Page 22 of Venomous Lies (Greywood Conservatory for the Arcane #2)

Isla

MONDAY

C onsciousness came back with a brutal jolt.

Too bad my vision didn’t.

The weighty darkness was still there even after I blinked my eyes multiple times. Panic rose in my chest as my breathing picked up. Was the magick still around me? Was my attacker still there? Why couldn’t I see?

Reaching out, I frantically ran my hands along the surfaces surrounding me. Smooth floor, cool tile, and sharp glass. I hissed when one of my fingers was sliced open. Shit. Hopefully, I was still in my suite, in my bathroom.

‘Beastie?’ an achingly familiar voice called, making my useless eyes tear up.

Cas.

“Am I in the bathroom? How did I get here?”

‘Yes,’ he answered after a weighty silence. ‘Can you not see?’

“No… Can you see?” Even after nineteen years, I was unsure how this thing between us worked.

‘I can when I’m in the mirror,’ he replied, his concern making him sound more serious than normal. ‘Are you able to move?’

“Let’s find out.”

A complaining groan turned into a humiliating whimper. Every inch of my body hurt when I tried to push myself up off the floor. The phantom weight of the intruder on my back made my panic increase. Warm puddles of liquid surrounded me, my hands slipping through it as I tried and failed to sit up.

But as much as I tried to remember the fight, I couldn’t recall one moment of it. Guess surrendering control doesn’t make it so I remember things.

When I finally managed to sit up, I uselessly looked around, wishing like hell that the darkness would be broken. The heady smell of blood filled my senses as I wiped at my face… That’s not good.

“What…” I rasped roughly. “What happened?”

‘You don’t remember?’

“I remember being attacked. And the shadows. Then I let go so you could take over. I can’t recall anything else. What the fuck is going on?”

‘ In your head, beastie,’ Cassius reminded me gently.

He cleared his throat and seemed to be considering his words carefully as he answered my stilted questions.

‘I took over your body and fought them off as long as I could. They said they wanted your blood… Given how much is all over the place and your current state, they got it. Your face is bruised and scraped up, but the most concerning wound, I think, is on your side. I think a lot of the blood I see is coming from there. At least you’re alive and still in your dorm. ’

‘Do you know who it was?’ I asked, thankful that he’d reminded me to talk to him in my head. My throat was killing me .

‘No,’ he replied, frustration coloring his voice. ‘But you need medical attention, beastie. Now.’

‘I don’t know if I can get up.’

‘You don’t have a choice.’

“Ahhh,” I groaned loudly as I failed to push myself up to standing.

‘Is there a way for me to call out to Bones through this mate bond thing? If I can use his magick, can I ? —?’

‘That’s something that develops over time, so I’m not sure it’s there for you yet. You can try to reach out for him, though. It can’t hurt you any more than you are right now,’ Cas replied.

I searched internally, trying to find that thrum that reminded me of Bones. Coldness, earthy, power… There was just emptiness.

Did the attacker do something to my bond?

Panic grew inside of me until Cassius intervened.

‘Get it together, Isla!’

‘I can’t feel him, Cas. There’s nothing there,’ I said, my voice cracking with pain.

‘Then get up and get to him! Get to someone who can help you,’ Cas urged me.

“I can’t see, Cassius! How the fuck am I supposed to get downstairs, outside, and to help?!” I lashed out, my voice catching in pain as new parts of my body started to ache. Even my useless eyes stung.

Fresh blood seeped out of an unseen wound and ran down my side as I grunted. Even though I was complaining about it, I had to make the effort and just try.

‘You’ve got this, beastie. Try to remember I’m with you no matter what.’

“Can you use the surfaces around me to help me navigate my way out of the dorm at least?’

‘Yes. ’

When I finally managed to stand up, pain shot through my legs and my head, making what looked like lightning erupt across the black of my vision.

My stomach turned, trying to find something to puke up, but I hadn’t had breakfast yet.

At least I didn’t have to add vomit to the mess of my current state.

‘I’m ready, Cas.’

A phantom hand gently brushed my arm, then he started to help me navigate my way through our destroyed room and suite.

