Page 50 of Of Flames and Crows

Mae looked over to where the fox stared.

It wasn’t over yet.

She rose, retracted the spell containing Filomena, and lifted the convulsing chameleon in her hand. Her magic touched the corruption bubbling within the creature’s core. Mae scowled.

It reeked of familiarity.

“Barquiel!”Brimstone snarled.

Mae gritted her teeth, drew on the power blazing inside her, and conjured another spell. “Negate!”

The demonic energy twisting Filomena’s insides fizzled out.

The chameleon went limp in her grasp.

CHAPTER21

Roman came to slowly.He swallowed a groan, his mouth tasting like ash and his entire body aching as if he’d been pummeled by a dozen adversaries.

Muffled voices reached him as his ribcage rose and fell with deep, shuddering breaths. He kept his eyes closed and bit the inside of his cheek to stop a moan from leaving him.

The sharp cramps shooting through his muscles reminded him of what had happened, as did the echo of the corruption still throbbing in his veins from where it had filled his core and flooded his bloodstream.

The voices grew closer. A door slammed open.

“What the hell happened?!” someone barked as they stormed inside the chamber.

Roman’s fingers twitched. He’d recognize that voice anywhere.

“Well?” Oscar Beneventi ground out somewhere to his right.

His lynx’s hiss followed.

“The kid said something to the demon and pissed him off.” The second voice belonged to the man called Dietrich. He sounded resigned. “Rosedecided to play with him.”

“Shit! That damn demon!” Oscar cursed. “I go away for ten minutes to take a piss and have a drink and that bastard waltzes in from God knows where and decides to ruin my fucking plans! Where is he anyway?!”

“I don’t know. He was mumbling something about Mae when he came out of the room.”

Roman felt tension coil through the air around him.

“Mae?” Oscar repeated in a deadly tone.

“Yeah.”

Who’s Mae?

Footsteps approached the table he lay upon. It took all of Roman’s willpower not to flinch when he felt Oscar’s hand brush his belly.

The sorcerer blew out a sigh. “Good. She didn’t damage his core.”

“Any news on the location of his familiar?” Dietrich said.

“Not yet. I’m still not sure what the hell he did that made her disappear.”

Relief flooded Roman.Thank God! Filo is still safe!

Oscar’s next words sent ice skittering down his spine.

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