Page 3 of House of Ruin
Blaze rolled his eyes, Alecto scoffed, and Jolene and Val bickered about what Andro pointed out.
The dramatics.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say ‘kill us,’ but more like ruin us completely,” Alecto said, lazily inspecting her nails.
All five of them sat in a circle on the stone-paved floor of their back garden, two dozen crystals lined up in the middle. Heavy rain poured over them, and Alecto’s clothing stuck to her body in an uncomfortable way.
She could have gone naked, just like the rest of the Inner Circle. But her stubborn ass refused to get naked in front of the others. So there she was, sitting in the recharging ritual in her crimson uniform. Utterly miserable.
“Oh, I’m sorry, that’s so much better.” Andro rolled his eyes. “I think I’d rather be dead than lose all this.”
To emphasize his point, Andro swung his arms around, pointing at their large brownstone, the massive black rose garden, and all the other luxury they were so used to by now.
“You’d rather die than not have all this privilege?” Jolene scrunched her nose. “Are you fucking serious?”
Andro lifted his chin. “I’m not gonna apologize for my ambition. So fuck off.”
Alecto chuckled.
She had to give it to Andro. At least he was honest about his intentions and what kind of life he intended to lead. And knowing his parents and the future they planned for him, she couldn’t blame him.
And Alecto had to agree that she wouldn’t want to lose the Snakes and what they inherited with being part of this House either. It was the only place where she felt like she truly belonged, for the very first time in her life.
That was why she would do everything it took to protect what was theirs.
“Listen,” Val said, and sickly-sweet smoke escaped her lips. The heavy rain droplets didn’t touch the blunt between her fingers, as if an invisible shield protected it. “Nobody is going to ruin the House of Snakes. We are aware there is someone trying to find a way. That gives us the upper hand. We’ll be better prepared this time around.”
Alecto was starting to get cold, drenched by the rain. While the temperatures were high enough for it to still feel like fall these days, by the way the sun barely rose anymore, it was clear that the winter was making its way to Darly.
Alecto bit her tongue to stop her teeth from clattering and hugged herself.
“It would be warmer without clothing, you know.” Blaze’s voice came from Alecto’s left, and she stole a quick side glance towards him.
It was extremely hard not to let her gaze linger on the taut muscles of Blaze’s chest, now naked and on display, or the way the rain ran down his defined abs, right below his navel, to his long and quite unfortunately perfect cock.
With an annoyed sigh, Alecto flipped him off.
She wasn’t going to give Blaze the satisfaction of seeing how much power he held over her. No. Alecto had made a promise to herself, and she was going to go through with it.
Her rudeness didn’t bother Blaze. A dark smirk appeared at the corner of his sensuous mouth.
“Come on, fuckers, let’s finish this ritual,” Val said, killing the blunt and throwing it into one of the many rosebushes, void of its usual lushness, rosebuds dead, ready for the harshness of winter, whatever few leaves left on the stems now shriveled and grey.
Thank the fucking Gods.
In front of her, Val laid their Book open, the same invisible shield that protected her blunt from the rain now protecting the grimoire.
For a few moments, she flicked through pages like crazy, stopping to scan something for a few times, before she finally landed on the right page.
“Alright, we’re going to say a little prayer now.” Val straightened her back, crossed her legs, and tucked her feet under her.
On Val’s right, Jolene followed suit, settling in more comfortably.
“Why don’t you fucking hold hands?” Val barked. “What is this? The first fucking time we do this ritual?”
Alecto rolled her eyes but didn’t argue. She linked one hand with Andro’s, his palm warm and soft despite the cold. And then she reached a hand towards Blaze.
The moment his fingers weaved with hers, a shiver went down Alecto’s back, and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from making an inappropriate sound.
