Page 33 of Of Flames and Crows

“I don’t know why, but I half expected the Council of the Moon’s headquarters to be all white and church-like and stuff,” Miles muttered as he and Violet joined her.

“You mean, instead of Dracula’s summer home?” Violet said wryly.

Apprehension oozed through Mae as they climbed the steps to the porch and a pair of striking, iron-studded doors. She could sense Nikolai and Alastair’s cores in the distance.

There was something…different about the energy they were emitting.

Marlena met them in the main hall, her footsteps echoing on the mosaic floor and around the cavernous vestibule and her terrier trotting beside her.

Her voice shook with relief as she hugged Mae. “I’m glad you made it safely.”

Mae squeezed her tightly before stepping back and scanning her face. “How is he?”

“He’s pretty much recovered from what happened,” Marlena said in clipped tones. “He’s just…” Her voice trailed off. “It’s better if you see for yourself.” She rubbed her forehead tiredly. “It’s kinda hard to explain.”

Mae exchanged a worried glance with Violet and Miles. Dread trailed cold fingers down her spine as they headed deeper into the building with Marlena. Murmurs followed them, the sorcerers and witches they crossed paths with goggling openly at Mae and Brimstone.

“I’m sorry,” Marlena said with a grimace. “They kinda heard you were coming.”

The eerie energy Mae had sensed from Nikolai’s core grew stronger when they took the stairs to a basement. They negotiated a series of shadowy corridors and approached a room at the end of a wide passage.

The double doors were protected by spells erected by a group of sorcerers and witches. Mae examined the multi-layered shield curiously.

The pale wall throbbed with Moon Magic.

She would have taken a closer look under different circumstances.

“Let us through,” Marlena commanded.

The magic users withdrew their guards, their gazes widening in recognition as they registered Mae and Brimstone’s presence.

Marlena opened the doors without preamble and entered the chamber beyond. Mae followed and froze a few steps inside. Violet gasped beside her. Miles swore.

Brimstone grew alert next to Mae, his curiosity evident.

Goosebumps broke out across her skin despite the heat washing over her. She stared, her heart in her mouth.

Nikolai and Alastair stood facing a red chameleon in the middle of a large, circular, sunken floor enclosed by a veritable cage of shields.

All three were on fire.

It took but a moment for Mae to realize that the makeshift magic prison they stood inside was the only thing stopping the violent power spewing from their cores from destroying the room and likely half the building. Faint cracks were already visible on the floor and walls, a zigzag pattern that radiated from the center of the chamber.

The faces of the sorcerers and witches maintaining the defensive shield were gaunt with exhaustion. Mae spotted another group sitting on the ground and realized they were taking turns maintaining the barrier.

“Calm down,” Nikolai was telling the chameleon firmly. “We mean you no harm.”

From the way a muscle danced in his cheek, Mae deduced he’d been trying to appease the creature for some time.

The lizard spit angrily, her tail snapping from side to side.

Brimstone’s ears pricked.She’s a familiar.

Mae swallowed. She could sense the creature’s abject fear through her link with the fox.

Something else dawned on her. Something that had been nagging at her subconscious ever since she’d felt the weird power coming from Nikolai and Alastair. She met Brimstone’s gaze, surprise reverberating through her.

“Is that—?!”

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