Page 127 of House of Ruin
They passed multiple metal doors in a narrow corridor until Val finally opened one and urged Blaze to go inside.
Only a thin mattress occupied the space, placed in the middle of the small room with bare concrete walls and ceilings.
Not even a damned window.
Blaze dropped Cadre’s limp body on the mattress. An unfamiliar Redcap with glowering amber eyes dragged Bea in a moment later.
“Want to share what we’re doing here?” Blaze asked once Val and he left the room. She locked the door and even added a spell on top of it.
“Even as a High Priestess, I can’t keep our House members locked in the basement,” Val said. She started back for the stairs. “But I can’t let them walk around like nothing happened. Bea will immediately go to Norse.”
The moment they stepped outside, Blaze lit a cigarette. He inhaled the smoke greedily, enjoying the sensation of it burning his lungs.
“Norse will soon learn that Bea’s missing,” he said. Val sucked on her teeth. “I don’t know how often they’d meet behind our backs, but I’m guessing we don’t have much time.”
“We don’t need much time.”
Blaze arched an eyebrow. “You’ve got a plan in place on how to deal with this whole situation? Because from where I stand, we’re fucking fucked. A professor, the House of Dragons, and one of us have been murdering people on campus and poisoning me. How are we to get out of this mess alive?”
“We hav—”
Blaze interrupted Val. “No, we don’t have shit, Val. Norse being involved means that it’s the second House out of Big Four who’s been working with one of Venefica’s professors and possibly the Dean to destroy our House. This is beyond what we can handle.”
For a moment, Val just stared at Blaze. Then she frowned, nodding.
Their conversation was cut short by three goblins shuffling past them with wooden boxes filled with crystals.
Every hair at the back of Blaze’s neck stood as the Imp Queen herself followed the goblins inside the warehouse.
Before she entered, though, she stopped to greet Val and Blaze.
“Valeria,” she said to Val. Then she turned to Blaze. “Mr. Leveau, it’s been a while. Have you been enjoying your time much?”
And a promise from a Leveau boy.
It had been a while since Blaze last spoke with Moren. Since he’d promised to answer her call, whatever the Hel that meant.
Before, he hadn’t been nervous about it. Not too much, anyway.
But with the Imp Queen standing in front of him in all her intimidating glory, it was hard not to worry.
Blaze slipped his hands in his pockets, keeping his face blank.
He inclined his head. “Moren, a pleasure to see you again.”
The Imp Queen regarded him for a moment with her searing amber eyes.
“The pleasure is all mine,” she said. “I hope we get to see each other soon. There is something you need from me.”
And with that, the Imp Queen made her way inside the warehouse, leaving them standing in the cold night.
Blaze frowned, confused about her words. He didn’t think there was anything in the world he needed from the Imp Queen.
Not as far as he knew.
“She likes you,” Val told him when they sat down inside their carriage.
“I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing.”
