Page 13 of Venomous Lies (Greywood Conservatory for the Arcane #2)

Wells

TUESDAY

S hit. Another fucking dead end.

Frustrated, I tossed the book onto the table beside me before rubbing a hand over my face. There had to be something of use in one of these books. Or at least that’s what I had thought when I pulled them.

Isla asked me to look into her ability to see strands of magick like I could, but I’d come up blank at every turn.

To be fair, there weren’t many books about witches like myself, but I had hoped to find even a fucking sentence pertaining to her situation since she wasn’t a weaver.

There was nothing.

My growing aggravation had me slamming my hands on the table, and I immediately hissed at the shot of pain the movement sent into my ribs.

Tiago had done a real number on me this morning. The fae had a huge fucking chip on his shoulder about rooming with a “lowly witch,” something he reminded me of each time he put me in my place for some imagined slight.

After Thatcher’s announcement this morning, I had gone back to the room to grab my stuff for my familiar care class only to find my belongings scattered around the room, much of it torn up. He had said it was retaliation for having my clothes on his side of the room.

Which was a fucking lie.

If anything, his shit was all over mine.

I tried to ignore him and stay out of the room as much as possible, but sometimes, it was unavoidable.

Originally, I had asked if I could change my room, but everywhere was supposedly full. Maybe word got back to him that I had asked about moving? Either way, I was now paying the price for his fucking ego.

I groaned as I settled back in my chair. Maybe I can sleep in the library tonight? Or maybe my friends will let me crash on their couch?

Would that make it worse when I go back to my room later? At the moment, I didn’t really care.

“Wells!”

My head snapped up when Isla called out my name, and my stomach dropped when I saw she wasn’t alone.

Bricriu was with her.

My lips twitched when I realized he was carrying a few takeaway boxes from the dining hall and a drink carrier. He didn’t complain when Isla waved for him to follow her, not even when she broke off and hurried over to where I was sitting with my stack of books.

I carefully moved them out of the way when it became obvious that Isla was going to settle down and make herself at home at my table.

“I thought we had today off?” She furrowed her brow while gesturing at the books.

“From classes,” I replied with a half smile before focusing on her mate as he joined us. “Not homework. What’s going?—? ”

“I wanted to talk to you about the magick stuff that I had brought up earlier,” she cut in as she patted the bench next to her. “And since Bones here is involved in this, I thought…”

“That makes sense.” I tilted my head and studied first her, then the bone fae I barely knew.

I wished I could read him, but behind those black and gold sunglasses, I couldn’t tell much. He had short, silver-white hair and what appeared to be a name-brand shirt and slacks. The fae really was a mystery.

He gave a slight nod before passing Isla her things and digging into his food.

“I have no idea what we’re doing here, witch. You’ll have to ask Isla.”

My lips twitched despite myself, and when I turned back to Isla, she took a long sip of her tea before starting to speak again.

“The first time Bones saw me, the night he kidnapped me?—”

“You make it sound—” Bones started to protest.

“Well, you did .” She arched an eyebrow at him, daring him to continue.

“To bring you here… Though, you were willing, so I don’t know how far you’d get in arguing it was actually kidnapping.”

“Anyway…” She rolled her eyes and focused on me again. “He said he thought of me as a poison weaver. Are there different kinds of weavers? Is that why I could see the strands of magick?”

I hummed, rubbing my face as I thought it over.

“Potentially,” I told her ruefully. “But there’s barely any information about weavers anywhere, so there could be a ton of different types. If there’s anything at the library here, it must be in a faculty or restricted area because I couldn’t find anything.”

“That’s what these are for?” Bricriu nudged the books.

I nodded. “But can you see threads of magick now? If you concentrate, can you see them?”

“I’ve only ever seen them twice,” she replied, then shook her head. “I don’t think I can see them on demand. Wait… Does that mean you can?”

“If I concentrate, yes,” I told her, considering the witch in front of me. “We could, if you’re okay with it, look at your grimoire and try some of your spells. Look out for any threads when you’re actively doing a spell or potion. Sometimes, if you’re not aware… What’s wrong?”

For some reason, Isla had started to look really uncomfortable at the mention of her grimoire. Her head was down, and she stared at her lunch with single-minded focus before taking a long sip of her tea again.

“It was just a suggestion, Isla. It’s definitely not something we need to do if you don’t want to share?—”

“It’s not that.”

“What’s wrong?” Bricriu asked, his attention shifting from his food to his mate beside him. I shivered at the force of his focus, glad it wasn’t centered on me. Isla, though? She relaxed beneath its weight, directing a small smile his way as she lightly touched his arm.

The movement drew my eyes to the mate mark on her forearm. The delicate design that represented their bond had taken on the shape of a plant, though which one I wasn’t sure.

