Page 104 of House of Ruin
“Pass me the bucket,” Val instructed, reaching a hand towards Alecto. She immediately handed Val the bucket with raw deer meat and stepped away. Val smirked when she noticed Alecto’s hesitation. “Don’t worry, Black. Griffins are peaceful creatures. Manticores are the ones we should worry about.”
Val opened the latch to the cage and entered. The griffin inside was clearly used to witches because it didn’t even flinch as Val fished out a chunk of meat and tossed it at its feet.
The creature didn’t dig in, eyeing the piece of meat with no interest.
“What’s wrong with it?” Alecto asked.
“Griffins are not supposed to be held in cages underground,” Val said. There was something in her expression that Alecto hadn’t seen before. “She’s depressed.”
Seeing a creature as beautiful and regal as a griffin locked in a cage like that made Alecto’s heart hurt. But they didn’t have time for it, so she pushed the feelings aside, focusing on Val.
“We’re not here just to show off how nice we are?”
Val smirked, glancing over her shoulder at Alecto. “Smart girl.”
Alecto bristled at the condescending tone of voice, at the mocking gleam in Val’s dark eyes. She’d been always secretive about everything. But recently, it had gotten worse.
“You have to start communicating, Val,” Alecto said. “You’ve been keeping secrets from everyone. Even the Inner Circle. How are we supposed to protect our House when you don’t trust us?”
Val arched an eyebrow. “I’m not the only one who’s been keeping secrets, Black. What’s the saying? Ah, right… Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t be throwing stones.”
Alecto’s heart jumped to her throat, and she straightened her back. She sucked on her teeth, glowering at Val.
Her reaction made Val chuckle. “You can keep your secrets, Black. For now.” Val turned back to the griffin, which was still refusing to eat. “We’re here because I need an ingredient for a special spell. I didn’t want to buy it because it’s a rare ingredient, and it would be easy to track it back to us.”
Val lowered herself on her knees next to the griffin. Slowly, she reached a hand towards the creature, and when it didn’t react, Val petted its back.
“A rare ingredient?” Alecto frowned. Then it clicked. “A griffin feather?”
Val nodded. Her hand was gently petting the creature, its deep red feathers gleaming in the light. “And you are here because I have two things I need from you.”
“Okay. What is it?”
Without moving her attention away from the griffin, Val said, “First, I’ll need you to convince Norse to come to the party we’re throwing next weekend.”
“What?”
“Rumor has it, the Dragons are going to show their disapproval for the House of Snakes by not showing up to our party,” Val said, her voice low. “And you know, despite the rivalry, one of Big Four not showing up at the party they were invited to sends a message. A message we don’t need right now.”
Alecto brought her hand to her neck, letting her fingers play with her mother’s necklace. It was bad, bad news if the rumors were true. Social rejection was the first step in losing power, and Alecto couldn’t let that happen to their House.
“Okay,” Alecto said after a minute. “Okay, I have a rehearsal with him. I’ll see what I can do.”
“No, Black. You’ll make sure he comes to the party, or else we’re going to have a problem.” Val looked back at Alecto, her eyes dark. “You said you like the taste of power. If that’s the case, you better make sure we keep it.”
Fuck youwas what Alecto wanted to tell Val. It wasn’t fair to put this pressure on Alecto. But she bit her tongue and nodded instead.
“Second,” Val said, “I will need you to go see Gill for me. The special spell I mentioned has different variations. And I want to make sure I have the best one out there.”
Alecto shrugged. “Fine. I’ll go see Gill.”
It was perfect, really. Alecto was going to pay a visit to Gill anyway, and having an excuse to go there now was convenient.
“Good.”
Val leaned in closer to the creature. Alecto couldn’t believe her ears when Val started humming and then singing a lullaby to the creature.
Soon, its eyelids were heavy, and it exhaled heavily before the griffin fell into the blanket of sweet sleep. Val continued to sing for a bit more, her voice soft and beautiful. It was the first time Alecto had heard her sing.
