Page 134 of House of Malice
“And murdering students to accumulate magic is allowed?” Val asked.
“It was a necessary evil, Miss Lang,” the Dean said.
Val barked a laugh. “Was it now? Does saying that help you sleep at night?”
The Dean looked at her for a moment. Then he said, “Sometimes, in order to do good, we must commit unforgivable deeds.”
Alecto’s skin tingled, and she looked down to see her hand with long nails. The spell was wearing off.
I guess it doesn’t matter now.
“Revenge is not doing good,” Alecto said. The Dean looked her way. “Even if you convince yourself that it is for the right reason.”
The Dean smiled. “You think you know it all, don’t you? Just like your damned guardians. You are the stunning mirror image of their group.”
Alecto lifted her chin, bristling. They were nothing like their alumni.
“What is this good you’re trying to do?” Val asked. “Eliminating our House will only do good to you.”
The Dean barked a laugh, jerking Galia. She startled but appeared quite unmoved despite her situation. “Eliminating the House of Snakes would have been the single best thing that happened to Venefica,” the Dean sneered. “Your House should have been disbanded decades ago.”
Alecto was surprised to see the Dean seemed truly convinced he was doing something good here. “Why? What’s wrong with our House,” she asked, “other than the fact you have some unresolved issues with our alumni?”
The Dean’s eyes flickered, and Alecto’s eyes dropped. They could die at any moment. The Dean would definitely not let them leave here after this.
“Your House goes above and beyond when it comes to making others miserable,” the Dean said. “It has been passed on from generation to generation. The cruelty your House has gotten worse with each generation. You took our tradition, one of our most prized and beautiful traditions, and turned it into something despicable and cruel.”
Alecto frowned. Surely, he couldn’t blame the Snakes for the way the Game worked.
“It is not our fault things at Venefica are the way they are,” Blaze said. “We’re only following the rules and trying to ensure our survival.”
“You are using the Game to satisfy your twisted hunger for power,” the Dean spat. “You don’t care who gets walked over or hurt during your power trip. As long as you get to win.”
“What did our alumni do to you?” Alecto asked, her voice gentle. “What did they do to make you hate us so much all these years later?”
The Dean glared at her. “They took away someone who was very important to me. Someone I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with. Someone who was going to give me a child.”
His voice rose with each word, and by the end, he screamed out the words. His hand gripped Galia’s neck, and she gasped. She tried to twist away, but he wouldn’t let her go.
Now it made sense to Alecto. The Dean had lost the love of his life at the hands of their alumni. And now they were paying for it.
“And they come in here thinking they can put Alatar Black in my place,” the Dean spat. “I will not allow that, even if it will be the last thing I do.”
“What were you going to do with that magic you accumulated?” Alecto asked, trying to buy them time. She couldn’t figure out a way out, but there must be one. “What is all this for? To kill us?”
The Dean laughed. “I will make the alumni suffer the way they made me suffer all those years ago. The energy will be used to control the board. I have prepared the petition to remove the House of Snakes and disband it. They will be removed, losing all that history and power they are so proud of. And then I will ruin them one by one. And I will start by killing their precious little children.”
Alecto’s heart skipped a beat. The Dean opened his mouth, but nothing came out because there was the sound of a skull cracking, and then he went down.
Behind him, Rogue stood, a bronze statue in his hand. He looked down at the Dean’s body splayed on the floor. At the back of his skull, there was a hole, and blood seeped from it, pooling around the Dean.
Galia scrambled to the side, her eyes wide.
“He talks too much,” Rogue said, not impressed.
“Is he—?” Galia asked, pale as a ghost. “Is he dead?”
Rogue leaned over the body and pursed his lips. He hit the Dean at the back of his head once more with the statue in his hand.
