Page 10 of House of Malice
“So, you know the murders that happened in the fifties?” Val asked. Leigh nodded. “Well, our alumni were the ones behind them. They never got caught.”
The only indication of surprise was Leigh’s eyebrows rising.
“We don’t know that,” Alecto protested.
“Ah, yeah, we do,” Val said. “It’s in your mother’s journal. Have you not read it yourself?”
Alecto had not. She was still avoiding it like the plague.
“Okay, why does that matter now?” Leigh asked. “Norse is the one who was committing murders in the present, and he’s locked up. Unless he’s not the one behind the murders, and it’s actually your alum—”
“It’s not our alumni,” Val cut her off, “but it’s not Norse either. Well, it was Norse, but he didn’t act of his own accord. He was under a blood oath.”
Leigh’s eyebrows climbed even higher. “Who is it then? This could be detrimental for the case. If the person behind the murders is still out there, there will be more murders.”
Val sucked her teeth. “We can’t be a hundred percent sure, because our source is an enemy, but Dean Gondalez is supposed to be the one behind the weird things that have been happening at Venefica this year.”
Leigh was stunned into silence for a moment. She glanced at Jolene, who nodded.
“This is a very serious accusation,” Leigh said after a moment. “You’re talking about the Dean of the most prestigious witchcraft college in Inathis.”
“We’re aware,” Val said. “That’s why I’m not running around throwing accusations.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Leigh asked, tilting her head to the side. “Am I now in your little power-hungry circle of kids?”
Jolene was faster to respond than any of them. “No.”
Leigh looked at her with a question in her eyes, and Jolene took Leigh’s hand and pulled her closer. Val smirked as Jolene said, “You keep my girlfriend out of your schemes, Val.”
“Littlepower-hungrykids?” Blaze scoffed and crossed his arms. “Let me assure you, we’re full-grown adults.”
“The fact that these details bother you tells a different story,” Andro said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But for your record, Leigh, we’re not power hungry. This is just how it’s always been.”
“The laws of nature,” Blaze added.
“Aren’t we?” Alecto asked, and they all turned to her. “Power hungry? You can try and tell me that you got into Venefica, joined the Snakes, and participated in the Game eagerly because it’s tradition. But I think there has to be more to that than pleasing your daddy, for you to go through all this trouble. We’re only as ambitious as we’re selfish.”
“That is very true,” Leigh said. “And there isn’t anything wrong with being ambitious or power hungry. In fact, if you’re right about the Dean, this could be a life-changing story to report.”
Val smiled. “You’re brave to even consider it, Leigh. While I do support your ambitions, I’ll caution you against going down this path. You see, the story about the serial killer roaming campus was bad press already. A story like that about the Dean would tarnish Venefica’s reputation. And there are people, powerful and dangerous people, who will go above and beyond to avoid that.”
Leigh arched an eyebrow. “Is that a threat?”
Val shook her head, and her smile widened. “Absolutely not. It’s a friendly warning. I wouldn’t want to see Jolene have to burry the love of her life so soon.”
“You think Norse and other students like him and us are bad?” Blaze asked. “The things we do here are child play, compared to what the alumni do to ensure their power and status remains unchanged.”
“They’re right, Leigh,” Jolene said. “You can’t even imagine it. Do not try to pitch a story about this. Promise me.”
Leigh looked at Jolene and her pleading eyes, then nodded. “Okay, my love, don’t worry. I won’t look into this.” She turned to Val then. “But the question still stands: Why did you tell me all this then?”
“Because we do need your help,” Val said. “I need you to find out if our source on this is telling the truth.”
“That’s dangerous,” Jolene protested.
“Everything is dangerous, Frone,” Val snapped. “Every second we don’t do something about this, we’re in danger. We need to find out if Galia is lying. If we don’t know, we die.”
“I’ll do it,” Leigh said. She squeezed Jolene’s hand. “I’ll look into Dean and see if there’s anything suspicious.”
