Page 7 of House of Pain
Val barked out a laugh before she took off her sunglasses to reveal red-rimmed eyes. “A very fitting Guardian for the House of Snakes if you ask me.”
Their House was famous for using sex magic for centuries now. Alecto wasn’t sure why she was surprised that that’s exactly what they decided to do to win this year, creating a sex god who would wreak havoc amongst rival Houses.
Havoc that was supposed to help them steal another House’s Book and win the Game.
Alecto bit into the fresh cinnamon roll, the sugary taste filling her mouth. She barely kept herself from moaning and her eyes rolling to the back of her head.
This was what meadows probably felt like.
After a few more bites, she washed down the sweetness with the hot, bitter coffee. Sadly, it didn’t make her feel any better. The hangover was a bitch. And right now, it was twisting her stomach into knots.
“Rough hangover?” Andro asked, bumping his shoulder into hers.
Alecto just hummed as she took another sip of her coffee.
“You know that our girl doesn’t do well the morning after,” Jolene teased.
Alecto awarded her friend with a middle finger.“Eat faster, fuckers. Shouldn’t we be rushing to finish preparing for tonight’s Ceremony?”
“That’s the spirit, Black,” Val said, smiling her signature predatory smile. “Have you changed your mind about participating in the sex ritual this year?”
Alecto despised their yearly ritual. There was nothing worse than public sexual exhibition.Except for a public sexual exhibitionwitha group of people.And if that wasn’t enough, she’d have to deal with her father being here.
It was normal for all the parents to come to support their children, even if that might seem weird according to mortal standards.Alecto’s mother would have never signed up for a thing like that if she was still alive.
Maybe that’s why he got rid of her at the end.
Somehow, Alecto managed to keep her face straight and chin high as she said, “No.”
Blaze huffed a laugh, shaking his head as if he didn’t even expect another answer from Alecto. Andro simply nodded, seemingly not bothered by Alecto’s reservations. But it was Val’s next words that made Alecto’s stomach sink.
“I suppose not,” Val mused, eyeing Alecto. “Half witches don’t have it in them to be shameless with their sexuality.” She paused as she rose to her feet. “Neither do they have it in them to be cruel or merciless.”
As Alecto left the cafeteria after breakfast, she couldn’t stop thinking about Val’s dark glare when she said those words.
Would she be able to prove Val wrong?
The fire burning inside her indicated that there was nothing she wanted more.
4
There were many things that Blaze would have rather been doing right now than standing on the side of the massive stage at the back of the green field stretching behind the Dean’s building.
The view wasn’t bad, overlooking the crimson lake surrounded by thick pine forest, the sun lazily hanging on its last threads before it plunged and disappeared behind the rigid horizon.
But the program for tonight was boring as fuck.
It was Blaze’s third year participating in the Ceremony. While the first year was exciting and intricate, with weird and different rituals he had only read about in books, the second year was way less exciting, and once the sex ritual part was over, the night just seemed to drag on forever.
By the third year, even the sex ritual had lost its appeal.
It wasn’t as if Blaze couldn’t get a good fuck elsewhere.
He scoffed to himself, adjusting the loose sleeve of his wide shirt. There was a streak of black glitter on the white silk, probably from when he dragged his hand over his hair and smudged the paint on his face.
Ah, well. Smudged it is.
The Pigs were almost at the end of their performance, and after them, it was going to be the Snakes’ turn, followed by the other main Houses.
