Page 6 of House of Ruin
“Carmen’s biography,” Norse said, turning the book so Alecto could have a better look at the cover. A voluptuous woman with creamy-white skin and deep crimson waves of hair sprawled on the velvet chaise, her chin resting on one elegant palm. “I thought it would help me better understand the play. Get into the roles.”
Alecto nodded absently. There was a lot at stake here, with Alecto having the main role. She had big shoes to fill, and from the way the woman looked on the cover, Alecto wasn’t sure she could conjure enough magic to do so.
“Yeah, that’s not a bad idea.” She ran a palm over the wrinkled script pages, as if that would help smooth out the imperfections. “Does it have anything about Seville in there?”
“Yes,” Norse said, opening the book to the place he’d been reading before Alecto’s arrival. There was an empty candy wrapper wedged between pages instead of an actual bookmark. “In fact, there’s a whole section dedicated to Seville and how their love affair affected Carmen’s life. Some critics believe that if it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t have ended her life in such a tragic way.”
“Mm-hmm,” Alecto murmured, sipping on her coffee. “The myth of how dangerous it is to let yourself love one person unconditionally, blah, blah, blah.”
Norse chuckled. The man made of ice actually huffed a fucking laugh. Alecto looked at him, wide-eyed.
“Don’t believe in polyamory, Black?” Norse asked. There was a dangerous glimmer to his gaze.
Alecto rolled her eyes. “I don’t believe in anything.”
“I don’t buy into it either.” His words were so soft and quiet, for a moment Alecto thought she imagined Norse saying it.
“Don’t fuck with my brain,Fox.” Alecto bit out the words, using Norse’s surname in a mocking manner. “It’s in your blood, didn’t you know?”
Norse’s grey gaze bore into Alecto, solemn and calm. “Do you truly believe this bullshit, Black?” he asked. “I thought we were past this already.”
For a moment, Alecto considered snapping back at Norse, but then she changed her mind.
There was no point in arguing about the nature of witches anyway. Besides, she was here to practice her lines, not engage in intellectual discussions with a member of a rival House.
“Anyway.” She cleared her throat. “Which scene are you thinking of practicing today? I feel like the scene at the lake was a bit wobbly the last time we read the lines.”
“Always so focused on business and getting things done.” Norse shook his head. Alecto frowned. “I know we’re from rival Houses, but I’m sure we can have conversations as normal witches do. Outside the Game and curriculum.”
Alecto shifted in her seat, dropping one leg over the other and smoothing out the wrinkles of her classic black pants with her palm. She dropped the script on the small space between them, arching an eyebrow in question.
“Whatever it is that you’re trying to do, it’s not going to work,” Alecto said, matter-of-factly.
“And what is it that you think I’m trying to do here?”
Alecto shrugged, swiping her long hair over her shoulder. It was a gesture that always drew attention from boys, and this time it didn’t fail either, Norse’s gaze following her movements intently.
“You warned me about no queen ruling forever.” It wasn’t really a question that came out of Alecto’s lips. “You tried to warn me when you were charming me into betraying my House and joining yours. Clearly, you knew more than you let on about what the Tigers planned for us.”
Norse didn’t reply. Didn’t defend himself against the accusations.
It was just a guess, accusing him of knowing about the Tiger’s plan. But Norse’s silence confirmed that Alecto’s hunch wasn’t wrong.
“So let’s not pretend we’re not enemies and stick with business.” Alecto fixed him with a cold glare.
“For what it’s worth, I’ve never intended to hurt you personally.” His voice was low in timbre.
Alecto turned away, ignoring the sincerity in Norse’s words. She had learned her lesson last trimester, once and for all. No matter how charming and sincere boys might appear, their intentions were never good.
3
With a heavy sigh, Blaze rolled off Val’s body, plopping onto his back next to her.
“You should fuck me more often when you’re angry,” Val said, panting heavily with her eyes still closed, her eyelids heavy with pleasure.
Without a word, Blaze rolled off her bed, and started to dress.
He had been angry a lot lately.