“I don’t have a grimoire.”

I blinked a few times, my mouth opening and closing. But no, even after a solid minute of silence, I still didn’t understand. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one that was confused.

“All witches have grimoires,” the bone fae said with as much confusion as I was feeling.

“While I was at the academy, I was told that I didn’t have enough proficiency or aptitude to bother with creating my own book.

” Isla snorted, but I could see the hurt in her eyes despite her smirk.

“So… I don’t have one. All of my notes are on my laptop, so I can at least copy them down into a notebook, as long as it isn’t taken from me with Thatcher’s new rules. ”

“They said what about you?” Bricriu asked. With his words, the chill in the air lowered by quite a few degrees. I could see our breath in the air, but I didn’t shiver. If anything, I was glad he could show just how pissed off both of us were.

“We’re going to fix this.”

“What?” Isla asked, her wide hazel eyes going from her mate to me. When I stood up, I found Bones’ eyes on me too.

“You’re making a grimoire. It’s bullshit that they kept you from making one, and we’re fixing that. Now .”

“Right this very second?” Isla said incredulously. “Don’t you need special?—?”

“Finish up your lunch. We’re going to go get a book, so you can start making it. I can’t believe they’d keep that from you.” I muttered the last part under my breath. “Let me drop this stuff off at the library, then I’ll be back.”

Not waiting for an answer, I snagged all the books and hurried over to the library to return them. Thankfully, no one was there, so I was out again moments later, anger making my stride faster than normal.

“Where’s the fire, Wells?”

I stuttered to a stop at the sound of Zhara’s voice. When I turned around, Zhara and Aizel were there, looking at me with concern.

“I’m helping Isla with something,” I told them with a forced smile. “Don’t worry about it. Where’s Echo?”

“Here,” a soft voice answered from behind me.

Although Echo had spoken to me, when I whirled around to face him, he was staring at Isla and Bricriu. Aizel and Zhara spotted them after a minute, the former eyeing his twin in concern before letting out a deep breath.

“After Thatcher’s speech, I caught wind of some rumors starting to spread about them.”

“He’s her mate,” I told them, though I kept my focus on Echo. He didn’t react, at least not in any way that I could see.

“You said you were helping her… What are you helping her with?” Echo asked, his voice oddly detached.

“Her academy was a piece of shit,” I grumbled, completely pissed off on my friend’s behalf. “They didn’t let her create her own grimoire.”

“What?!”

“I’m going to help her fix that. It’s fucking bullshit?—”

“I’ll help you,” Zhara declared, walking away from us and heading straight for Isla.

“Looks like she has all the help she needs,” Echo drawled, his annoyingly familiar iciness breaking through the detachment that had just been there.

“Echo,” I started, but he just turned on his heel and walked off. Part of me thought I should just keep my mouth shut, but I was tired of seeing him and Isla in so much pain. “If you would just listen instead of running away, it would fix most of your problems!”

“Fucking subtle,” Aizel muttered quietly, but I only felt relief when Echo froze.

“What could you possibly tell me that would help me right now, witch?” he crooned, turning back to me. His eyes darkened, tinges of black filling the whites of his eyes.

“Be careful, Wells,” Aizel warned.

“Witches have multiple mates—the women at least,” I told him firmly.

Aizel made a sound, a sharp intake of breath, in response to that news, but I ignored it.

I needed to keep my attention on the incubus that had been spiraling out of control since his rut.

“Most have two to three, but powerful ones… They can have more. Isla would have told you all this if you had stuck around after she mentioned the mate thing. So, maybe, instead of making this about you, you can make it about Isla, who isn’t in control of any of this? ”

“Multiple mates?” Aizel repeated when his brother remained motionless.

“Yes,” I told him softly. “Just like ruts, it’s not something we can control either.”

With that parting blow, I rushed back to the table. While I was dealing with Echo, Z had sat down across from Isla and they were talking a mile a minute.

“You guys almost done?”

“We’re ready,” Isla said as she stood up. Her next comment was directed at her mate. “Can you come with us?”

“There’s something I need to take care of, but I’ll see you tomorrow, witchling.”

“Okay.” She smiled softly then kissed him before walking off with Z.

The bone fae and I watched them walk off for a few seconds before the weight of his gaze shifted to me. I turned and waited, knowing he had something he wanted to say.

“Be careful with my mate.”

“She’s my friend, Bricriu. I watch out for my friends.”

“See that you do.”

He stood up slowly, carefully considering me before he offered his hand. Without hesitation, I took it, shaking it firmly.

“You’re welcome to join us, you know,” I told him as I let go of his hand. “You’re not excluded from hanging out with us.”

“I… Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”