The dorm building was oddly quiet. Seemingly no one reacted to my appearance on the stairs, but I didn’t have the energy to question it.

I just wanted to get down the stairs without falling.

I need to get help. Who the fuck will be able to help with this?!

A problem I’d solve once I made it outside.

If I could make it out without breaking my neck, anyway.

AMbrOSE

Isla had been absent ever since this morning.

While in the dining hall, I’d overheard her friend Wells saying that he hadn’t seen Isla since self-defense.

I wasn’t a morning person in the best of circumstances, but I hadn’t been able to sleep, so I decided to watch her from afar.

She’d been acting… odd.

Usually, she was attentive in class, but even her friends had looked concerned when she was knocked down without warning. Unlike the witch I’d come to know, she didn’t flare up or lash out at Falke. No… She’d merely brushed herself off and kept going.

The weaver had studied her, rising concern darkening his face. He and the incubus had exchanged a look that I couldn’t decipher from where I was standing, and after that, they had both followed up with her.

Or at least they tried to before the incubus shut down, his face sporting a look that was more familiar than I wanted to acknowledge.

I’d expected to see her in the dining hall, but after her not showing up with her friends, I decided to investigate a bit.

Students were milling about near the class buildings. They were planning the celebration that was set to take place in a month and a half while also enjoying the last bit of freedom before the curfew hit.

Everyone gave me a wide berth when I made my way across the grounds. My long coat snagged on thistle with every step, each tug making me contemplate lighting a cigarette. It would at least take the edge off until I could make it back to my room.

I needed the numbness after being awake for more than twenty-four hours. Maybe it would help me get actual sleep.

Too bad fate had other plans for me tonight.

Just before I could get to the dorm building, the door slowly creaked open.

My stomach dropped, twisting into knots of rage as Isla slowly shuffled out into the open.

Her face was bruised and bloodied. Bright red dripped down the pale skin of her hands as she felt around, presumably trying to figure out where the railing was.

What the hell happened to her?!

I’ll kill them.

“Isla! What the fuck happened?” I growled, though I forced myself to stay still. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her into falling… at least not right now.

The witch stumbled back almost as if I had hit her. Her head whipped up, and she looked around. The light hit her face just right then, and my blood drained from my face once I realized the full extent of her facial injuries.

The bruises and scratches across her face looked awful, but they weren’t the worst of her injuries. Her eyes were wide and unseeing.

“Professor Ambrose?” Pain and what had to be nerves made her voice crack, and when she shifted her weight, trying to walk, she whimpered.

“Don’t move,” I roughly ordered as I approached. “Can you tell me what happened?”

I stalked forward and reached for her. She flinched back, and I cursed my quick movements. Slowing my hands, I gently tried to steer her down, but she moved back again.

“I can help you down the stairs if you just?—”

“Don’t— Don’t touch!”

“Isla, I won’t hurt you,” I replied seriously, biting back every bit of possessiveness that had been triggered by her battered appearance. “All of our previous conversations are shelved right now. Tell me, can you see?”

“No,” she whispered. Slowly, she leaned into my hold, softening her stance as we stood there, me holding her up. “I don’t remember Ambrose, and everything hurts. Please?—”

“Where is your mate ?”

It slipped out before I could stop it, the word mate practically spat .

Isla swallowed hard, black hair falling across her face as her head turned down.

“I can’t feel him yet,” she answered softly, her fingers curling into my jacket.

My brow furrowed as I stared down at her, then I looked around to make sure Bricriu wasn’t going to come up and kill me. If I were him, I would do the same thing, but there wasn’t a trace of him nearby.

Staring down at the witch in my hold, I released a long, slow breath. Julian had to know about this. It could be linked to the people we were tracking, and now it was becoming personal, at least for me.

As much as I detested just how personal this felt.

“Arms around my neck, Isla.” I swept her up in my arms then rushed through campus toward the library.

She squeaked in surprise then groaned in pain from the movement before wrapping her arms around my neck and tucking her face into my chest. She mumbled something about her blood, but I wasn’t paying close enough attention to register what it was.

Warmth filled me, the blissful feeling of it rivaling my drug of choice. It was achingly familiar, and I hated it just as much as I craved it.

