Page 39 of Of Flames and Crows

Funny how she can see straight through me.

“There’s also the library at the headquarters. I can go there anytime.” His tone brightened. “The texts the Council of the Moon have about magic are new to me. I’ve learned a lot from—” He paused at her grin. “What?”

“Don’t let Vlad hear you sound so enthusiastic about a bunch of books,” Mae drawled. “He’d totally tease you.”

“Yeah,” Violet muttered from the backseat. “You’d never hear the end of it.”

Nikolai’s mood darkened again at the mention of the incubus. “What’s he doing in Prague anyway?”

“He’s here on business.” Mae made a face. “You won’t guess who’s with him.”

Nikolai shot her a wary look. “Who?”

“Vasco Gomez’s boss.”

Nikolai’s hands nearly slipped off the steering wheel. “You mean the head of theBacatá Cartel?!”

“Future head,” Mae said. “He’s an…interesting man.”

Nikolai studied her pensive expression. Jealousy stabbed through him, cooling his tone. “Interesting how?”

“He’s a magic user. But he has a cracked core.”

Nikolai’s eyes rounded. “What?”

Miles was staring out his window. “I think you just missed our hotel.”

Nikolai swore and slammed on the brakes. Mae cursed when the seatbelt snapped into her midriff. Brimstone fell into the footwell and woke up with a growl. Filomena patted his head urgently with her feet to calm him down.

Horns blared behind them.

“Sorry.”

Nikolai did an illegal U-turn and parked outside their hotel a moment later. Mae’s cell rang just as he switched off the engine.

She dug her phone out from the back pocket of her jeans, took one look at the caller ID, and stiffened. She cast a furtive look at him before taking the call.

“What’s up?” She paused. “I just got here.” She frowned, shifted slightly toward the door, cupped her mouth with her hand, and hissed, “Seriously? No, I can’t come to your room!”

Nikolai scowled. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who’d rung her. He snatched her phone from her grasp.

“It’s one o’clock in the morning, asshole!” he barked into the cell. “She’s going to bed!”

Muffled swearing came from the speakers. Mae retrieved the device with a faint look of guilt.

“Nikolai is right, Vlad,” she said with a sigh once she put her phone back to her ear. “Why don’t we talk tomorrow? There’s a lot we need to catch up—” Mae froze. Her eyes rounded. “What?!”

Nikolai tensed. Brimstone’s ears perked up.

Mae’s face tightened. “We’ll be there in five.” She disconnected and directed a somber stare at Nikolai. “You’d better come with us.”

CHAPTER17

Mae’s tensionratcheted up another notch when she stepped out of the hotel elevator with Nikolai and the Nolan cousins. A group of dark-suited men stood outside Vlad’s suite.

It was hard to miss their deadly expressions and the bulge of guns under their armpits.

“How come there’s more of you every time I see you guys?” Mae asked Ilya and Milo glumly as she made her way over.

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