Page 26 of Of Flames and Crows

“He can understand what I’m saying?” the Colombian asked curiously.

“To an extent. It’s more like he’s attuned to my emotions.” Vlad studied Cortes steadily. “It sounds like you’ve had a challenging past.”

“No more than you, I suspect. I get the feeling the stories about you growing up in a castle like some kind of fairytale prince are grossly exaggerated.”

Vlad grimaced.

Cortes lifted his Scotch to his lips and observed him shrewdly while he took a leisurely sip. “Are you worried about meeting Volkov?”

Vlad refused to rise to the bait and maintained a neutral expression out of sheer habit. “Not really. What happened is in the past as far as we’re concerned.”

“That’s very…generous of the man.”

Vlad raised his glass and took a mouthful of his whiskey. A restless feeling twisted his insides as the expensive alcohol burned a smooth path down his throat.

Truth be told, he wasn’t looking forward to seeing Volkov again. The last time he’d met the man in person had been at a funeral, after all.

Cortes glanced at his watch with a faint frown. He signaled to one of his guards. “Go ask the pilot what’s taking so long. We should have been in the air five minutes ago.”

The man nodded and made for the cockpit. It opened before he reached it. The co-pilot exited the flight deck and brushed past the bodyguard as he hurried down the aisle toward Cortes, his face pinched.

“I’m sorry, sir,” he said in a rushed voice. “We have a slight situation.”

Cortes observed him calmly. “What kind of situation?”

“An SUV just pulled up in our flight path.”

Cortes’s men reached for their guns. The co-pilot blanched. Cortes raised a hand. His men slowly lowered their hands from their weapons.

The Colombian turned his head and leveled a chilly look at Vlad. “You know anything about this, Vissarion?”

Vlad frowned and shook his head, genuinely puzzled. “I have no idea what—”

“Uh-oh,” Milo mumbled.

The bodyguard was staring out of a porthole.

Tarang rose and huffed excitedly, his tail swinging ever faster.

Cortes stared at the tiger.

A sinking feeling came over Vlad. He knew the look on his familiar’s face.

“What is it?” he asked Milo stiffly, praying fervently the answer wouldn’t be what he was dreading it was going to be.

Ilya shattered his hopes with his next words.

“It’s Mae,” the bodyguard reported gruffly, peering over Milo’s shoulder. “Violet and Miles are with her.”

Vlad’s fingers clenched on his armrests.Shit!

His heartbeat picked up as he stood and crossed the aisle to a starboard porthole.

Mae’s face brightened when she spotted him. She was hanging out of the passenger window of Violet’s SUV. She waved energetically, opened the door, and jumped out of the vehicle with Brimstone.

Cortes appeared next to Vlad. He furrowed his brow as he watched Mae run toward the aircraft.

“Who is this—Mae?” His frown deepened. “Is that a fox?”

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