Page 138 of House of Ruin
“We don’t know if it’s Norse who’s murdering people,” Alecto said. Val arched an eyebrow. “Don’t look at me like that. We don’t know for sure. We know he’s been poisoning Blaze, but that’s all.”
“All the victims have been poisoned before death.” Blaze’s voice sent shivers down Alecto’s back. Yet she still refused to look at him. “I doubt it’s a coincidence that Norse used the same poison.”
“We need evidence that Norse is the one behind the murders,” Val said. “We have the poison and Bea, who can be a witness. But what we also need is a confession. This way, there won’t be a way for him to weasel his way out of it.”
Val looked at Alecto, a smile spreading on her face. “And we’ll have another House out of the way.”
They were back at their home in Darly, lounging in the basement. They had left Rogue behind at the black market.For now, he stays there, Val had said.
“Maybe we should take the information we have and go to the alumni,” Andro said. “There’s enough evidence for them to bring this to the police and let them deal with it.”
Val snapped the Book shut. “I know your first instinct is to always run to your mommy and daddy when things get hard,” she said, every word filled with poison, “but our alumni are not going to help us here. If they wanted to, they would have already done that.”
Alecto frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Yeah, what’s that supposed to mean?” Jolene asked. “We haven’t told them anything that’s been going on. They don’t know we need help.”
Val eyed them for a long moment. “They know more than they let on,” she said. She locked eyes with Alecto. “Your mother’s journal. I took it for a reason. I suspected there was something they weren’t telling us, and I was right.”
Alecto sat up straighter in the armchair. “What did you find?”
Val smirked. “I’m guessing you haven’t read it yet.”
“What journal are we talking about?” Andro asked.
“Yeah, I’d like to know too.” Jolene crossed her arms.
“When we were at my family home, I found my mom’s old journal,” Alecto quickly explained. “That’s the journal Val’s talking about.”
“What’s in the damned journal, Val?” Blaze demanded.
“In the journal, I found Alecto’s mother’s entry from 1952,” Val said. She paused to light a blunt. A sickly-sweet smell filled the basement within seconds. “She described a series of murders that we read about in that police file.”
“Okay, and?” Alecto asked. “It was probably public knowledge back then. The whole academy knew.”
Val smiled. “She knew about them before they happened.”
Alecto’s heart dropped in her chest.
They were all shocked into silence for a moment.
“Yeah,” Val said finally, killing the blunt in the ashtray next to her. “She outlines the plan the Snakes came up with for ritual murders quite well in her journal.”
“This can’t be—” Andro’s voice cracked. “Our parents? They were the ones behind the murders back in 1952?”
Jolene was silent, staring at the Book lying next to Val on the pool table.
“They should have noticed the similarities,” Alecto said, and her voice came out shaky.
“My guess is they did,” Val said. “And they decided not to do anything about it. Which means that whatever they’re planning, they don’t care to include us, nor do they care what happens to us.”
Alecto was struggling to accept Val’s words. She couldn’t believe her mother would be involved into something like this… And to write it all in her journal? Alecto had to read it herself.
But before, there were other things they had to take care of.
“I’ll need that truth serum of yours,” Alecto said to Val. “I have a plan.”
“Norse is not going to be as easy to feed the truth serum to, Black,” Val drawled. Her eyes glittered with mischief. “But go ahead, share your plan with the rest of us.”
