Page 11 of Of Flames and Crows

Mae unclenched her fingers from the stem of her glass and glared at the familiars and the weapon. “Next time, the three of you are eating in the corridor outside.”

They bristled indignantly at that.

“By the way, I’ll be headed to Prague this weekend on business,” Vlad interjected hastily. “Make sure you don’t get into any trouble while I’m away.”

Mae blinked. “You are?” Ire replaced her surprise. Her mouth pressed into a thin line. “And what am I, five?”

Vlad’s teasing smile slowly faded. “The Dark Council may be up to no good there too, although I am not certain what they could be trying to achieve.”

Mae’s fingers tightened on her knife and fork. “What do you mean?”

“I’ll let you know if I find something,” he replied evasively. “Incidentally, I haven’t seen Alicia around lately.”

“She’s on a trip to Hell,” Mae said. “Something about seeing to her troops.”

Alicia Calvarro was the Queen of Soul Reapers. She’d been working with them for some time in her capacity as the demon Astarte’s representative while wearing the disguise of an FBI Special Agent.

They’d just finished dessert and were clearing the table when Mae’s cell chimed with an incoming video call. Her stomach flip-flopped when she saw the caller ID. It was Nikolai.

Irritation prickled her skin and dampened some of her elation.Took him long enough!

“How about we put that in the dishwasher?” Vlad said nastily.

He indicated her phone. Mae narrowed her eyes at the incubus and moved to the window to take the call.

Nikolai appeared on the screen. Moonlight washed across his face where he stood on a dark balcony, the only other illumination the soft glow of lamps visible through the curtains billowing behind him.

“Hey,” the sorcerer said, contrite. “Sorry I haven’t called until now.”

Mae’s disgruntlement dissipated at his weary expression. “You look like death warmed over.”

“He should stay dead,” Vlad muttered from across the room.

Nikolai’s features tightened. “Who was that?”

Mae pursed her lips, feeling guilty even though she had no reason to. “Er, Vlad’s here.”

Nikolai’s gaze grew frosty. “Why?”

“He made dinner.”

A muscle twitched in Nikolai’s jawline. “How many times has he made you dinner since I left?”

Mae scratched her cheek.

“I can’t remember,” she said evasively.

“Nine.” Vlad came over and directed a smug smile at Nikolai over Mae’s shoulder. “And tonight’s the night we test her bedsprings—ow!”

He winced and rubbed the spot on his ribs Mae had just stabbed with an elbow.

“No one is testing anyone’s bedsprings,” she ground out.

“That’s cold, Princess,” he murmured with mock dejection.

He moved to clear the rest of the table.

Mae chewed her lip as she observed the dark circles under Nikolai’s eyes. “Is training not going well?”

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