Page 84 of House of Malice
Blaze had noticed before that he rarely saw Alecto eat, and when she did eat, she would eat only certain foods. At first, he hadn’t thought anything of it, but now he started wondering if there was something more to her weird eating habits.
Of course, now wasn’t the time to pursue the subject. So he decided to put it aside in his mind for a later time and focused on his food.
The bell above the entrance chimed, and Val walked in, Rogue right behind her.
“Okay, our travel documents are sorted,” Val said, and they took a seat at their table. “We only have permission to stay until the evening, so we leave immediately after you’re done eating.”
“I didn’t know they restricted the travel times,” Jolene said.
“Yeah, that’s weird,” Alecto said. “At the mortal portal, they don’t restrict anything. And as far as I know, we don’t need any sort of documents to pass through.”
“Yeah, no documents needed,” Andro said. “You just show up there and go as you please.”
“Well, the mortal world is a bit different from Hel,” Val said. “If they let witches pass however they pleased, then we’d have demons running around all over Inathis.”
Rogue snorted. “Let me assure you, demons don’t have any desire to run around Inathis. We have everything we need in Hel.”
Val smirked. “Yeah? Don’t tell me you don’t like making deals for witches’ souls.”
Rogue’s face was stone cold. “Witches who want to sell their souls, just like mortals, come to us of their own accord. No need for us to roam Inathis, looking for victims. We’re not predators.”
Alecto’s eyebrows hiked up all the way to her hairline. “Oh, then what are you?”
Rogue smirked at her. “Smart businesspeople.”
Alecto rolled her eyes. “You’re so full of shit.”
“Anyway,” Val interrupted. “We will go to the Amber City directly. It’s the capital of Hel, and where the King resides. There we’ll meet with someone who used to work for the King of Hel and should know more about the secret club that operates in Grimswater.”
“Someone who used to work for the King of Hel?” Andro said, swallowing hard. His face turned ashen. “We’re so out of our league here.”
Val sighed. “Alessandro, this is how we ensure our survival and prosperity. We are the House of Snakes, one of the most powerful Houses in Venefica’s history. And when we graduate, we will go on to become powerful and influential people outside the walls of our college. Which means that we will always spend time with other influential people.”
“Yeah, I’m aware,” Andro said. “You forget that I grew up in a household where celebrities and politicians attend my mother’s parties every year. But there’s a difference between meeting a governor or a famous actor and meeting someone like the Imp Queen or a servant of the King of Hel.”
“She’s not a servant,” Rogue said, his voice low. “She used to be his personal assassin.”
Andro blinked at Rogue. Even Blaze was taken aback for a moment.
“That’s pretty fucking cool,” Alecto said with a shrug.
Andro looked at her with wide eyes, and Val chuckled.
“Come on,” Val urged. “Are you done with your food? The sooner we get to Hel and get the information we need, the sooner we can go back to Darly.”
Blaze was sure Val knew about his brother Dominic, that he was locked up in Grimswater. She must have known.
So he was curious as to why she hadn’t asked him to go see Dominic and find out more about Grimswater.
Of course, he didn’t question her about that. He would have said no if she’d asked.
Their group made their way through the small town towards the portal station in the very center. It wasn’t a long walk from the café where they’d had breakfast, but it was a nice walk.
Blaze held Alecto’s hand in his, and the sky was painted shades of pink and red as the sun made its way to the sky after the night of rest. The birds were chirping, and the air was crisp.
In that moment, he could almost forget all the problems they were facing.
The station was small and humble. A small brick house with a brown roof, a double door, and a few windows. There were groups of witches coming in and out the station, even this early. Half a dozen carriages were hovering by the entrance.
