Page 56 of House of Malice
“That is sick,” Andro sneered. “Who are those members? Rich and influential? Wouldn’t that mean those same people who rule Venefica?”
Rogue’s smile widened. “Your guess is as good as mine. Nobody knows the identities, not unless it is too late anyway.”
Blaze was about to ask what Rogue meant, but Val said, “That would make sense. Why The Dean went there, and why he wanted to keep it a secret.”
“You think he went there with the intention to make connections with these perverts?” Alecto asked.
Val nodded. “Yeah. He is an art major who is the Dean. He wouldn’t have climbed the ladder the way he did if it weren’t for some connections. That checks out.”
“And of course, he didn’t want anyone who might be snooping around to find out about it, because they could put two and two together,” Leigh said.
Val nodded.
“I feel like we are venturing out into very dangerous territory here,” Andro said. “And what if our parents are members of that said club?”
They all exchanged glances.
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Alecto said, crossing her arms.
She bit her jaw so hard, a muscle ticked. Blaze bet she was thinking of her father. Maybe Galliermo was also a member. Both of them were despicable enough.
“That’s a good start,” Val said. She jabbed a finger at the papers in front of her. “And these also mention some of the most prominent art pieces Gondalez created. I bet he uses those to store the magic he had been gathering from all those murders.”
“We need to find those pieces,” Alecto said.
“How are we going to do that?” Andro said. “We can’t perform a locator spell, can we?”
Val shook her head. “Not right now. But if we can get of something that relates to the art and belongs to the Dean, we could.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Jolene asked.
Val smirked. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll think of a plan. What I want you to do right now is talk to our alumni.”
“I thought you didn’t want to raise any alarms,” Blaze said. “If we talk with them, they’ll know something is up.”
“They won’t know because we’ll talk with someone they like to disregard,” Val said, looking at Jolene.
Jolene rolled her eyes. “Let me guess…my aunties.”
Val smiled. “Lyra was the one who mentioned the murders in the past. She looks like she’s not quite on board with their plan to remove the Dean, or at least there is something she’s hesitant about. She might tell us something useful.”
Jolene nodded. “I think she would be most willing to talk without being patronizing. But she’ll only talk with me and Alecto.”
“Should we be, like, offended right now?” Andro asked, half joking.
Jolene shrugged apologetically. “It’s nothing personal. It’s just a family thing… Alecto is a Black, and they value that.”
“Ah, the ‘old money, new money’ thing,” Andro said with a roll of his eyes. He jerked his chin at Blaze. “I told you it matters.”
“It appears you were right, Long Legs. Want a medal for it?”
Andro flipped Blaze off, and that made him smile.
“How soon can you go?” Val asked Jolene.
Jolene looked at Alecto. “There is an afternoon tea event happening this Sunday. She’s going alone because Reverie is out of town. She’ll be very pleased if I tell her that we would like to join her.”
Val’s smile was all teeth and malice. “Very well.”
