Page 39 of House of Malice
Alecto listened intently, nodding to herself.
The Dean must have had to place the magic he had accumulated with murders somewhere. They just had to figure outwhere. If they took away the accumulated magic, they’d get an upper hand and be able to stop him.
He’d been an artist in the past. Alecto bet it was stored in his art. Now they just needed to find out where he kept his paintings.
“That is not a bad hypothesis,” Val said. “I would expect an artist to be vain enough to use their paintings to store magic.”
Alecto nodded.
“We would need to track down each painting he’s done,” Andro said. “It might take months to do so.”
Val pouted, considering his words.
“I bet we can start with the art galleries where he had them displayed,” Jolene said. “Just like Leigh suggested. Maybe there will be records of where the paintings were if they aren’t at the galleries anymore.”
“For that, we need to get into the archives,” Blaze pointed out. He yawned. “Have you found a way to do that yet? We need a good reason to not raise suspicion.”
“I have a reason,” Alecto said.
Val arched an eyebrow.
“I have a paper to write for Professor Fallo that involves Devon Venefica. I’ll need to get into the archives for research.”
The smile that appeared on Val’s face gave Alecto butterflies. Their High Priestess was as pleased as a cat that caught a mouse. “Atta girl,” Val said. “Can we go in with you?”
Alecto shrugged. “I don’t know the policy. Professor Fallo will have to write me a permission note that I have to bring to the administration.”
“Let’s see how Snake-friendly Miss Bellthrove really is then,. Val smirked.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to risk it?” Blaze frowned. “What if the bitch tells the Dean the whole Inner Circle went into the archives? That will surely raise some eyebrows.”
Val nodded. “True. But it is a risk worth taking. You see, if the Dean finds out, we can surely know that she’s not on our side. It’s better for us if we know who our enemies are.”
“Are we going to warn our alumni then?” Andro asked. “So that they know not to have any more meetings with her?”
Val hummed, rubbing her chin. “I’ll have to think on that.”
“If Miss Bellthrove goes to the Dean about it, then it also means we know why the Dean is doing what he’s doing,” Blaze said. All eyes snapped to him. “It’s because he knows about our alumni’s plan to remove him from his position.”
Alecto rolled her eyes. She really thought they’d already discussed it and put this idea to rest.
“It’s a good hypothesis, but I wouldn’t rush to make such assumptions,” Val said calmly. “First, let’s get into the archives and then see what happens once we do.”
“I’m on it,” Alecto said.
17
Alecto was so happy to be back in the safety of her own bedroom after a long day that she had.
All that planning and scheming and always trying to look over her shoulder to avoid getting stabbed in the back by one of their enemies was exhausting.
So, for the night, Alecto’s only plan was a hot bath in candlelight, and then she was going to bury herself under her duvet and read a saucy romance novel she’d gotten at a charity shop in the mortal world years ago.
She padded to the bathroom and murmured a spell to open the bathtub faucet. The sound of the streaming water was relaxing, and soon the air started warming up as steam filled the space.
Alecto stripped out of her uniform and tossed it into a laundry basket. Just in her underwear, she returned to her room, and when she got there, her heart almost jumped out of her chest.
On her bed lay Blaze, his arms crossed behind his head and his long legs stretched comfortably. There was a gap between his black T-shirt and his jeans, and his toned stomach with a defined V taunted Alecto.
