speaking to himself more than Lynx.

  “Huh?”

  “She’s supposed to be deported to the prison camps.” Axel sighed at yet another unexpected development.

  “No doubt she plans to zap me again for daring to vanish.”

  �
��Not while I’m still breathing.” Axel snatched a kiss from Lynx’s open mouth while unbuckling his axe. “Here. Hide it. Don’t let the witch find it.” He stood, stepping away from Lynx. “Princess Lynx is here, Mother.”

  “Dragon’s curses!” Holding an oil lantern, Mother Saskia broke into an ungainly jog. “Is she all right, my lord? What an uproar we’ve all been in.”

  Axel didn’t bother answering because, in the dancing shadows, he noticed another figure running up the passageway toward them. He called out, “Tao, Lynx is freezing. Chuck me your surcoat.”

  Ignoring the command, Tao elbowed passed Mother Saskia, stopping at Lynx’s side.

  Lynx stood, showing no obvious sign of the axe.

  But he wasn’t taking chances on the she-witch finding it, so he tugged the shoulders of Tao’s surcoat. “She needs this.”

  Lynx played along with him by pretending to shiver, but he noticed she rubbed herself with only one arm. The other curved behind her back, hiding the axe.

  Tao ripped off his coat. Annoyingly, he decided to be a gentleman and wrapped it around Lynx. “I’m so sorry, Lynx. Honestly, I don’t know what happened back then.”

  Tao’s hand brushed Lynx’s back, and his eyes widened with recognition, followed by surprise. Lynx stiffened, and Axel held his breath, wondering if Tao would betray them.

  But he needn’t have worried. Not about Tao.

  His cousin shot him a reassuring look, turned to Saskia, and said, “Princess Lynx needs strong arms to get her back to her apartment. Advise the other searchers she has been found. Warlord Avanov and I will help her to her room.”

  “Tao, you can manage Lynx on your own,” a quiet voice said from the shadows.

  Axel’s stomach knotted as Lukan stepped into their circle of light. Although addressing his cousin, Lukan looked directly at him. “The great Warlord Avanov and I have a few things to discuss. About Lynx, as it so happens.”

  Mother Saskia’s head swiveled between him and Lukan. The priestess clearly didn’t want to be caught in the cross fire of anger roiling off the crown prince, because she bobbed a curtsy. “Of course, Your Highness, I will alert the others.” In a flurry of white, she sped away down the passage.

  Axel stepped forward to meet Lukan. Feigning calm, he said, “Your timing is impeccable. I was coming to look for you.”

  Axel’s eyes widened with surprise when Lukan ignored him and spoke again to Tao.

  “Get her out of here.” Lukan looked at Lynx with disdain. “We’ll talk later.”

  Axel expected Lynx to say something, but clearly, protecting her axe was her only priority. He agreed.

  “Hold me tight this time, Lynx,” Tao said, opening the door to the labyrinth shortcut where Lynx had vanished so many hours ago. She gripped Tao’s arm as if her life depended on it, and together, they stepped through the doorway.

  Axel turned to face Lukan—and the most important negotiation of his life.

  36

  Lukan circled Axel in the wan light cast by the gas lamp he placed on the floor between them. He noticed with grim satisfaction that, for once, Axel had lost his irritating smile. In fact, his cousin seemed . . . agitated.

  At least that was something.

  Still, Axel’s hand tapping a rhythm on the hilt of his sword was a minor display of distraction compared to the turmoil boiling inside Lukan. His heart was beating so hard he could feel the blood pounding in his head. It was giving him a crushing headache. He couldn’t worry about that now.

  Axel had to be brought to heel. Today.

  It was the only way they could work together to govern the empire, a goal Lukan was still committed to, regardless of Dmitri’s ultimatums. He opened his mouth to speak, but Axel beat him to it.

  “Lukan, I have an offer for you.”

  Lukan’s jeering snort bested anything Axel could offer. “I’m not here to bargain with you. You’ve crossed a line, Axel, and I won’t—can’t—let you get away with it.”

  “Why? Because your pride is hurt?”

  “Damn you! This isn’t just about pride. I’m the crown prince, but that means nothing if people don’t honor me. You have never given me the respect I deserve. And now you and Lynx have humiliated me in the worst possible way—in front of my father.”

  Axel laughed bitterly. “Is that how you see it? Funny, I seem to recall spending my entire childhood taking your father’s kicks so you didn’t have to. How many times did I stand between you and him when he was ranting, ready to knock your head off your shoulders for something you did? Like hiding in the archive when you should have been practicing sword fighting.”

  Lukan grimaced, not wanting to admit that what Axel said was true. He had hated his obligatory fighting lessons and had always skipped them. Axel had indeed covered for him, even taking his beatings. “My father always preferred you. Everyone did.”

