Page 176 of House of Pain
“What?” Alecto asked. “They smell like death and rotten flesh to me.”
“No, they reeked of rusted metal and something sickly acidic like vomit,” Andro said.“What did it smell to you?” Andro asked, looking at Blaze.
“Shut up,” Val snapped at them, and they fell silent.
They reached the end of the main corridor, where the path was divided into three.
“Where are we looking?” Andro peeked through the windows in the doors nearby.
“Everywhere,” Val growled. She was clearly not happy about the prospect of having to scout the whole perimeter.
If Rogue was even here and not his astral projection, stalling them.
“We’ll need to split up,” Alecto said. She looked down the two corridors going to the east and west wings and then glared up to the stairs that led to the Dean’s office. “We’ve already wasted tons of time.”
“Yeah, and look what happened when we didn’t stick together.” Andro gestured at her wounded arm that Jolene had wrapped with a makeshift bandage.
Blaze’s eyes lingered over the bloodied material. He didn’t like the idea of going their separate ways.
He didn’t like the idea of leaving Alecto, even if just for a moment.
He might have pushed her away, but he wasn’t about to let her get hurt or worse.
Someone was out for their blood tonight, and witches never played nice.
“We split up then,” Val said. “Blaze—”
“Andro, you go with Val and take the east wing,” Blaze interrupted Val, not even sparing her a glance. “Jolene and Alecto with me, we take the west. Meet at the Dean’s office after.”
Val glared at Blaze, but nobody argued as they moved out in different directions.
Three of them checked every door to the teachers’ offices and classrooms, just in case there was something hidden under the spell.
But there didn’t seem to be anything.
When they reached the end of the corridor, only one door was left, next to the massive glass shelf that housed all the trophies the students had won.
Alecto wandered off to the shelf, so Blaze went to check the last door. It was a utility closet with shelves lined with tools and cleaning supplies.
Blaze sighed, closing the door shut.
“Nothing,” he said to the girls.
He could only hope that Val and Andro were luckier.
Blaze was about to walk back, but the girls didn’t seem to have heard him. Alecto stared at something inside the glass shelving unit. Jolene stood beside her.
“What’s the matter?” Blaze asked. “It’s not the time to be checking out Venefica’s history.”
He stopped behind Alecto, following her gaze to the black-and-white memory orb of his father, about Blaze’s age, and a girl next to him.
They both wore elaborate gowns, and there were matching crowns resting on their brows. It was probably taken at the Beltane Ball when his father was graduating.
He didn’t recognize the woman pressed close to his father’s side, and he’d never seen the relaxed and happy expression on Galliermo’s face.
“What are you looking at?” he asked. “We don’t have the time!”
“She was telling the truth,” Alecto said. “That bitch wasn’t lying.”
