Page 13 of House of Malice
He hopped to his feet and walked over to pick up their Book from the bookshelf. He flipped through the pages and then handed the Book to Octavia.
“Fanhy magic?” Octavia asked, looking at the page open in front of her. “Are you out of your mind, Black? We’ll get kicked out of Veneficaandput into Kelthazane.”
“We wouldn’t be using Fanhy magic,” Alatar explained. “But we’d cover the murders as Fanhy Coven work so the police and academy administration look the other way.”
“That is genius,” Demitria said. She looked at Galliermo with sparkling eyes. “You are a fucking genius.”
“He is indeed,” Alatar said with a crooked smile. “And this will be the best win our House has ever experienced.”
“What is that curse you speak of?” Reverie asked.
Alatar flipped through the Book still in Octavia’s hands.
“It’s a generational curse,” Galliermo said. “That is why it requires so much energy to fuel.”
“Generational curses are nasty,” Lyra murmured.
“It’s basically the good old ‘lose your firstborn child’ but with a twist,” Alatar said. “The original spell is for one family tree. You know, every witch of the new generation would be cursed to lose their firstborn child.”
“That is cruel,” Demitria said, her voice soft.
Galliermo squeezed her thigh a bit. It wasn’t the time to show mercy because it would be seen as weakness. And he didn’t want others to think the love of his life was weaker than them. She was already at a disadvantage, being mortal. It was dangerous already.
“That’s the nature of things,” Alatar said, eyeing her sideways. “What we’d do is curse not a family tree, but every single family that swears loyalty to a House.”
“That will require a lot of power,” Reverie said.
Alatar nodded. “Yes. But it will be worth it. We will make history if we pull off this spell.”
“I suppose you have a House in mind?” Octavia asked. She snapped the Book shut and placed it back on the shelf.
Alatar looked at Galliermo, and they both smiled. “We do,” Galliermo said.
Octavia spread her arms, waiting for them to tell her which one it was.
“House of Rats,” Galliermo said. “To get back at them for the shit they tried to pull on us last year.”
“Fair punishment if you ask me,” Rufus said. “They will know better than to try and steal our Book.”
For a moment, Octavia was silent. They all awaited her decision, as her word was the last.
Finally, she said, “Alright. I like the sound of it. Let’s go over the spell and start planning those damned murders we need to fuel this ritual.”
7
“Remember those days when we didn’t have to worry about the Dean trying to kill us?” Andro asked, his voice light. “Oh, how easy breezy it used to be, only having to concern ourselves with who’s Book we will steal next.”
Their group walked the path leading towards the statue of the Gods in the middle of Darly Park. It was late at night, way past midnight, and the air smelled of early spring.
Alecto rubbed her hands together, probably cold. Blaze grabbed one of her hands and stuffed it into the pocket of his leather jacket.
Smirking, she looked up at him and his stomach somersaulted.
“Good times, buddy,” Blaze said to Andro with a smirk.
To Blaze’s surprise, Val refrained from commenting or cursing Andro. Tonight, she seemed to be hyperfocused on the meeting they were headed to.
Rathone was already waiting for them by the statue.
