Page 36 of House of Malice
Blaze was hesitant to let go of her, but eventually he did. Alecto would have much rather spent her whole day here with Blaze, watching people and talking nonsense, but she would never skip class. Especially not Professor Fallo’s class.
“I’ll see you later at the herbalism lecture?” Blaze asked and pressed his lips to her forehead.
Chills went down Alecto’s back. “I hope there is also something much more fun in your plans afterwards,” Alecto said with a smirk.
Blaze didn’t get to answer because she turned and made her way inside before she was late to lecture.
“Okay, it’s time for you to start working on your end-of-year papers,” Professor Fallo said. She leaned her curvy hip wrapped in a black satin skirt on the side of her desk. Her gaze swept over the class.
“Take this one seriously,” she said. “It will be your preparation for the dissertation you’ll spend the next whole year writing. Choose any topic you’d like from what we have covered this year so far.”
She lifted a paper from her desk and waved it at the class. Then she handed it to a student in the front row. “Here you can find all the topics. Put your name next to the topic you choose. If you can’t find anything that interests you from this year’s curriculum, then feel free to choose a topic from previous years. But I assume it will be much harder because, over the summer, you probably forgot the majority of the things you learned.”
A wave of laughter went around the class.
The paper with the topics soon reached Alecto, a few names scribbled next to some topics. There were a few students, like Galia, who’d chosen a topic from last year’s curriculum.
Alecto would expect nothing less from the House of Rats.
She quickly scanned the topics, trying to decide what to write about. Truth be told, with everything going on with their House and the Dean, Alecto hadn’t been as focused on her studies as she should have.
But it wasn’t just the House stuff to blame. Alecto used to strive to be the best she could be because she’d hoped that it was what her mother would expect from her, if she were still alive. At least, the version of her mother she had in her head.
Now it seemed pointless to try and be the perfect daughter to a mother she didn’t even know.
One topic in particular caught Alecto’s attention.Retribution versus justice: the morality of vengeance and justice in Inathis history (examine Devon Venefica’s trial).
Writing about Venefica’s founder would require Alecto to do research on her, which meant she would have to get into Venefica’s archives.
They needed to get into the archives to find out more about the Dean.
Jackpot.
Alecto rushed to scribble her name next to the topic, securing it for herself. Then she made a note on it in her notebook and passed the paper.
The first thought that crossed Alecto’s mind was,Val will be proud.
15
September 25, 1950
Tonight, Snakes’ brownstone was packed, with people even spilling out through the open front door. Galliermo looked over groups of witches gathered in small circles all over their front garden and entered the home.
“My love!” Demitria’s cheery voice reached him, and then her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.
She tasted like whiskey, chocolate, and strawberries.
“You’re already tipsy.” Galliermo smirked. “That was fast.”
Demitria threw her head backwards and giggled. Her cheeks were a deep pink color, which only made her gaze that much more piercing.
“Blame me, brother,” Alatar said, coming up to them. “We’ve been playing some drinking games.”
“That asshole always wins!” Demitria said, looking over her shoulder at Alatar. She then leaned in closer to Galliermo and whispered to him, “I think he’s using magic to cheat me.”
Galliermo chuckled. “You might actually be right about that.”
Demitria opened her mouth as if in shock, let go of Galliermo’s neck, and whirled on her feet to face Alatar. She swayed to the sides a little, so Galliermo grabbed her hips to keep her steady. She jabbed a finger at Alatar’s chest. “I knew it!”
