Page 3 of Venomous Lies (Greywood Conservatory for the Arcane #2)

Isla

MONDAY

E cho seemed ethereal, somehow other , as he walked by with barely a glance in our direction. Even Wells froze as our friend passed by, his eyes fixed on the incubus until he was out of sight.

A long, resigned sigh escaped me before I took a sip of my hot tea. If only I could get him to listen to me … So far that has been a fruitless endeavor.

“He’ll come around,” Wells offered, making me focus on the witch beside me.

“It’s been a week, Wells. I never see him in the suite, which would be impressive if it wasn’t so damn frustrating. He won’t let me explain anything.”

“At least Aizel is on your side,” Wells pointed out.

Leave it to Wells to be the positive thinker in this situation.

I rolled my eyes at my friend, who offered me a small encouraging smile then a soft laugh at my response.

The way his fluffy brown hair stuck up in all directions made me chuckle despite myself.

“Yeah…” I chewed my bottom lip. “Aizel seems worried, and as Aizel’s worry increases, the less it feels like we ’re friends. I get it, but if Echo would just stop running whenever I try to talk to him… Ugh, it’s just so infuriating.”

In response, Wells just scooted closer and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. My body instinctively tensed, but he was determined to give me a brief hug to comfort me. Slowly, I accepted the contact, and when I did, it brought me back to the night the shit hit the fan.

I’d told Echo I had a mate, and no matter how insistently I tried to talk to him, he didn’t react beyond a few clipped answers before he walked out of my room.

Then Aizel stormed in, ready to protect his brother, but he stopped short at whatever he saw on my face.

“Isla?” The concern and shock in his voice made tears sting my eyes.

“You should go check on Echo,” I rasped. The words were nearly caught in my throat, and it took everything I had to hold it together.

“Tell me what happened,” he demanded. “This seems like more than just you turning down a date.”

“I didn’t get a chance to fully answer him,” I told him honestly. I wished we had fought, yelled, screamed— anything besides this damnable silence.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, his tone so deadly serious my head shot up. I met the calculating stare of my friend who’d just finished scanning what bruises he could see.

“He didn’t hurt me, Aizel.” I attempted a smile, but when his distress only deepened, I knew I had failed. “But I hurt him, and I didn’t mean to. Go check on your brother.”

He didn’t move, though. Instead, Aizel’s warm hand gripped my chin, forcing me to look up and meet his hard gaze.

His brow furrowed as his eyes intently searched my face, trying to discover all the things I hadn’t said.

In a move that surprised me, he hugged me tightly.

I winced when his arms hit the bruises under my shirt but hesitantly returned the hug.

“I’m glad you’re alive, witch,” he said gruffly, then he was gone.

Wells came into my room, saying he wanted to check on me. An attempt at a smile was all I managed. Given the growing concern on Wells’ face, I’d, apparently, failed just as badly as I had with Aizel.

“Isla?” Wells asked as he searched my expression for any clue of what was going on.

“I just... Echo asked me out,” I murmured. My voice was rough with the effort to keep my tears in check.

“You turned him down?” Wells asked carefully, trying to navigate the unknown situation.

“I’m mated,” I intoned, noting how his lips parted and eyes widened in shock. “I know... It just happened, like literally just happened, an hour or so after the rut ended. Echo asked me out, and I told him I’d have to ask before I could give him an answer ? —”

“That makes sense.” Wells slowly nodded while reaching back to find my bed.

He sat down as if standing up was too much effort.

Today, I understood the sentiment all too well, though I remained standing.

Something about having my feet on the ground helped me feel in control and together on some level.

It felt less vulnerable to be standing while he sat beside me.

“But he just shut down and ran off. I didn’t have time to explain anything!”

“Incubi must have different ideas when it comes to mates than we do,” Wells replied before clearing his throat and combing a hand through his tousled hair.“May I ask who you mated with?”

“Bones.” I cautiously flicked my gaze over to him. Wells didn’t say anything, but he blinked a few times as if he were processing my response.

“A strong mate,” he commented in a rough voice.

“I wasn’t doing well after the rut and after trying to talk to Echo.

He found me, and I just... I broke down.

” I looked down at the floor and started to fidget with my hands as standing still had started to make me feel antsy.