  “Right,” Axel said. “I’ll bear that in mind every time I remember him smashing my head against the wall when I was protecting you. And what thanks did I get? Nothing. But, Lukan, today, you can change all that.”

  Lukan waved his hand disparagingly, refusing to allow Axel to dominate this discussion—or to guilt him into doing something that didn’t serve him. “I’m your crown prince, and you are my subject—”

  “And there we have it.” Even in the dull light, Lukan could see Axel’s eyes flashing. “Your sense of entitlement leaves me breathless. For years you used me, let me take your beatings, not because we had a friendship, but because you considered me your subject. Now, I use you as much as you used me.” Axel’s voice dripped bitterness. “You taught me well.”

  Lukan swallowed hard, wishing the pounding behind his eyes would cease. “It’s not like you’re getting nothing from the . . . arrangement. There are other generals in Chenaya whom I could appoint as Lord of the Conquest when I come to power, but I have offered it to you.”

  “Because I’m the best!” Axel shouted, slamming his hand against the wall. The crack of his palm, mixed with his voice, echoed down the long passageway.

  Lukan—and Axel—froze, conscious there could be ears hiding in the dark.

  His cousin took a deep breath, paused, and then whispered, “Look, none of this is helping. I guess you’ve heard by now that your father wants you dead.”

  “My father has wanted me dead since the first day I skipped sword practice.”

  “True,” Axel admitted. “But now he’s brought in an assassin. Trust me, this man won’t fail.”

  Lukan blanched. Although he anticipated some retaliation for his crazy attack on his father, it wasn’t this.

  “You’re lying.” But he knew he was grasping at smoke; Axel spoke with conviction. Lukan lurched back, knocking into the wall. He caved into it, needing the support. “What do you know?”

  “Enough to make a bargain worthwhile—for you.”

  Lukan guessed what Axel wanted out of any deal they struck: Lynx.

  It brought Dmitri’s words about Axel and Lynx loving each other into stark relief. The trouble was, Axel allied to Lynx would leave him hopelessly vulnerable. Especially as he still hadn’t made up his mind what to do about her. No matter how insane, he could not bear her rejecting him when he craved her so much. He bought time by saying, “And I’m to believe you will get nothing from this deal? How philanthropic of you.”

  Axel leaned in so close that Lukan could feel his breath. “How much do you want to live?”

  With sickening certainty, Lukan understood. “Y-you’re the assassin.”

  Of course Axel was.

  If anyone could callously kill him, it would be his cousin. And, of course, his father would choose his capable nephew for the task. Fear, like a tightening rope, clutched at Lukan’s throat, and he struggled to breathe. For the first time in his life, he wished he carried a weapon. Not that it would do him any good against Axel. Finally, he managed to gasp, “When? Where?”

  “As I recently said to someone far more appealing than you, that informat
ion comes at a price. Which brings me back to the deal I have for you . . . are you willing to negotiate, or do I walk away now and let justice take its majestic course?”

  “I’m open to discussion.” Lukan raked his brain for some bargaining chip. Fealty to the office of crown prince seemed most logical, but Axel had made it clear Lukan had burned through all claims on his cousin’s loyalty. With nothing to offer, he prevaricated. “I know how much the empire means to you, Axel. We always agreed to work together to expand the borders, to make it even greater than it is now. Why would you risk that by killing me?”

  “I have another offer on the table that means more to me.”

  Lukan could only guess at the meaning of that cryptic comment. He licked his lips. “It’s only by uniting our talents and cooperating with each other that we will keep . . . renegades under control.”

  “What you mean to say is, it’s only if I cooperate with you that you will keep renegades under control,” Axel scoffed. His derisive smile locked back into place. “I have my own ideas on how to tame the Norin . . . renegade.”

  Axel was talking about Lynx! That meant he knew she was the one from Dmitri’s prophecy. Lukan choked on his own saliva. When he stopped coughing, he rasped, “You know . . . about . . . everything?”

  Axel folded his arms casually across his chest. “I know I wield ultimate power here. If you want me to unite that power with yours—puny as yours may be—then you’re going to have to give me what I want. In exchange, I will give you what you want.”

  A flare of anger at Axel’s insufferable arrogance ignited in Lukan’s chest, but he worked hard to suppress it. Since the ball, his anger had already exacted too high a price. As much as it irked him, as usual, Axel was holding the best strategy tiles.

  “And what do I want?” Lukan asked. “Other than to live, of course.”

  Axel pulled out his flashlight and shined it carefully down the passage.

  When Lukan saw there was no one eavesdropping, he turned expectantly to his cousin. “Well?”