Page 77 of House of Ruin
Jolene was on her feet immediately. She went running out of the dining room at the same time as Romeo entered, a fresh bottle of maple syrup in one hand, a plate full of pancakes in the other.
“What’s that about?” he asked, placing the food in the middle of the table.
“Her new girlfriend is coming over,” Alecto said.
“Perfect timing!” Romeo beamed. “I was just finishing my new signature winter cherry pie. I’ll bring some over for this special occasion.”
He disappeared back into the kitchen whistling a tune under his breath.
Right then, Jolene returned, a young witch trailing after her.
Blaze could immediately tell she was a journalist.
It was written in the sharp, pristine lines of her dark suit, the clean cut of her white turtleneck going all the way to her chin, and in her face. She had a face that always seemed to smile a little, with the way the corners of her mouth were looking up all the time.
Yeah, a journalist through and through.
“This is Leigh,” Jolene introduced her once they came over to their dining table. “Leigh, this is Val, our High Priestess. Blaze, her Second, Alecto, the Liaison and Andro, Public Relations.”
“Very nice to meet you.” Leigh grinned, nodding at each one of them. “It’s good to see you again, Alecto.”
“You too.” Alecto offered Leigh her polite smile, the one Blaze had seen her use so many times with professors and parents.
He hated that smile of hers.
It didn’t fit.
“Pleased to have you with us, Leigh.” Val smirked. She waved a hand to an empty seat. “Please, take a seat. Let’s have breakfast while we get to know each other a little.”
“I’d love to. Thank you.” Leigh took a seat next to Jolene.
It didn’t take them long to get to chatting as they filled their plates with even more food.
Blaze sipped on his sugary coffee, and his stomach twirled and twisted, so he put the cup down and pushed it away.
“So, Leigh, how has Venefica been treating you so far?” Blaze asked, focusing on the conversation instead of his breakfast.
“I have to say it’s very different from what I imagined.”
Blaze arched a brow. “How so?”
“Well, truth to be told, I haven’t had the best impression of the Venefica Academy due to the Game. I studied at Darkmire, and people there don’t speak highly of Venefica,” Leigh admitted, blushing. How unfortunate it was for emotions to show so easily when one had a craft such as reporting. “But from what I have seen so far, I can understand why it’s known as the most prestigious higher education institution. If you can ignore the serial killer roaming the campus, of course.”
They were silent for a heartbeat, but then Alecto asked, “Is that what the police believes? That there is a serial killer on the campus?”
“A serial killer?” Andro chimed in. “So we really moved on from the Fanhy Coven idea so quickly?”
Leigh nodded. “Yes. The police found evidence that points to a serial killer at work. I spoke with a few Fanhy specialists and historians in Avalon Hill, and they confirmed that it’s very unlikely that it would be a Fanhy Coven job, and it’s probably an imitation to put fear of the Gods into people.”
An electric current zipped all the way down Blaze’s spine.Evidence?The police found evidence?
He exchanged glances with Andro. He was starting to visibly sweat.
“Do you know what sort of evidence the police found?” Val asked. “We haven’t heard anything about it yet.”
“I do not yet, sadly. Detective Vin isn’t the easiest man to deal with.”
“Indeed he isn’t,” Alecto murmured. “He had the audacity to try and pin the murders on us.”
