Page 45 of Of Flames and Crows

He swallowed heavily.I’m just glad Filomena is safe.

Though they were physically apart, Roman could still sense his familiar faintly through the bond that linked their cores. He’d been worried when he’d felt her intense distress upon waking up in the cell where he’d been imprisoned. He knew the chameleon had been beyond upset that he’d sent her away.

He’d also been concerned about her fate.

Casting her into the nexus had been a last-ditch attempt to save them both. He hadn’t known if she would be able to make her way out or if she would remain trapped down there. As a creature of magic, she would likely survive in that environment for some time.

The fact that her emotions had settled somewhat in the last day was only half reassuring. Roman fisted his hands.

I have to find a way out of here. I have to tell the Council of the Moon what’s happening and save Filo!

Though he’d never interacted with the sorcerers and witches he knew to be in the city, it had been child’s play guessing where their headquarters was. He’d spent plenty of time on the bridge that overlooked the island where he’d sensed a concentration of strong magic, watching the vehicles that drove in and out of the woods.

A dog’s tortured howl raised goosebumps on Roman’s flesh. Laura screamed again.

It sounded like they were ripping her limbs apart.

Bile rose in Roman’s throat. He pressed a hand to his mouth and gagged. Whimpers of terror sounded from the cells around him.

Laura and her familiar went quiet.

Roman shuddered. He stumbled to a stone wall, pressed his back against it, and slid down onto his bottom. He hugged his legs to his chest and choked back tears, knowing he would never see the witch or her dog again.

He didn’t know how long he’d been sitting like that for when an eerie pressure somewhere in the dungeon made his ears pop. The air grew heavy and oily.

Roman’s eyes widened. He scrambled to his feet and backed up to the far corner of his cell. He could feel someone approaching. Someone whose energy made his stomach roil.

The sound of heels clacking against stone rose from the corridor.

The other sorcerer and witches had similarly moved away from their doors and were crouching in the shadows of their prisons with their familiars. They’d warned him about the person he suspected was coming down the passage. Roman swallowed.

Though she’s not exactly a person.

A figure appeared in front of his cell. He stared.

A tall, pretty blonde with gray eyes stood watching him steadily through the bars.

“You must be the boy who upset Oscar,” she drawled.

Roman fisted his hands. Despite the stranger’s beauty, he knew he was looking at a monster.

The blonde narrowed her eyes at his silence. “Come here.”

Roman stood his ground and glared at her.

The blonde tsk-tsked. She raised a hand and curled her index finger.

A gasp left him when an invisible force squeezed his arms and legs together and dragged him across the floor. Roman clenched his teeth as he came to a jarring stop a mere inch from the metal grille. His pulse raced.

The black magic coating the iron bars washed across his flesh in corrupt trails he couldn’t see but could feel with every fiber of his being.

Crimson flashed in the blonde’s eyes. She smiled and cocked her head. “Don’t worry. I would never spoil a pretty face like yours.”

Roman shuddered as she reached through the bars and danced a nail down his cheek. She leaned in and scented the air around him, like a predator savoring her prey.

“Hmm, the sweet smell of a virgin.” She licked her lips. “I may have to ask Oscar if he wouldn’t mind me breaking you in before he gets on with the business he has with you.”

Revulsion tightened Roman’s jaw at her sick suggestion. His skin crawled when she straightened and scanned his body from head to toe.

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