Page 29 of Of Flames and Crows

She realized her question was brazen when she caught several of Cortes’s men exchanging wary glances.

Cortes’s smile thinned. “There are only three ways a boy comes out of a Medellín slum. Someone’s whore. A criminal. Or a corpse.”

“Ah.” Mae grimaced. “Still, you should do something about your core. It may have survived the initial damage, but it’s degenerating. There’s a chance it will kill you somewhere down the line.”

Cortes stiffened, his wine halfway to his lips. He frowned and lowered the glass. “You can tell that just by looking at me?”

“Yeah.” Mae rubbed the back of her head. “It’s kind of a superpower of mine.”

Cortes looked like he’d just remembered something. “You’re that chick from the strip club.” He stared. “The one who laid into the frat boy. Gomez told me about you.”

Mae’s face tightened. She leaned toward Vlad.

“Wait. He’s Gomez’s friend?!” she hissed out the corner of her mouth.

“He’s Gomez’s boss and the future leader of theBacatá Cartel,” Vlad said drily.

Mae’s stomach dropped. Violet and Miles paled.

“Relax,” Cortes drawled at their expressions. “I’m hardly going to shoot the Witch Queen.”

Mae laughed nervously. Cortes looked amused for once.

“By the way, did you tell your family you were leaving the country?” Vlad asked Mae curiously.

Mae’s eyes bulged.

“Oh God,” she mumbled numbly.

Vlad grimaced. “You didn’t?”

“You forgot to tell Yoo-Mi you were going out of town?” Miles arched an eyebrow. “I am impressed.”

“You aresodead,” Violet said with a look of pity.

Ilya and Milo dipped their heads in agreement.

“Who’s Yoo-Mi?” Cortes asked, nonplussed.

“Her mother,” Vlad said in a commiserating tone.

Brimstone looked up from where he was sucking on a T-bone.How about you call her now?

“How about I call her never,” Mae said glassily.

We’re so screwed, Hellreaver whined.

“Wait. So, she’s supposed to be some kind of crazy powerful witch, but she’s scared of her mom?” one of Cortes’s men murmured to Ilya.

“Her mother is a first-generation South Korean matriarch,” the bodyguard said somberly.

The guy’s eyes glazed over slightly. “Ah. One of those.”

Cortes looked like he was trying not to laugh.

CHAPTER13

“Doyou think you’ll be able to identify this red-haired man?” Budimir Volkov asked, his tone deadly calm despite the rage bubbling in his veins.

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