Page 62 of House of Malice
Blaze had no doubts about it.
Kaliad returned with the two mugs of coffee. Blaze handed Alecto hers, and when Kaliad brought the plate with a cinnamon roll, he handed her that as well.
“Do you want something else, baby?” he asked her as he pulled out his card to pay.
Alecto shook her head, already sipping on her coffee.
Blaze paid and gathered his plate with the coffee. They both made their way towards their table, where the rest of the Inner Circle and Gael were already eating their breakfast.
“Why did you send us there if you knew she wouldn’t talk?” Jolene asked Val.
Blaze took a seat next to Alecto and immediately dug into his plate. He didn’t even care that the hash browns were too hot and burned his tongue.
Val lathered her pancakes with more maple syrup than was necessary. “I wanted to see what excuse she’d give you.”
“Well, she gave none,” Alecto said. “She didn’t even bother engaging with us about it. Just told us to stay out of it and mind our own business.”
“Just like my mom did,” Blaze said with his mouth full.
Andro scrunched his nose in disgust, which only amused Blaze.
“Of course, that is what they do,” Val said with a small smile. “I wanted you to see once more that our alumni don’t treat us like their equals. So we can’t go to them for help with this.”
Andro sighed.
“Also, I was curious to see whether Lyra would say anything to the others,” Val said, then put a large mouthful of pancakes in her mouth. “They don’t seem very united to me.”
“And why does that matter?” Andro asked.
“Well, because if they are not united, it means they are vulnerable,” Val said. “And if I can figure out that they are vulnerable, it means their enemies could do the same.”
“Are we trying to protect our alumni as well as ourselves now?” Alecto asked. “Isn’t that a task a tad too big for us alone?”
“Protecting ourselves and our House means protecting our alumni,” Val said. “Even if they don’t believe they need our help.”
Blaze snorted. “Maybe we should let the Dean get rid of our guardians.”
They all looked at Blaze like he’d just said something crazy. He rolled his eyes.
“I know you have daddy issues,Blazy,” Val said, her voice sickly sweet. “But take that up with your daddy directly instead of taking it out on the whole House, okay?”
He was already working on it.
Suddenly, shouts came from the hall outside the cafeteria. The whole cafeteria that had been buzzing with voices and sounds went quiet, looking at the door.
“What the fuck?” Jolene murmured.
Val got to her feet and rushed towards the door. The members of their group all followed, and so did some of the other students.
Outside the cafeteria, students, professors, and administrators were all rushing outside. Blaze looked around, trying to make sense of what was going on. They followed the stream of people.
A crowd had already gathered right next to the Venefica founder’s statue. Everyone was looking up; some faces were scared, while others were shocked.
Blaze looked up to see what everyone was looking at. There, on the very top of the building, stood a figure.
“Who—?” Blaze then recognized the large thick-framed glasses.
“Oh my Gods, it’s Miss Bellthrove!” Alecto gasped.
