Page 105 of House of Ruin
After a while, Val ceased the singing, only humming the melody of the lullaby. With the same hand that was petting the creature, she took hold of one of the feathers and plucked it out. The creature didn’t even flinch, breathing heavily as it slept.
“Perfect.” Val got on her feet, the feather in hand. “We’re almost ready.”
38
Alecto dreaded seeing Norse once again to rehearse. But Val had given her an important task, and so Alecto found herself sitting at the library, her knee bouncing while she waited for Norse to show.
He was five minutes late when his tall frame finally appeared from behind the double doors.
“Who’s late now, Fox?”
Norse smirked, coming to a stop in front of the table where Alecto sat.
“Consider yourself lucky to be the one to witness such an atrocity.” Norse slipped his hands in the pockets of his black suit pants. “Something came up at the last minute. High Priest stuff.”
Alecto rolled her eyes and nodded. “Whatever. Shall we begin, or do you want to go to the auditorium?”
“Actually, I was thinking of changing the scenery this time to something very different. What do you say, Black?”
For a moment, Alecto considered saying no and just sticking with the location she was familiar with. Something in the gleam of Norse’s eyes was twisting her stomach in knots.
But Alecto had to play it right if she wanted to accomplish what she’s come here to do. “Fine. Where do you want to go?”
Norse only offered her a smile and extended his arm. “It’s a surprise.”
The moment they crossed the campus and started walking the path leading behind the Dean’s building towards Blood Lake and the Cursed Forest, Alecto regretted her decision.
Norse was silent during their walk, strolling down the path as if he were on a walk in the park. Not a single care in the world.
When they reached the line between the rockey field and the Cursed Forest, Alecto came to a stop. “Where the fuck are we going?”
The evening was calm, the air around them chilly. Not a single branch in the trees moved, the thick forest watching looming over them.
“I thought we could better feel the scene and our characters if we rehearsed in a location similar to that in the scene,” Norse said, his face the picture of innocence. “Today we have the last scene, and it takes place in the middle of the forest, very similar to this.” Norse waved a hand towards the forest behind his back. “Is there a problem, Black?”
Alecto glared at him, wishing her gaze could kill. She couldn’t tell Norse that the last places in the whole Inathis where she wanted to spend more than a second were the Cursed Forest or Blood Lake.
She hadn’t returned since the night Blaze had left her strung as a meal for Hollowa spiders. Sometimes her sleep was still haunted by the thick fog and eerie silence so quiet, it made her ears hurt.
But Alecto couldn’t admit that. Not to Norse. Or anyone, for that matter.
Admitting it would mean it affected her more than she was letting on.
So, ignoring her thrashing heart and shaking hands, Alecto jerked her chin at Norse and said, “Lead the way, Fox. It better be a good spot for having wasted so much of my time walking here.”
They made their way inside the Cursed Forest, and with each step, it was getting harder and harder for Alecto to breathe. Every snap of a twig beneath their feet echoed in the darkness, and it made her twitch.
She stole glances around them, trying to look for glowing eyes in the darkness. She recited the spell for the protection shield in her mind, trying to envision it bending to fit her body perfectly.
After a good ten minutes of walking, they reached a small clearing with two fallen logs. They were frosty, overgrown with moss, yet the timber looked newly fallen.
“We use this clearing for special spells,” Norse said, turning to Alecto. “I thought it would be the perfect setting for today.”
Alecto snorted. “Really? You cast spells in the middle of the Cursed Forest even though it goes against the Academy Law? Give me a break.”
“It’s not as if your House follows the Academy Law,” Norse observed. He slipped his hands in the pockets of his pants. “And if you don’t want to believe me, don’t. It doesn’t change the truth.”
It would have been easier to call it bullshit. But as Alecto took in the clearing they were standing in, it was impossible to miss the circle formed from the stones on one end.
