Page 135 of House of Malice
“Now he is,” he said, nonchalant.
He tossed the statue in the air and then placed it on a small table on the side. Galia clasped a hand over her mouth.
“Well, then,” Val said, looking at the corpse at their feet. “Problem solved.”
“I wouldn’t say that having the dead body of Venefica’s Dean is a problem solved, Val,” Andro said, crossing his arms.
Blaze couldn’t hold the painting on his own, so he leaned it against the wall.
“Don’t worry about it,” Val said.
“I don’t think Blaze’s father’s blackmail stash will get us out of this,” Jolene said, and for a moment, she looked genuinely sad.
“We won’t need that,” Alecto said. “Rogue killed him. He’s a demon. If he returns to Hel, nobody will come for him.”
“The authorities won’t,” Val said. “Rogue, you’re free to go once we’re done here. You can return to your precious witch waiting for you in Hel.”
Rogue scoffed. “If I knew all it took was to kill the Dean, I would have done it sooner. Shoulda said so from the start.”
Val smirked. “Let’s bring the paintings to the carriage. I don’t want to leave them here just in case someone else decides to take them.”
They took the paintings from the walls and carried them one by one into the carriage outside. Galia stood by the entrance, silently watching them.
Once they were done, Val said, “Let’s burn it.”
“What?” Alecto asked.
“Let’s burn the house,” Val said. “Come on. It will take them longer to find out what happened.”
They quickly formed a circle and joined hands. A chant left their lips, and soon, Alecto felt her palms burning.
As she walked through the Dean’s home, scattering the fire everywhere, she was reminded of when they’d burned the Tigers’ house down for the Game.
Some things never changed.
She met the rest of the group at the front of the house, seeing the fire spread rapidly.
“It’s a historical house,” Galia said. “It is a monument that you just absolutely destroyed.”
Val smiled. “Make sure you tell Santa to add us to the naughty list this year.”
Galia frowned. “Who’s Santa?”
Alecto snorted, rolling her eyes.
“Get out of here,” Val said, climbing inside the carriage. “I’ll see that these are safe and hidden.”
They watched the carriage whizz through the air and away. Then Blaze took Alecto’s hand and said, “Let’s go home.”
53
Two weeks later
The lights in the auditorium dimmed, only the stage at the front illuminated by giant light orbs floating above it.
Blaze leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers in front of him. He was excited to see Alecto onstage as Carmen.
Finally, she appeared on the edge of the stage, and the chatter in the auditorium died down. It was almost impossible to recognize her through all the appearance-altering magic.
