Page 12 of Venomous Lies (Greywood Conservatory for the Arcane #2)

Isla

TUESDAY

‘ B eastie. He can’t see you,’ Cas said with amusement as I started looking around for my things.

Bones, on the other hand, began to curse. “You need to get dressed,” he said, grabbing clothes and tossing them my way.

“Why the rush?” I asked even as I hurried to get dressed.

Bones shot me a look, his eyebrow arched as he simply gestured to the bite mark we were just discussing.

Oh good, glad Hellsing is out there too.

A hard rap on the door was quickly followed by a comment from the vampire in question. Apparently, we needed a reminder that this was a library, not a brothel.

I snorted with laughter, unable to help myself, as I finished fixing my shirt. Slipping on my pants, I reclaimed my shoes from where Bones had dropped them and put them on.

My mate was staring at the door, a strained expression on his face, until I walked over to the door with a smile.

“Remember, you said you wanted the full me, Bones,” I warned before throwing the door open. Hellsing stood there with a scowl, and the stunned Ambrose by his side appeared to be getting angrier by the second.

‘Please think before you ? —’

“If this isn’t a brothel, does that mean there actually is one that’s part of Greywood’s illustrious past?” I asked, focusing on the man closest to me. “Or is that just something you said to make me upset?”

‘Or not.’

“Miss Hallowes…” Hellsing rubbed his forehead before focusing on the bone fae that had slowly moved out of the study room behind me. “You are all adults. What you do with your own time is none of my concern?—”

“None of our concern?!” Ambrose protested. A hint of fire sparked in his eyes before he settled his glare on Bones.

“Especially if you’re mated,” Hellsing finished, continuing as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “But please try to keep your… urges under control in my library.”

“Duly noted,” I told him with a nonchalant shrug. “I’m getting food. Bones, are you coming with me, or was there something?—?”

“Mated?!”

“Let’s go.” Bones gestured to the stairs, telling me to lead the way. The look on his face was probably meant as a plea to stop talking, but it was far too late for that to happen.

“Miss Hallowes?” Hellsing said before I could walk away.

Looking over my shoulder, I met the gaze of the vampire who had an intimate relationship with Bones, not the Greywood librarian.

The power and knowledge in his gaze had goosebumps erupting along my skin.

“I would suggest you be careful in the future… You won’t get any other warnings from me. ”

‘Don’t say another word, beastie. It’s not the time.’

Swallowing down the sarcastic retort on the tip of my tongue, I forced myself to merely nod in acknowledgment.

I’d just leave him to deal with Ambrose’s anger since I was certain the fae was ready to erupt. The memory of his lips against mine and the scrape of the rough bark against my back had me turning back to the professor. Feeling extra daring after my conversation with Bones, I left him with a wink.

The weight of his gaze seemed to impossibly follow me out of the building. The chill breeze and the light rain brought an even wider smile to my face as I heard Bricriu light a cigarette behind me.

“That was fun.”

“Hellsing was speechless, almost, and Ambrose was pissed off.” Bones blew out a long cloud of smoke as I turned to face him. He considered me for a moment before taking a long drag. “Professor Ambrose, huh?”

“It’s—”

“Complicated?” Bones said with a rueful smile before he shook his head.

“Yeah.”

“Is what we talked about earlier with me…? Will that be an issue?”

‘Don’t let my gut reaction to it sway you, beastie,’ Cas reassured me, his voice smaller than normal. ‘It’s been a long time, and vampires have to feed.’

“I’ve never been in a relationship with someone who was with someone else.” I spoke slowly, trying to feel out the right way to express my thoughts as they came to me. “I won’t say I won’t get jealous, but no… No, I don’t mind. We’ll just?—”

“Have to figure it out together.” Bones said the last part with me, and I gave him an unsure half smile and nod. “Seems to be our motto, poison weaver.”

“Poison weaver?” I questioned, tilting my head to consider the bone fae in front of me.

“It’s the first thing I thought of when I saw you. Dangerous and alluring, deadly.” He finished the cigarette and put it out on the wall nearby. “Did you want that food?”

“Yeah,” I replied absently. His wording had pulled a thought forward in my mind, making me recall the strands of magick I’d seen when we mated. Weaver … Was there something to it? “Let’s get something to eat, then there’s someone we’re going to find.”

“Who?”

“Wells,” I said with determination as I snagged his hand and urged him to follow me. “There’s something I need to ask him.”

JULIAN

“Mates?!” Ambrose hissed next to me, and I leveled a stern glare in his direction.

“Keep the fire under control, Ambrose.”

“How the fuck do you?—?”

“Control.”

Ambrose didn’t say anything else, but I could see how he almost had to physically hold himself in check as the fire turned to smoke around his fingers. Orange and red eyes narrowed in annoyance, but thankfully, he kept it together. At least on the outside.

Isla Hallowes is nothing but trouble .

This just proved it.

