Page 114 of House of Ruin
Alecto didn’t need to answer because right then, Val appeared behind Blaze, entering Alecto’s bedroom.
“I got your message. What’s up?”
Alecto didn’t think Blaze could be more shocked, but apparently, anything was possible. His jaw was on the floor as he looked between Val and Alecto.
“You have got to be fucking with me.”
Alecto bristled. “What? It’s not like you haven’t slept with us both already.”
They locked gazes, Blaze’s dark eyes shining with an emotion Alecto couldn’t identify, his jaw tight. A muscle ticked, but Alecto didn’t back down.
It stung to say it out loud. It stung to admit that Blaze had in fact fucked them both. But Alecto was willing to swallow her pride for this.
Blaze could pay for it later, anyway.
Val frowned. “I feel like I’m missing a chapter. Or a few here.”
“I got the spell from Gill to open the notebook,” Alecto explained. She handed Val the red card. “It requires a group ritual, a blood sacrifice. That’s not an option, but I figured a sex ritual would be as close to it as it gets.”
Val scanned the card and then handed it back to Alecto. Her face remained neutral as she looked between Blaze and Alecto.
“So you want to have a threesome while high on malaka?”
“Apparently,” Blaze murmured darkly.
Alecto clicked her tongue. “Yes. Whatever helps me open this damned notebook. Are you in, Val? And before you ask what’s it in it for you, I think there might be secrets in that notebook regarding our House. Why else keep it this protected and hidden where no one can find it?”
Val smiled, a toothy smile. “Relax, Black. I was gonna say yes anyway.”
Alecto nodded, relieved. She was ready to argue to prove her point, to convince Val to help her.
“Let me get the ingredients for the spell then,” Val said and left Blaze and Alecto alone in the room.
Blaze stared at Alecto for a long moment.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked.
Alecto nodded, meeting his gaze. “I’m sure. I need to know what’s inside that notebook. I need to know what my mother was hiding. I need to know what happened.”
Blaze nodded. “Okay then. I want to understand it too.”
Alectoreallyhoped she wasn’t going to regret her choices in the morning.
It was dark outside when they finally got everything they needed for the ritual. The candles scattered around Alecto’s bedroom cast a dim light around them, their shadows dancing on the walls. The tortollesc incense tickled Alecto’s nose, and she was dizzy.
The three of them sat in a circle on her floor, their knees touching. In the middle lay the notebook, surrounded by a circle made of a dozen carneole stones.
“Ready?” Val asked.
She wore a flowy white dress going to her midthighs. Nothing underneath. Her pink nipples peeked through the sheer material.
Alecto had an identical white dress on. She was used to provocative clothing and not wearing underwear, but she had never felt as naked as she did tonight.
It was her first time participating in a full-on sex-magic ritual.
“Let’s start,” Alecto urged.
Val reached out, her palm where three small white crystals lay in the middle.
