Page 73 of Of Flames and Crows

Roman flushed. His gaze darted to Mae.

Mae gave him a puzzled look.

Ludmila noted the exchange with a raised eyebrow. Her face livened up, like she’d just realized something. The devious cackle she uttered sent a chill down Mae’s spine and had Nikolai and Vlad stiffening.

* * *

“The reasonwhy I never told you about what I did for a living is because I wanted you to have nothing to do with that world,” Budimir told Roman grimly.

Roman’s face tightened, his hand stilling where he was stroking the chameleon clinging to his chest. He’d showered and changed before eating the breakfast Budimir and Ludmila had ordered for them.

Vlad studied the Bratva general and his grandson guardedly while he drank his coffee.

“So, wait,” Mae hissed beside him, chomping on a mini macaroon. “The kid didn’t know?!”

“It looks that way.”

It was clear Budimir had wanted to protect Roman the same way Yuliy had wished to shield him from a criminal life. Vlad frowned.

He should have talked to him about it once he got older though. At least I knew about the Bratva Yuliy worked for before I got involved in that underworld.

Vlad helped himself to a macaroon from Mae’s plate. She gasped and clutched the rest protectively to her chest.

“You should know better than to steal her food,” Violet told Vlad.

“That’s one way to accidentally lose some fingers, dude,” Miles murmured.

Millie hissed in agreement.

Cortes wordlessly passed Mae another plate of confectionaries. She brightened.

“I can’t help but feel that he’s slowly taming her, like some kind of circus monkey,” Violet whispered to Miles.

Cortes flashed the cousins a smile that made them shiver.

“I wish you hadn’t lied to me.” A muscle twitched in Roman’s cheek as he glared at his grandfather. “Do you how I felt when that—that mantold me about you?! I felt like a fool. One who had lived his entire life surrounded by lies!”

Budimir flinched at his shrill tone.

Ludmila’s quiet voice shattered the tense hush. “As much as I wish to see this old coot squirm, there is no denying that he did what he did to protect you.”

Surprise shot through Vlad.

Roman narrowed his eyes at the old witch. “Look, I’m grateful to have met you, but I still don’t trust the Vissarions. Not after what my grandmother told me about you lot.”

Ludmila’s escort exchanged irritated murmurs.

“Smart kid,” Cortes said under his breath.

Ludmila’s expression turned chagrined. She raised a hand to silence the Fire Magic users standing behind her.

“I won’t deny my past actions.” Lines wrinkled the witch’s brow as she cast a sharp glance at Vlad. “But I wish you would judge me on my present deeds and my future path.”

Vlad’s stomach clenched. He couldn’t help but feel that the Vissarion matriarch had intended those words for him too.

“Can you tell us what happened to you?” Nikolai asked.

Roman watched Ludmila for a beat longer before reluctantly providing them with details about his kidnapping.

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