Page 33 of House of Malice
“It’s an academy event,” Octavia said. “We have to play our part.”
Lyra joined their group. She had a purple drink in a martini glass in one hand and a booklet in another. “Hey, guys,” she greeted them. “Some of the art is actually not half bad. I even found a piece I’d buy.”
Reverie rolled her eyes at her sister.
“You are not buying art from an enemy’s House,” Octavia said, and Lyra sighed with disappointment.
Alatar’s eyes lit up then, and he nudged Galliermo with an elbow. “How about we do buy a piece of art from the enemy…and set it on fire?”
“Why would we do that?” Rufus asked.
Galliermo joined his best friend, excitement rising within him. “Why, of course, to humiliate them.”
“This weekend the party is at ours,” Demitria said. “It would be a fun little ritual to do in front of everyone, to burn the piece of art and mock the Rats.”
Galliermo wanted to push her against the wall and kiss her.
“Alright,” Octavia said. “I like the sentiment behind it. But let’s make sure that the buyer is anonymous.”
“The price we pay has to be high,” Reverie added. Galliermo arched an eyebrow. “It will be a much bigger mockery after we make them feel like their art is special.”
“I like that,” Alatar said, smiling. “Let’s pick a piece, shall we?”
They spent the rest of the evening looking at all the art pieces that were going up for auction at the end of the night. It had turned into a fun little game now that they had a plan.
“You know,” Demitria whispered to Galliermo, “Gondalez is actually talented.”
Galliermo narrowed his eyes, and Demitria gave him the “come on now” look.
“You might hate the guy,” she said, patting his chest, “but you have to admit that these pieces are quite good.”
Of course, Demitria was right. But Galliermo would have never admitted that out loud, not even to her. Gondalez was from the House of Rats, and that meant he was an enemy. Galliermo wasn’t about to go around praising his enemies, whether they were talented or not.
That was not how things at Venefica went.
“Let’s go,” Galliermo said, taking her hand. “I want to grab a good seat for the auction.”
He led them out of the main showroom into the room next door, where a small dais stood at the very front of the room, with chairs lined up in multiple rows.
Some of the witches had already started gathering around, leaving some rows fully occupied.
Without words, Galliermo led them to the very last row, at the farthest corner of the room.
“This is what you consider a good seat?” Demitria asked once they sat down. Galliermo draped a hand over the back of the chair. “We can barely see anything from here.”
Galliermo smirked. “We won’t need to see anything.”
Soon, more witches started streaming through the archway. The Snakes walked in and passed them without even sparing them a glance. It was Alatar who walked in last and noticed Galliermo.
His best friend took a seat next to Demitria. “Why are you all the way at the end here?”
Galliermo cleared his throat and placed his hand on Demitria’s thigh. “Because it’s more fun back here.”
It didn’t take more than a moment for Alatar to catch the meaning behind Galliermo’s words. He arched an eyebrow, and his eye flicked down to Demitria’s legs and then up. “Don’t mind me then.”
“Are we seriously going to do that?” Demitria whispered; her cheeks flushed. She sat with her legs crossed. “Now?”
Galliermo leaned in, nudging her cheek with his nose. “Why not, princess? Are you shy?”
