Page 18 of House of Ruin
But the bouncing stopped.
“Why the fuck is he even calling us in?” Alecto asked, as if that were the biggest inconvenience for her. “Neither Val, Jolene, nor I was even there when the body was found.”
She sat sideways in her chair, one leg bent at the knee as she plaited tiny braids into Jolene’s waves. Jolene’s jaw worked on a piece of gum, occasionally popping a bubble.
“Where did you get the gum?” Blaze asked, narrowing his eyes.
They didn’t have shit like gum in Inathis.
Jolene shrugged, grinning widely as she popped another big bubble. “If you’re good, I might give you some.”
Blaze scoffed, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair.
“We are so fucked,” Andro repeated, shaking his head. “And you worry about where the fuck Jolene gotbubble gum?”
“It’s weird,” Blaze replied with a shrug. “That’s all.”
He was sure Andro’s left eye twitched, the vein in his neck bulging. Blaze couldn’t hold a laugh in.
“You should be the last one laughing right now,” Andro warned.
“Shut the fuck up,” Val snapped. They all fell silent—even Jolene’s chewing stopped. “Jack fucking Riverblood was brutally murdered. The High Priest of the Housewehad an extreme encounter with mere weeks ago. They’ll question people who are highest on the suspect list first. Naturally, we’re at the very fucking top.”
Blaze hadn’t allowed himself to think about that night too much. Mostly because even if he tried to recall the events, he couldn’t conjure much.
Everything was heavy and foggy, as if a part of his brain were missing completely. But the feeling of the memory lingered, somewhere deep down, never leaving Blaze alone.
Except when he drank and fucked. Which Blaze tried to do as much as possible during his free time. That is, even more than usual.
For a moment, they didn’t speak, sitting in silence full of dread.
Then Andro’s knee started bouncing again as he said, “We’reroyallyfucked.”
Blaze was about to snap at him for bouncing, but right then the door to the Dean’s office flew open, Mr. Gondalez’s head appearing. “Come on in, please.”
Val was the first to stand. She strode into Dean’s office like she fucking owned the place before plopping on one of the chairs in front of his desk.
Blaze took the chair on her right, Andro sitting down on the one to her left. Alecto and Jolene settled on the armchairs on the side of the room.
It was hard not to notice the large dark-skinned man standing behind Dean’s desk. His eyes were calm, his face relaxed.
But there was something intense about him, as if he were always ready for action to break out.
Uncomfortably, Blaze shifted in his seat. Suddenly, Blaze could understand Andro’s urge to fidget.
“Thank you for coming,” Dean said, lacing his fingers together as he always liked to do. “This is Detective Tony Vin. He’s leading the investigation of Jack Riverblood’s murder.”
“So, what do we know so far?” Andro asked, crossing his legs as he shifted in his seat.
Blaze ground his teeth at the way Vin’s eyes flickered to his best friend, watching him intently.
“It’s classified as murder, obviously,” Vin answered, his voice low and raspy as if he had been smoking three packs of cigarette a day since he’d come out of the womb. “It seems as if Jack Riverblood was murdered to fuel a circle that only Fanhy Coven witches cast. But because Fanhy practitioners are watched carefully, we know that none reside in Darly or the whole Avalon State.”
“You think it wasn’t the Fanhy Coven witches but rather someone imitating them?” Andro asked.
What the fuck was his problem? Blaze wished his best friend would shut the fuck up and let the detective talk.
“That’s something we’re considering, yes,” Detective Vin said. His gaze shifted towards Blaze then. “You were the one who reported the incident. I would appreciate if you’d tell me everything that happened and how you came across the body, Mr. Leveau.”
