Page 134 of House of Pain
“Nobody?” Professor Fallo asked. “Miss Black, how about you? Have any thoughts?”
A few heads turned to her. Alecto didn’t even need to look up to see the faces. She could feel them. Somehow, it never went further than glances and a few chuckles.
Maybe it was the fact that the class was small and intimate, and the professor couldn’t pretend to not hear the bullying, or maybe Professor Fallo was liked or feared enough.
“Galliano meant that love doesn’t depend on the realms we live in, on the Gods we believe in, or the species we belong to,” Alecto said finally.
“And what prompted her to speculate in such a way?”
“She had changed her mind briefly about the nature of love after she went to the mortal world and fell in love with a mortal.”
From the way the professor arched her brow, Alecto realized a short answer wasn’t going to cut it.
“Mortals believe in the concept of a soul mate, that there is one perfect person for you, and once you find them, the love is infinite. Witches, Galliano included, don’t believe in such things, being more generous with their love and never believing in the need to settle for one partner.”
“But witches have thesanguilianbond,” Professor Fallo countered. “Wouldn’t that be similar to what mortals call soul mates?”
“Galliano didn’t believe it was the same becausea sanguilianbond doesn’t have to be romantic. Whereas the soul mate concept is always about romantic love. When she became infatuated with a mortal, Galliano believed that maybe witches’ beliefs about love are all wrong, and there is the one perfect person for everyone.”
“Yes, indeed. And this is the ultimate question within all three realms—what truly is romantic love, and how many people can one love without compromising on the quality of it?”
“Well, at the House of Snakes, we believe in the power of sharing,” Val drawled, pointedly caressing Blaze’s cheek. The whole classroom burst into laughter.
“So we’ve heard,” Garcia muttered.
Alecto narrowed her eyes, about ready to jump the bitch, but then the bell rang, indicating the end of class, and everyone was on their feet.
“Finish chapters forty-four and forty-five for the next lecture,” the professor said. “We’re going to write an essay at the end of this trimester on soul mates and the sanguilian bond, so please prepare.”
Alecto gathered her stuff and rushed out of the class, angry and agitated. Chocolate was always the way to lift her mood, and today she might need a whole fucking pound of it to help her out.
On her way out of the building, she stopped by the snack stand, where a tiny water sprite was tidying up the three branches with tons of different snacks, inside a massive glass dome. Her deep blue wings flapped, scattering the salty smell of the ocean all around.
Alecto dropped the coin into the slot on the side, and the sprite whirled around, snatched the coin, and tossed it into the moss lining the floor of the dome.
“I’ll have a chocolate skull,” Alecto said.
The water sprite hurried away, and the branch slowly unwrapped, letting the chocolate skull fall in the fairy’s tiny hands. The sprite rushed to the hole in the floor of the glass container, dropping it there for Alecto to take.
“Thank you.”
But just when Alecto was about to open the glass door to fetch her chocolate, Blaze’s shoulder slammed against the glass dome, blocking her way.
“Do you mind?” Alecto glared at him.
Blaze glanced at the chocolate skull. “Craving something sweet, Black?”
When she didn’t answer him, he leaned in closer, the smell of smoke and fire overwhelming her senses.
“I think I can help you with that.”
Alecto whirled on her heel and strode off to the door leading outside, forgetting her chocolate.
She would never have peace, not if he was around. And she would never be the one in control because Blaze wasn’t to be tamed. It was never equal between them, even when she thought that she had evened the score between them, it was an illusion.
Apparently, storming off wasn’t enough of a hint for Blaze to back off. A moment later, he was behind her, yanking her towards him.
Blaze Leveau was the plague, the fucking curse, and there was no way Alecto could get rid of him.
