Page 16 of House of Malice
Andro walked in through the door, carrying a basket. “What did I miss?”
“We’re just thinking of ways to deal with the Dean,” Blaze said and leaned his head against the back of his armchair.
Alecto walked over to him and, to Blaze’s surprise, sat on his lap. Blaze absolutely loved their new way of doing things, of being out in the open. At least in Venefica.
Only Galia looked at them with a question in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything.
“Oh, I’ve got an idea,” Andro said. He put the basket next to the Book and crossed his arms. “Our alumni are al—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Val snapped.
She jerked her chin at Galia, and Andro murmured a quick “sorry” with a shrug.
“We won’t have an alliance if you can’t trust me,” Galia said.
Val smirked. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. First, we swear an oath to each other, then we protect you from the blood oath, and then we talk about building trust.” Val turned to Jolene. “Can we quickly get the oats out of the way before we start the spell?”
Jolene nodded, flipping through their Book. “Ah, I need to get the green thread. Give me a moment.”
She left the room. Rogue walked in, and Blaze rolled his eyes.
“Does he have to be here every time?” Blaze asked. “He’s not Inner Circle.”
“Yes.” Val’s voice left no room for negotiations. “He’s our little demon pet, and I want him where I can see him when he’s not off running errands for us.”
“Pleasure working with you, Valeria,” Rogue cooed.
“Would you prefer Moren’s dungeons?” Val asked. “Because that can certainly be arranged, demon.”
Rogue didn’t say anything, his jaw tight. He sat on the sofa next to Galia, stretching his long legs in front of him. His amber gaze slid to Alecto in Blaze’s lap, and that son of a bitch had the audacity to wink at her.
Anger rose inside Blaze, and he dug his fingers into Alecto’s thigh hard.
Alecto looked down at his hand and then up at his face. “If you keep clinging to me this hard when another guy looks at me, I’ll be forever bruised.”
“Maybe then they’ll know you’re mine and that they should keep their eyes away from you,” Blaze murmured. But he eased the pressure, now gently caressing her thigh with his fingers.
“I’m in your fucking lap,” Alecto said. “I have a fucking hickey on my neck the size of the moon at all times. I’m pretty sure everyone knows I’m yours.”
Blaze brought his mouth to hers. “Good.”
He kissed her then, and it was an intense and possessive kiss. He wanted Rogue to see it, just in case the bastard had any bad ideas.
“Okay, I think that’s enough,” Alecto said, chuckling once she pulled away.
Blaze was hard from that kiss alone, and he wished the others weren’t there so he could fuck Alecto on this armchair, against the bookshelf, on the table…and on that sofa. Maybe even against the window.
“Got it!” Jolene chirped, entering the library again.
In her hands she held a few strings of green thread. She gestured for Val and Galia to come to the middle of the room.
They both slowly stood next to Jolene, facing each other.
“Okay, take these.” Jolene handed a string of thread to each of them. “While I perform the spell and channel energy into putting the oath in place, you’ll each have to tie the thread on each other’s wrists. Got it?”
Galia and Val nodded.
Jolene looked at Galia. “Just so you know, this is our variation on the oath. So, not only will swearing this oath and wearing this thread prevent you from harming or betraying Valeria or her House, even trying to do so will harm you, draining your energy.”
