Page 58 of House of Pain
Alecto rose first, padding into the office like she was walking a fucking runway, hips swaying.
Blaze went in after her, his eyes not so subtly on her ass, and Andro was right behind them, closing the door as he entered the office.
They took a seat in three chairs in front of the Dean’s massive dark wood desk.
“Well, you probably know why I asked you here today?” the Dean inquired, lacing his fingers together, resting his elbows on the arms of his chair.
Andro was about to open his mouth, but Blaze cut in, “Not a clue, Mr. Gondalez.”
The Dean searched Blaze’s face, which clearly held the marks of what had happened, as his bruises were still visible on the jaw and his cheek.
“It was brought to my attention that there was a physical fight between the members of two Houses,” he explained. “Does that ring any bells, Mr. Leveau?”
Blaze pouted, rubbing his chin. “That’s rather vague, Mr. Gondalez. There were many fights I witnessed over the weekend. Isn’t that right, Andro?”
“Mm-hmm, definitely. Many fights, Mr. Gondalez,” Andro agreed, nodding.
“You’ll have to be more specific.” Blaze laced his fingers together, mimicking the Dean’s posture.
Gondalez’s eyes flashed for a moment, but his face remained still—a carefully engineered mask of blank calmness surely honed by years of dealing with little privileged shits.
“Do not play me, Mr. Leveau,” the Dean warned, his voice even. “I know all about the fight. Who attacked who first, and how it all ended. The marks on your face are testament enough.”
Blaze didn’t like being disturbed for such nonsense. The Tigers were really trying hard to get on his nerves this year.
“You know that while the Game allows many types of different activities, such offences as fighting are taken very seriously at Venefica. We don’t condone violence amongst students outside the Game. And this instance will need to be answered for.”
“Do you also know about the cause of the fight, Mr. Gondalez?” Alecto asked. “Did those two man-children who came here crying about being beaten tell you why they got what they got?”
“I’m aware that it was due to jealousy over a girl between the boys from rival Houses,” Gondalez said, carefully articulating each word. “That girl is you, Miss Black. That is why you’re also here in my office.”
Alecto shifted in her seat, leaning forwards as she rested her elbows on her thighs.
“You see, Mr. Gondalez, this is where you’re wrong,” she said. “The only reason why there was any sort of conflict happening was that your students—members of the House of Tigers—sealed a very intimate moment involving Matias and me in a memory orb with the intention of using it to blackmail me and the Snakes. Knowing my family’s status, I’m sure you can understand why the House of Snakes couldn’t let that happen.”
The Dean stared at her for a moment.
“Now, considering that the Tigers acquired the blackmail material for the purposes of using it against the Snakes to probably bargain for our Book, I think we can all agree that whatever had transpired amongst us was, indeed, part of the Game.” She looked so hot right now, all-powerful and calm, dangerously calm. Blaze couldn’t take his eyes off her. “Which means that you can’t really punish us for breaking any academy laws.”
Fuck yeah.
“Miss Black,” the Dean said slowly. He eyed her carefully, sweat gathering over his graying eyebrows. “If the administration were to believe that to be true, we would still need to conduct a proper investigation to determine that there is, in fact, a memory orb the Tigers intended to use for blackmail—”
Now it was Blaze’s moment to shine.
He leaned forwards and said, “Mr. Gondalez, with all due respect, I’m sure we can settle this matter with no further investigations.”
“Mr. Leveau—”
Blaze snapped his fingers, and with a silentwhoosh, a piece of ivory paper folded and sealed with a wax stamp appeared in his hand.
Casually, he threw the piece of paper on the desk in front of the Dean.
“I’m sure you’ll be interested in this, Dean Gondalez.”
Gondalez glanced at Blaze, then at the paper before picking it up and unfolding it.
Blaze really tried to avoid abusing his power for such things.
