Page 16 of Of Flames and Crows

Devin moved to intercept him.

“Let him go,” the red-haired man said dismissively. “He is of no consequence.”

Devin stopped and dipped his head. “As you wish, Master.”

Vincent vanished between the trees.

Roman’s relief was short-lived. The look the red-haired sorcerer was giving him sent ice skittering down his spine. He felt like an insect under a magnifying glass. One that was about to be dissected alive.

“Filomena,” he mumbled.

The chameleon made a low, grinding noise at his warning. She pressed her body against his cheek, her scales growing warm. Her power poured through their bond and amplified his magic.

Roman didn’t know what these two men wanted with him. But one thing he was certain of. If they captured him, it would be the last he would see of this world for some time, if not ever.

His gaze swung from the red-haired sorcerer to Devin. There was a slim chance he could take the guy down. But he was no match for his master.

That didn’t mean he would go down without a fight though.

Regret twisted Roman’s heart. He swallowed.

I’m sorry, Grandfather.

Budimir Volkov had sent him to Prague to protect him from the Vissarions after his mother Alina passed away. As the one and only heir to have manifested the Vissarion bloodline’s potent Fire Magic after Katarina Vissarion’s death over two decades ago, he was a rare specimen the noble family of sorcerers and witches would seek to confine and mold to their will so as to reclaim the esteem they once commanded in the world of magic.

Roman had promised his grandfather he would never practice his sorcery and would lay low so as not to garner the attention of any magic user whose path he might inadvertently cross.

He’d lied.

“Disperse,” the red-haired sorcerer said dispassionately.

The fire shield wavered and started to dissipate.

Roman clenched his jaw and drew on his core. “Ignite!”

The air thinned as a blaze exploded into existence across the terrace, consuming all the oxygen in the atmosphere. Devin cursed and raised a shield when the flames washed over him. He patted briskly at his burning clothes, his magic barrier barely holding the fire back.

“Impressive.”

Roman’s gaze found the red-haired sorcerer as he and his lynx stepped out of the conflagration, bodies unscathed. His heart thundered in his chest when he saw the translucent shield of darkness enveloping them.

Shit.He clenched his jaw.Looks like I have no choice but to trythat!

Filomena squeaked worriedly when she sensed his intent.

Roman raised a fire shield around himself, lifted the chameleon off his shoulder, and dropped to one knee. He slammed his palm down onto the ground and focused, the heat of the runes dancing gently across his skin as they sizzled and hissed.

Come on! Where are you?!

The red-haired sorcerer had stiffened outside the bubble protecting him. “What are you—?”

Roman’s chest swelled with elation when he found what he was looking for. It was a thin thread of magic running deep underground. He followed the path of the ley line to its nexus, grasped the heart of unimaginable power pulsing at its center, and guided it into his body.

He gasped as a white blaze suffused his blood and his very bones, a river of blinding light that robbed him of breath and sight. Roman ground his teeth, gathered the spell he wished to invoke, and let it loose.

“FROSTFIRE!”

Magic detonated across the terrace, filling it with incandescent flames of ice. Devin grunted, an ivory lance piercing his thigh. The red-haired sorcerer swore and raised a second shield around himself and the lynx.

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