“He took me away from everyone to let me have some time to settle, and then... It just happened.”

“From what I understand, that’s how it works,” Wells replied softly. A hint of some unidentifiable emotion flickered across his face when I looked up over at him, there and gone within milliseconds.

I nodded a few times, my heart and mind at war. What was going on in my life? Cassius was still frustratingly quiet, offering no commentary on this unusual turn of events. He picked the worst times to hold his damnable tongue.

Between the misunderstanding with Echo, Cassius’ silence, and the unexpected mate, I couldn’t hold back anymore. Sobs wracked my body as I crumbled to the floor.

Before I knew it, Wells’ arms were around me. I let go, and he held me together until I was exhausted and out of tears.

Never once did he let go.

“You don’t have any more classes today, right?”

I shook my head, grateful that my Mondays had a light class-load.

No way could I handle more today. An afternoon break was what I desperately needed.

Honestly, time away from school altogether would be even better, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

It wasn’t like I had a way to just poof myself away.

“I have Divination at six, but there’s a place I found the other day that I think you’d love.

Want to come check it out with me? They have a big selection of distinctive and rare varieties of tea that you might like.

” Wells’ voice was coaxing, but that was hardly necessary.

The mention of the tea practically guaranteed I would come.

“That sounds perfect,” I answered excitedly before taking another bite of my sandwich. Tea sounds fantastic.

Wells smiled then started in on his gyro. A moment later, we went back to the conversation we’d been having before we noticed Echo.

Hanging out with Wells was so effortless that I was able to push aside the drama with Echo for a bit.

He was just so easy to be around, and his passion for classes came through when he talked about the subjects he was excited about.

His green eyes would light up, and his hands would begin to move, his gestures growing more and more wild as he got going on about something.

It didn’t take long before we were finishing up our food. A magickal hum filled the air, and Wells’ brow furrowed in silent question as I dug into my laptop bag to pull out the magicked paper from Demir.

“My mom,” I told him as I opened it to see what she had sent me.

She’d sent me a message the night I mated with Bones, but besides a quick response telling her I’d been busy with school, there’d been no opportunity to write her back again. Apparently, her patience had run out.

Unless they are sending us a dead body today, you better be calling soon.

Definitely Mom. Ma would have been way more creative than just saying they’d get a dead body.

I’d have to ask if Demir had given them a paper too or if they’d snatched it off of him. Knowing my family, either of those options could be true.

Grabbing my pen, I wrote back that I’d find a way to call them tonight after dinner.

Add that to my list of things to figure out ASAP.

Could I use the internet at the library to message them? Maybe I could ask Hellsing.

“Everything okay?” Wells asked as I put the paper back in my bag.

“Yeah, yeah. Just my moms telling me to check in since I haven’t been able to talk to them since I got here.”

There was a pained look in Wells’ green eyes before it was quickly masked by the grin that spread across his face. “You ready to check out that shop?”

“Yes! Do you think we have time to stop by my room beforehand?” I let him change the subject, knowing he didn’t want to talk about his family. They didn’t like that he’d come here, so I bet they didn’t want to hear from him. No need to have both of us hurting.

“Sure. It’s not too far from here,” he answered after sighing in what looked to be relief.

“Awesome. I just don’t want to lug this around if I don’t have to,” I told him while I lifted my laptop bag. “You ready?”

“Let’s go.”

Wells stood and offered me a hand up, effortlessly assisting me when I accepted. We brushed off our clothes then started for the dorms, making small talk as we ignored the misty rain that started to fall.

A quick pit stop at my room, then we were on our way.

Wells refused to tell me much about the shop, seeming to enjoy my curious questions as he led the way through the forest. My surprise rose when we didn’t head toward the nearest human town.

Instead, we headed a bit west. After a while, he stopped and held out a hand to me.

Glancing from the offered hand to his face, I tilted my head in silent question.

“I don’t like to do this around a ton of people. Gets distracting.” He smiled at me as I arched an eyebrow, unsatisfied with that explanation.

“Do what?”

“The shop is by the coast. Sometimes, when I need to decompress, I find water to be near.” Wells shrugged and looked beyond me into the forest. “I find the ocean to be calming. The last time I was there, I found this shop.”