“Mates?” he asked again. This time, the word was spoken much calmer, though it still contained an undercurrent of violent promise.

“Bricriu told me,” I replied evenly, brushing past the irate fae. “I hope you do realize this isn’t something they could have?—”

I stopped talking when I heard him stalking away, every footstep measured and controlled.

Ambrose was on a fucking hair trigger, which wasn’t wholly unusual, but as far as Isla was concerned, things seemed different. His edges had become much sharper, the viciousness in his gaze harder ever since he had met her.

A sigh escaped me as I rubbed my face, making my way to my room. Thankfully, most students were out enjoying their day off, so I got to enjoy a quiet stroll to my quarters.

My space was plain, small. There was a single bed shoved into a dark corner, and a large armchair sat in front of an empty fireplace with a stack of books beside it. The fire and a small floor lamp were the only sources of light in the windowless room.

I glided across the wooden floor to the armchair and sat down.

Instead, I focused on the newest stack of books I had dug up over the past few days, all revolving around the topic of necromancy.

My efforts to figure out what this killer was doing had all been fruitless thus far.

The missing pieces of the victims seemed too deliberate to be simple keepsakes, but for all my efforts, I couldn’t figure out what they were doing.

A hint of messy hair, copper skin, and a teasing smile flickered across my mind.

My mate .

He would have known or at least had an idea of what was going on. A necromancer of great strength, he would have savored having the upper hand, baiting me to force the information from him.

But he was dead, had been for centuries, and all I had left were cruel memories and cold nights that felt icy even to me.

If I had his grimoire, I could’ve found my answers within its pages. Perhaps, I could try to find his book.

It would take considerable time and resources to track it down… though not impossible.

With the right planning, I could leave and be back in a few days’ time without missing too much. Falke and Ambrose could handle things in my absence and keep me updated of any changes.

Bricriu and Isla… They would be a problem.

Bricriu and I had an agreement, an arrangement, that would be affected by his bond with Isla. Would she try to put a stop to it?

I ran my tongue over my teeth, remembering the taste of his blood on my tongue just last night. So fucking rich and intoxicating… The fae’s blood was powerful, and I could never help myself from taking just a bit more than necessary to savor the taste of it.

With a weary laugh, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.

As soon as we walked into the library, I could smell them. Bricriu’s scent, so familiar, was twined with hints of jasmine, vanilla, and amber… Isla Hallowes.

My attention had been laser focused on them.

Immediately, I’d walked upstairs to find them as if I had no choice in the matter.

If only I had been alone when I sensed them…

though maybe it was for the best that things hadn’t played out that way.

Even with my begrudging attraction to her, I co uldn’t tell if I’d want to join in or attack her for being with my blood donor.

Her mate.

Life was one twisted, cruel joke.

There was something about the witch, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I had been unwillingly drawn to her since the moment I met her. That unfiltered mouth, the spark of mischief in her hazel eyes, those curves for days… She was magnificent.

I hated every ounce of interest she drew from me, but I had felt the same way about Bricriu at first.

They each reflected the parts of myself that I tried to hide. While I had started to accept that with Bricriu, I resented the hell out of it when it came to Isla. Not once in my long life had I preferred women. Only a few here and there had ever sparked more than a passing interest.

The taunting promise of more lingered with every interaction, and I loathed it.

I didn’t want to feel like this again. All that want and need wrapped up in another person… It was a feeling I remembered well, along with the bitter loneliness that engulfed me after my mate died.

It was something I promised I’d never go through again. It wasn’t something I could survive again.

Shaking my head to physically force my mind back to my work, I stood up and walked over to the magicked paper on my desk.

I will be gone for a few days, at most. There’s something I need to get that might prove useful to us .

If I can find it.

Falke’s clipped and abrupt script appeared almost instantly.

What do you need us to do to cover for you?

Make sure Ambrose doesn’t kill anyone until I’m back.

I resent that. As if the centaur could stop me if I felt so inclined.

I’ll make sure he stays in line. As much as he’s capable of, at least.

Good enough for me. I’ll let you both know when I’m back.

The two of them would cover if anything arose with Thatcher while I was gone, of that I had no doubt, so all of my focus could be centered on the grimoire I needed to find.

A book of power was never an easy thing to destroy. Every word, page, and thread in the tome held magick. The person creating it often shed blood and tears while creating the book, embedding their very essences into it.

I’d never thought to look for the grimoire after his death. It wasn’t as if it were something that I could personally use.

The best place to start was at the end… If only I could still find it.

Our home.

My mind imagined the town, a small place in Greece with fields as far as the eye could see. A hint of a warm breeze and the sun on my skin filtered in from my memory right before I was hit with the sound of his husky laughter as phantom arms wrapped around me.

Concentrating, I gathered every bit of magick I had and sidestepped, disappearing from one place and appearing in another.

Greece.

A beautiful and haunting country.

This time, it was my turn to do the hunting.