Page 30 of House of Malice
Val snickered. “Careful, Jolene, or we might think you have a crush.”
“I do have a crush,” Jolene said, her eyes wide. “I’m fucking in love.”
Alecto chuckled. “She’s terrifying, though. Don’t you think? Like, you can feel the power within her, and it gives me goose bumps.”
“She’s absolutely terrifying,” Andro said. “In fact, I don’t know if my dick would get hard despite her being gorgeous. I’d be too scared.”
Blaze laughed. “I think there is another reason why your cock wouldn’t work, brother.”
“Yeah, but still,” Andro said, with a roll of his eyes.
“You know demons have supergood hearing, right?” Rogue asked from the corner of the room. Blaze had almost forgotten that he also trailed after them everywhere now.Almost.“And you’re talking abouttheImp Queen.”
“Oh my Gods, he’s right,” Jolene said. “She can’t kill us, though, right? Val, tell me she can’t.”
Val placed six glasses in front of her and poured the liquor in. She shrugged. “She knows she’s hot, and she knows she’s powerful. And she has better things to do than kill witchlings who think they can’t get it up for her.”
Blaze was curious about Val’s relationship with Moren, but he couldn’t find a way to ask more. He was aware that Val wouldn’t share anything unless there was something in it for her.
But apparently, Miss Black had no issues asking.
“Did you sell your soul to her?” Alecto asked. “Is that why you’re connected?”
Val passed a drink to Jolene and then used a spell to levitate the rest of the glasses to each of them.
She smirked and leaned on her elbows against the bar top. “I did not sell my soul, Black. I have it right with me, fully intact.”
“Then what is it?” Alecto asked. “There are few creatures in Inathis as powerful as the Imp Queen. And there are very few witches who have access to her. Why you?”
For a moment, Val just stared at Alecto in silence. Her eyes were distant, unfocused, like she was lost in her head. Then she blinked and said, “I got lucky in a way many never do.”
Before anyone could ask more questions, the double doors opened, and Leigh walked in.
“I’m done now,” she said. She walked over to Jolene and kissed her on the lips. Then she sat down on the barstool next to her. “Thank you for coming here today. I thought it will be much better to talk here than in Darly, where people might overhear.”
“Is there nobody else in the penthouse?” Alecto asked.
Leigh glanced at Blaze and then back to the room she’d come from. “Everyone from my team left. Moren is still there with her security detail. She—she’s waiting for us to finish so she can talk to Blaze.”
Blaze blinked, surprised. All heads snapped to him, everyone curious except for Val. Blaze wondered how much she knew.
“Thanks for letting me know,” he said, his voice flat.
Leigh nodded. “So, I have something. But I warn you, it’s not much. And it’s…weird.”
“Weird why? In what way?” Jolene asked.
“Well, the thing that’s weird is that I found plenty about Gondalez and his upbringing,” Leigh said. “He grew up in a small town, in the middle of Inathis. It’s so small, it’s borderline a village. The majority of the people there are into agriculture. He was a very good student at school and a masterful warlock. Which was how he got into Darkmire Prep, which is a private school for rich and talented kids. And that’s how he was able to get a scholarship at Venefica. As you are all very much aware, only kids from certain high schools can apply to study here.”
“Okay, so good to know that he was a talented little kid,” Val said. “What’s the weird part?”
“He got into Venefica as an arts major,” Leigh said. “He had won a few local awards in Darkmire, and then while he was at Venefica, he won a few national awards as well. He even had a few shows at galleries in smaller towns around Inathis, and there was supposed to be a show at one of the bigger art galleries in Avalon Hills his last year at Venefica, but that never happened.”
“Interesting,” Jolene said. “Why didn’t it happen?”
Leigh shrugged. “It just got cancelled. And this is where things get weird. I couldn’t find any public records of where he was or what he was doing for a few years after he graduated Venefica. After those few years, he returned to Venefica, started teaching arts, and then made his way to the Dean’s position.”
Val hummed. “Interesting indeed. Something must have happened, something major, that caused him to quit his promising art career and then disappear.”
