Page 9 of House of Ruin
Finally, a small smirk curled one corner of her pretty mouth. Val’s claps startled Blaze right then, drawing his attention from Alecto to Val.
“Perfect. Let’s see who wins,” she said. “Now let’s discuss our plan of action for the second trimester. Summoning a Guardian didn’t work as well as planned, since we got a demon instead.”
Val paused, eyeing the crowd. She clicked her tongue, letting them know how truly displeased she was with the betrayal.
Then she continued. “But we managed to survive the attack on our House and protect the Book. In the process, we also weakened the Tigers. With two of their members gone and their High Priest humiliated, they’ll be staying as far away from us as possible.”
“What are we going to do about the Game this trimester?” Jolene asked without lifting her eyes from the textbook in her lap. She wrinkled her nose at whatever she read in it. “Getting played by a demon wasn’t a good look on our House. My aunties werenotpleased, to say the least. I can imagine the rest of the alumni weren’t happy either.”
Jolene cast a sideways glance towards Blaze.
That was right. Blaze’s father fumed when he found out about Snakes’ fuckup.
Obviously, Blaze had to take theheatfor it.
Galliermo had cracked one of his ribs. But they’d been healed with the help of some of Jolene’s potions.
“I’ve already talked with the alumni. There is nothing to worry about,” Val said. “We’re ready for whatever is coming this round of the Game. And as you know, the House of Snakes accepts no cowards. We’re not going to hide. We will need to be more proactive about figuring out which enemies are so eager to see our House fall.”
Chatter went around the room.
Blaze supposed Val was right about taking action and trying to find out who was behind summoning Rogue. The Tigers might be in the Big Four, but Blaze doubted they’d been alone in coming up with that plan.
Gael lifted his arm in the air like a good schoolboy, waiting for Val to give him permission to speak.
Smirking, Blaze threw Andro a glance over his shoulder, and his best friend flipped him off with a roll of his eyes.
“I might actually have an idea to sniff out what’s happening between the Houses, revealing any secret alliances and what’s brewing.”
It was still weird seeing Andro with the same fucktoy for so long. But Blaze didn’t say anything. Whatever. Blaze just hoped for everyone’s sake the guy wouldn’t fuck up. Because it would not be a good thing for their House to lose a member in the middle of the year.
And there would definitely be losses. Blaze would make sure of it if his best friend was hurt.
“Spill, pretty boy.” Val rolled her eyes.
“Well, every year, Professor Lagavulin organizes a poetry reading night for all students taking Literature Craft lectures. The House of Rats was chosen this year, and the event will take place at their place in a few weeks’ time,” Gael said. “Andro, Blaze, and I got invited.”
Right. Blaze had completely forgotten about that stupid revel that will surely be filled with pretentious witches reading their poems, imagining that each one of them had a fucking talent.
Blaze wasn’t planning on going.
Val didn’t look impressed with Gael just yet. “So?”
“First of all, we’d get to snoop around the Rats’ home, listen to secret conversations, and see if there is anything worth our attention,” Gael said. “Also, during poetry night, Professor Lagavulin likes to let the students taste his special wine, which gets you intoxicated pretty fast…”
“Gael has a point. Val, you know how artsy witches get when wine and their egos mix,” Alecto chimed in. Val arched an eyebrow. “Someone might get too arrogant and share something they’re not supposed to.”
Val cracked a small smile. “I actually like that idea.” Val nodded. “Nice work, Gael. Let’s make sure the three of you are ready to snoop around when this poetry night comes around.”
Blaze was about to open his mouth to argue that he wasn’t going, but Val beat him to it.
“You’re going,” Val said. “I am not going to repeat myself.”
It was tempting to argue with Val.
Who the fuck did she think she was, giving orders left and right? Blaze was her Second, for fuck’s sake.
But before Blaze could muster a response, the meeting was over and everyone was rising on their feet, then scattering through the archway, some heading to their rooms, while others headed towards the campus.
