Page 54 of Of Flames and Crows

The diamond studs in Vlad’s earlobes dropped into his hands and transformed into black swords brimming with a red haze of incubus energy. He rose and marched toward the sorcerers and witches who had attacked Milo.

“Wait!” Mae said hastily. “Let’s just…let’s all calm down!” She looked at the incubus’s grandmother. “Tell them to put their magic away.”

She jerked her head at her escort.

The Vissarion matriarch bristled. “Who are you to tell me what to do, girl?!”

Mae narrowed her eyes.

“Let me guess?” The old woman flashed a contemptuous look at Vlad. “You’re one of that mongrel’s escorts.”

Crimson power detonated in Mae’s hands.

Brimstone’s hackles rose.This damn crone!

Unease darted across the faces of the Fire Magic users and the old woman as they witnessed Mae’s magic.

“Look, I know how you feel, but you can’t hurt her,” Violet warned Mae. “She’s an old lady and you’ll never hear the end of it from your mom and Bryony.”

Vlad’s grandmother recovered her composure and glowered at Violet. “Another whore of that incubus rat, I presume? Or are you servicing these despicable criminals?”

She pointed her cane at Cortes and Budimir.

Miles took a threatening step forward, his and Millie’s pupils flaring gold with their magic.

“I changed my mind,” Violet said in a hard voice. She glanced at Mae. “Crush her.”

Vlad’s grandmother sneered. “I’d like to see you try, wench!”

Her salamander’s eyes flared. She tapped her cane.

Fire Magic exploded from the tip and surged across the suite toward Mae.

“Mae!” Vlad moved, Nikolai at his side.

Mae didn’t bat an eyelid as the flames approached her. “Devour.”

The sphere in her right hand expanded to twice its size and swallowed the fire in a single giant gulp.

The old woman gasped.

Glass clinked and furniture rattled as Mae unleashed a violent burst of magic. The crimson wave engulfed the suite in a flash and drove nearly everyone to their knees.

Budimir and Cortes clung grimly to the table, knuckles white as they fought the immense pressure hammering into their bodies.

Shocked cries escaped the Fire Magic users when Brimstone transformed into the nine-tailed fox. They backpedaled as he stepped forward and lowered his giant head, flecks of drool dropping on the floor at their feet where his pointed fangs glinted inches from them.

Vlad’s grandmother looked past the demonic familiar to Mae, her face pale and her eyes full of grudging respect. She gripped her cane and struggled to stay upright.

“Witch Queen.” A muscle jumped in her cheek as she bowed curtly. “Please excuse my blunder. I did not know who you were.”

She signaled to her escort. They put their Fire Magic away.

Mae watched them for a moment longer to make sure they would stay put, sniffed, and retracted her powers. “Right, now that everyone’s released some tension, how about we sit down and talk, like civilized people?”

Budimir, Cortes, and their men breathed sighs of relief at being able to move again.

A metallic chomping reached Mae.

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