Page 101 of Rites of Passage

“Not until eleven.” Guilt flashed across the sorcerer’s gaze as it swept the chamber. “You still have half an hour.”

“It’s okay.” Mae gave him a sad smile. “I want to find her as much as you do.”

Simon swallowed convulsively, his eyes glittering.

Ye-Seul passed him a tissue. The sorcerer mumbled his thanks.

Vlad raised an eyebrow. “Want us to come with you?”

Nikolai looked similarly interested in accompanying her.

Mae made a face. “You two, in a confined metal space thousands of feet in the air? I don’t think my ulcer will cope.”

“We’re not five,” Nikolai protested.

“Don’t forget our date when you return to New York,” Vlad said lightly, the warning in his eyes a reminder of what they’d talked about on the ballroom balcony two nights ago.

Jeez, was that really only two nights ago?

“What date?” Nikolai snapped.

Ryu grinned, her shrewd gaze swinging between Vlad and Mae. “Yeah, what date?”

Vlad sneered at Nikolai. “Did you hit your head during the fight? You were there when we talked about it!”

“I have business with his uncle,” Mae explained at everyone else’s confused expressions.

Abraham sucked in air. “You’re seeing theBlack Devils’boss?!”

Derrick and Gerard’s eyes filled with respect.

“Our Mae’s a regular gangster,” Ye-Seul said cheerfully.

CHAPTER43

Three dayslater and Mae was starting to suspect her grandmother’s words were going to become a reality. She stepped out of Vlad’s car and eyed the gleaming mansion rising before them with a sliver of dread.

“This is where you used to live?”

“Only after we came to the U.S.” Vlad closed the door of his Bentley. “I grew up outside St. Petersburg.”

Brimstone brushed against Mae’s legs as they climbed the steps to the front door. She was wearing the black, velour pantsuit Vlad had bought her for their trip to Philadelphia and matched it with some of the jewelry he’d gifted her for the reception. Tarang chuffed excitedly beside the fox, keen to show his friend his territory.

It had taken her a couple of days to recover from all that had happened in Philadelphia and their subsequent findings in Atlanta. As promised, Mae had used Charlotte’s soul orb to locate her body. To everyone’s relief, the witch’s remains bore no visible external injuries. Mae speculated from this that the agony she had felt from Charlotte’s soul orb had to do with Barquiel tearing her magic core out of her body.

Nikolai’s words from last night weighed heavily on her mind.

It had taken him a day to tell her the decision he’d come to concerning Marlena’s invitation to join the Council of the Moon. Though he hadn’t accepted her offer, he had agreed to go to the Council’s headquarters to meet the rest of his family. More importantly, Bryony had informed Marlena about the disabling side effect Nikolai and Alastair experienced after accessing a ley line. As the New York coven High Priestess had suspected, Marlena had told them there was a solution to the problem. It would, however, require Nikolai to physically practice his white magic with her and other senior members of the Council of the Moon.

He didn’t have a date in mind yet for his departure. Only that it would be in a matter of weeks.

The mansion door opened, distracting Mae from her gloomy thoughts.

A tall, wiry, middle-aged man in an impeccable suit stood in the entrance. “Please, do come in.”

Vlad introduced Mae to his former tutor and Yuliy Vissarion’s current secretary as the latter closed the door behind them.

Gustav Luchok greeted Mae with a gentlemanly bow. “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Jin.” He smiled. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

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