Entanglements never ended well for me, and I had no intention of finding myself in the middle of one again.

Glancing down at the witch in my arms tempted me to rethink that stance, but ice entered my veins again when I reminded myself how I’d ended up at Greywood in the first place.

Never again.

Not even for her.

I’d get my fill then walk away.

It was better for everyone if I kept it that way.

Thankfully, no one was in the library when I rushed in. Without missing a beat, I went past the librarian on duty and straight back through the maze of shelves to the employee quarters. Once I entered the private staff halls, I called out for Julian.

There was nothing, then a door was thrown open to reveal not just the vampire, but the new guy, Demir, and the new herbology professor too. What the fuck was that about?

But that thought was quickly out of my head when all three men immediately homed in on the witch in my arms.

“What happened?!”

“When I was doing my rounds, I found her trying to get out of her dorm,” I told them evenly, walking toward them. “She was attacked but can’t remember anything else.”

“In there.” Julian nodded at the room across the way as he closed the door to his private rooms. “Where is Bricriu?”

“No idea.” I shook my head as Demir opened the door and got out of my way. “She said she can’t feel him.”

“What?” he asked, brow furrowed.

“Who is Bricriu?” Demir asked, his hands tightening into the fists and loosening again a few times.

“Her mate,” the new professor answered before we could. “They were both in my class last week. Interesting.”

“What is?” Julian and I asked at the same time.

“Her what ?” Demir asked, his voice so deep it was almost primal.

“Set her on the table,” Junichiro directed, gesturing at the table. “I have some skills with healing, so I should be able to help.”

“Be careful with her blood,” Demir warned as I laid her down, his voice and body stiff .

“Her blood?” the man asked without looking away from the witch.

“You know her. How?” Julian asked him, assessing the younger man with a shrewd stare.

“It’s poisonous,” Demir and Isla said at the same time. His gaze was studying Isla, while her eyes were trained somewhere a few feet to the left of him.

“Your blood itself is poisonous?” The herbology professor examined Isla’s face. “Will it hurt me as I heal you?”

“I’ve never had it happen before, but that doesn’t mean it can’t,” Isla rasped, slowly blinking at the man beside her. “You’re the new asshole professor.”

Demir snorted, and even the stoic man beside her seemed to soften—not a smile, per se, but there was something about his stance that seemed to ease.

“That would be me.”

“You’re still a dick even if you help me.”

“Duly noted,” he replied dryly as he started asking her a bunch of questions.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Julian said softly, a dangerous edge to his voice. I looked away from Isla to see him completely focused on Demir. “How do you know Isla Hallowes?”

“Demir is my brother, Hellsing,” Isla answered as Demir repeatedly clenched and released his fist.

“Brother?” I asked. My eyebrow arched when I studied the way he reacted, his jaw clenching hard enough I was surprised he didn’t break any teeth.

“We’re adopted.” Demir tried to walk over to Isla but was blocked by Julian and me. “Are you trying to stop me from seeing my sister?”

“You need to get Falke,” Julian ordered. “Junichiro is helping her. Anyone besides her mate will just be in the way, and we still need someone to get Bricriu.”

“Yes, no need to have him going feral over the attack on his mate, let alone being the last to learn of it,” I drawled. “I’ll go get him unless you’d rather?—”

“Go,” Julian cut me off with a warning expression.

“Bones will take it better from you than Hellsing,” Isla whispered. “And… I need?—”

“What do you need?”

Her head lolled to the side as a soft white light started to shine around her. Junichiro’s expression was focused, though his eyes seemed faraway.

“Go, both of you, and bring back the ones we need. Then we will need to discuss what is going on.”

“It seems we will be sharing information with more people than we thought,” I replied as Demir took a deep breath and forced himself to move.

“Yes, it does seem that way,” the vampire replied almost absently, his attention on the witch. At this point, she seemed to be glowing from within.

His gaze didn’t leave the witch as I left to find Bricriu. I wanted to skin him alive for claiming Isla, for tasting her before I had a chance. Right now, though, she needed him.

I didn’t want to be needed.

If I said that enough, maybe I’d start to believe it.

As if the past five hundred years hadn’t already convinced me of it.