Page 137 of House of Ruin
“Motherfucker,” Blaze cursed.
The demon who’d almost gotten them all killed last trimester sat on the chair in the middle of the cell, his hands bound behind his back.
He didn’t have a single scratch or bruise on him. Clearly, he had been kept well.
“Val, what the Hel?” Alecto asked.
Val looked pleased as a cat that got the cream looking at Rogue. He was looking right back at her, his whole body relaxed, his eyes playful.
“Valeria,” he drawled. “You came back.”
“I told you I don’t leave my playthings alone for too long.”
“Val, what the fuck is this?” Andro asked, his voice high. “Why is he even here? I thought you sent him back to Hel?”
“Relax, Alessandro,” Val said. “I kept him safely here under the watch of the Imp Queen. He was very useful in finding out things about the Tigers.”
“Things?” Jolene asked. “What things? This is what you’ve been working on all this time behind our backs?”
Val rolled her eyes. “No need for the dramatics. I couldn’t bring all of you here all the time while I reworked Rogue into an ally.”
Every hair rose at the back of Alecto’s neck. She didn’t know what “reworking” consisted of, but she sure as Hel didn’t want to know the details.
Rogue smirked, a dimple appearing in his cheek.
“Anally?” Blaze asked. “He’s on our side now? We’re really going to trust a demon? The same one who already fucked us over once?”
“It wasn’t personal, Leveau,” Rogue said. He adjusted himself in the seat, spreading his legs wider. He caught Alecto looking and sent her a wink. “Hi, half witch. Missed you.”
“Fuck you.”
Rogue chuckled.
Alecto didn’t miss Blaze’s hands curling into fists by his sides.
“What Rogue meant to say is that what he did last trimester was nothing personal against us. He was summoned to serve the Tigers, and so he did,” Val explained. “Now he had finished his servitude, and he isn’t bound to their House anymore. He’s bound to ours.”
Rogue’s carefree smile turned bitter, his eyes shooting daggers as he glared at Val.
“He’s—what now?” Andro asked. “This is a bad idea.”
“Every idea is a bad idea for you,” Val shot back.
Andro widened his eyes at her, his mouth open. He was ready to start an argument with Val. But they didn’t have time for that.
“Okay, okay,” Alecto said. “Let’s rewind a bit. You said Rogue has given you intel on the House of Tigers?”
Val looked at Alecto, serious again. “Yes. Want to tell them what you told me, pretty boy?”
Rogue clicked his tongue.
“The Tigers had help last trimester,” Rogue said. “And not only my help, someone else’s help that allowed them to always be ahead of the Game.”
“They were working with someone else?” Jolene asked. “Like another House?”
“Dragons?” Andro asked Val.
Val shrugged. “Sadly, our pretty demon doesn’t know all the details. But it could be that whoever helped the Tigers is helping Norse with murders.”
