Page 28 of House of Malice
“Not yet,” Val said. “But she did tell me about the first order she got from the Dean. And it appears that he tasked her with collecting a bunch of ingredients for a spell.”
“What are the ingredients?” Jolene asked. “We can figure out what spell he’s trying to cast. Or at least narrow it down to a bunch of spells.”
Val smirked. “Good girl.” She pulled a piece of paper from the back pocket of her jeans and handed it to Jolene.
Jolene scanned the page and scrunched her nose. “That’s interesting.”
“What? Do you already know the spell?” Andro asked.
“I think so,” Jolene said, rising to her feet. She took the Book from the shelf, flipping through it. “But let me check to make sure I’m not mistaken.”
After a few long moments of Jolene flipping through their Book, she finally settled on one page. She quickly scanned it and nodded to herself.
“Well?” Val urged her.
Jolene put the Book back in its place. “Just as I thought, it’s a mind-control spell. Obviously, it’s his or the House of Rats’ variation of the spell, so I’m not sure how it might vary from the one we have in our Book.”
“He’s looking to control someone’s mind,” Alecto said. “Who and for what? He already has Galia under a blood oath.”
“Unless he knows she isn’t bound by it,” Val said. “Then he would strive to control Galia in a different way.”
“Does she suspect it?” Jolene asked.
Val shrugged.
“Okay. Okay, with everything we know now about the Dean, we have to go to our alumni and get their help,” Andro insisted. He looked at Val. “We can’t do this alone. They literally need to remove the Dean, and this might well be the last thing they need to do that.”
Alecto wasn’t sure she wanted to involve their alumni.
“I will have to disagree with you, Andro,” Alecto said. All heads turned in her direction. “Our guardians hide too many secrets, and they play too many games. I have no interest in being their pawn.”
Andro blinked. “Alecto, come on! I know we can’t trust them entirely, but it’s our families we’re talking about. Our blood, our legacy, and our future.”
Bile rose inside Alecto, and she recoiled inside at the mention of family. Family meant absolutely nothing. Blood wasn’t thicker than water. It was only a word.
She shook her head, pursing her lips. “We can’t trust them, family or not. We have to figure this out ourselves and find out the truth. Maybe the Dean isn’t even the one who needs to be stopped.”
“You did not just say that,” Jolene said. “Are you seriously suggesting that our guardians might be the problem here?”
Alecto arched an eyebrow. “Ask your aunties what happens during Litha in Old Haven every year.”
Jolene flinched at her words, which could only mean one thing—she was well aware of her family’s secrets.
“What happens in Old Haven every year?” Andro asked with a frown.
Jolene shook her head. “Nothing. It’s not important.”
“Youwere the one who pointed out that our guardians are literal serial killers,” Alecto told Andro.
“Andyousaid we shouldn’t make assumptions before we get the full picture,” Andro said and crossed his arms.
“That was before I read my mother’s journals,” Alecto said. She pulled out the black journal and tossed it on the pool table. “She describes the preparation for the murders in her journal entries, the ones we read about in the police files. Our alumni participated in ritual murders to win the Game.”
Andro pressed his lips into a thin line. Jolene’s eyes were focused on her feet.
“All this time we had no idea that we might be paying the price for what our guardians have done in the past,” Alecto said. “Going to the alumni will only make things worse. Do you really think they’ll involve us in their plans? No. They will push and pull however they like.”
After a moment of silence, Jolene said. “Okay, so what else do we know from the journals?”
