Page 95 of House of Malice
“But it will happen,” Auburn said. “Believe me, he won’t hurt either of you. We will take care of that.”
Alecto had the urge to roll her eyes, but she respected Auburn enough not to do so.
“Alright,” Blaze said, calm now. “You deal with that then.”
Auburn nodded.
“One last question,” Blaze said. Auburn nodded. “What do you know about the secret club at Grimswater?”
Auburn frowned and tilted her head to the side. “What club? Dominic didn’t mention any secret clubs.”
Blaze narrowed his eyes, watching his mother intently. But then he nodded and shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll go. We have a party to plan. Don’t tell Galliermo or the others that we know about the Dean, Mother.”
“I won’t, dear. I promise.”
Alecto only hoped Auburn kept her promises.
39
“They knew?” Andro squealed. “They knew all this time?”
“Well, since the incident with the Tigers,” Alecto said. “So, almost all this time. Longer that we did, that’s for sure.”
“Unbelievable,” Jolene said, shaking her head. “I cannot believe this.”
“I told you we can’t trust them,” Alecto said.
Blaze and Alecto had returned to their brownstone. The members of the Inner Circle were all clustered in Val’s room, minus Rogue.
“And she can’t say what happened because she swore an oath,” Val said. She narrowed her eyes. “Something really bad must have happened then, if they needed an oath to prevent people from talking.”
“I mean, attempting ritual murders is pretty bad, don’t you think?” Andro asked.
“We are on our own,” Blaze said grimly. “They’re not making much progress with their political maneuvering now that Miss Bellthrove is dead. And I don’t think the Dean is about to stop his plans of revenge, whatever they might be.”
“Do you think the Dean knows about their plans?” Alecto asked.
“I would assume so,” Val said.
“Okay, can we talk about something else now?” Alecto asked. She clapped her hands together, suddenly excited. “We have the venue for Jolene’s ceremony!”
“Oh?” Jolene asked, her eyes wide.
The mood in the room immediately shifted.
“Yeah. We’ll have a party at my family’s home. Next week,” Alecto said.
It was cute how excited Alecto was about this handfasting ceremony. They had yet to have a conversation about the future themselves; there was too much to figure out before they could. But even if they hadn’t talked about it, Blaze could see himself being bound to her for eternity. He’d want her to be his sangi. Handfasting wouldn’t be enough for him.
“Oh, that’s so wonderful!” Jolene gasped. “I love that place! And the ocean… Ah, Alecto!”
“I knew you were gonna love it,” Alecto said, smiling. “Now, Andro is in charge of the catering.”
“Yeah, I already spoke with a few of my mother’s friends in Avalon Hills who own my favorite restaurants,” Andro said. “We’ll have an assortment of different foods available. And guess what—I managed to get Raul!”
“Oh, damn, boy,” Alecto said. “You’re fucking good.”
“I’m the fucking best, bitch.” Andro winked.
