Page 5 of Venomous Lies (Greywood Conservatory for the Arcane #2)

Isla

MONDAY

W hat the actual fuck? No one has ever heard Cassius and me before.

My head whipped around to stare at the fae, wide-eyed, but she met my shocked expression with a knowing stare. If she knew that we were talking at all, it was likely she also knew what we were talking about. Shit.

Cassius remained silent, though I could feel his confusion in my mind.

We’d have to talk later.

“I’d have to be down by the ocean for the waves to drown you two out,” the woman continued dryly when I didn’t muster a response. “Though it seems to be a surprise to you and your friend there.”

“I’m not sure what to say,” I replied after a moment of thought. I licked my lips, betraying my nerves, as my mind raced. How the fuck could I phrase my questions as non-questions? Fae social customs always seemed odd, but there was no way I was going to be knowingly rude to a fae I had just met .

“At least you aren’t lying about it, child.” She pursed her lips, dark green and rich brown eyes inscrutable. How I wished I knew what her thoughts were, but it seemed I would be left guessing. “A decency that most who enter my domain don’t bother with.”

“Everyone deserves respect to start with.” I spoke slowly, carefully assessing the weight of each word. “Whether they keep getting that respect is based on one’s actions.”

Her smile was sharp enough to kill. “And wise beyond your years.” She clicked her tongue. “Browse, pick your items, then come to the register when you’re ready.”

Then she turned away, walking toward the back of the house, and that was when I saw the hint of a door beyond. This home looked too small to have more rooms, but when dealing with the fae, you could never fully trust your senses.

Wells broke the silence after the woman had been gone for a few minutes. “That was weird.” I let out a shaky breath, feeling the weight of his focus on me.

“It was,” I agreed. “Anyway, where is this tea you mentioned? I think I could use a strong cup once I’m back in my room.”

Wells didn’t push me, though I could tell he had questions. Thankfully, he just walked over to an antique hutch that was filled to the brim with teas. I rushed over, lightly pushing him out of my way, and started examining each box.

Black tea, green tea, herbal teas… There were so many options. Excitement bubbled inside of me as the scent of fresh herbs teased my senses. I would definitely be back again, so I’d better start with just one this time.

Wells chuckled and left me to it, walking away to look at whatever he was interested in.

My fingers glided over the engraved labels on the dividers of the wooden display box, tracing the names of each tea until I stalled on one.

Dreamwalker.

Butterfly pea flowers, passion flower, and blue lotus flower, among a handful of other herbs that didn’t look to be of the mundane variety.

The blend sounded wonderful, and I could almost feel the power charged into the loose leaves when I picked up the sealed pouch from the box.

I’d start with just one tea this time and see how I liked it, though I suspected I’d love anything I got from here. Everything about the teas exuded high quality.

Muttering drew my attention, and I glanced around to find Wells browsing a collection of books a little ways away. He didn’t seem like he was going to be done anytime soon, so I walked over to check out the blankets.

They were beautifully woven. The intricate detail reminded me of the coat I had seen Professor Ambrose wearing the evening he handed me my invitation to Greywood. Were the runes fae in origin, or were they from some other ancient language I didn’t know?

A faint hollow clinking drew my attention from the blankets to the bone wind chimes outside. Another fae entered my thoughts. Bricriu . Distant, cold, and prickly at the best of times.

My bonded mate.

Crazy how much had changed in such a short amount of time.

My mark throbbed, and a sudden chill made me shiver.

It had been a few days since I had seen Bones. Classes had been insane, and he’d mentioned something about a project that he needed to work on over the weekend. Hopefully, I’d be able to see him this week besides in herbology class.

“You ready to go?” I jumped in surprise, my hand shooting up to cover my heart. “Sorry.”

Turning around, I playfully glared at him as he tried and failed to stifle his amusement at making me jump. I couldn’t blame him since I barely managed to hold back my smile, too.

“That wasn’t even kind of believable.” I sniffed, acting as if I were offended by his horrible excuse for an apology.

“In my defense, I called your name three times before I said it behind you just now.” He held up his hands, but his smile didn’t falter once.

With a huff, I agreed that I was ready to go.

Wells led the way then gestured for me to check out first. Surprisingly, there was no further commentary about my silent conversation, just a knowing twinkle in her colorful eyes.

The fae rang me up, then Wells, telling us to come by again.

Just as I reached the front door, I heard the sound again, the light clanking of small bones dancing in the breeze.

I smiled and turned back around to compliment the fae. “The wind chimes might be one of my favorite things.”

She paused, shock and interest lighting up her gorgeous face as she nodded. “They are an acquired taste, but I am happy to see that you appreciate them.”

I tipped my head in her direction, a silent acknowledgment, then we were out the door.

“You were right. I loved that store.”

Wells’ face heated, a pink flush spreading across his cheeks as he delivered a rough you’re welcome.

Moving my attention from my flustered friend to the ocean below, I felt at peace for the first time in weeks.

A break was exactly what I needed, just some time away from the stresses of mates, classes, and all the anxiety building up thanks to the changes creeping into my life.

A sudden thought occurred to me.

The threads of magick.

I had meant to bring it up to him forever ago, but there hadn’t been a good time to bring it up.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” I started, chewing my bottom lip. What was the right way to bring this up? “You said that you could see magick, yes?”

Wells didn’t say anything right away, and I could sense his guard going up as he became motionless. After what felt like forever, he let out a long sigh and ran a shaky hand through his fluffy dark hair, pulling at the ends to make it stand even taller.

“Yes. Why?”

“I saw them,” I informed him bluntly. His hand froze then fell to his side as his face drained of color.

“What?! When?”

“With Echo… when he finally fed,” I told him, shifting my weight from foot to foot. I hoped I wasn’t crossing any TMI lines with the witch in front of me. When Wells said nothing, just staring at me expectantly, I kept going. “And with Bones when we mated. I’d never seen them before, and I?—”

He held up a hand, signaling me to pause. “Wait, you saw them both times?”

“Yesss?” I responded slowly, drawing out the end of the word.

“If they showed up with Bones… Are you sure you aren’t mated to Echo, too? ”

“Definitely not,” I replied firmly, shaking my head. “I only have one mark, and that’s from Bones.”

“Curious.” Wells chewed his bottom lip, appearing to be lost in thought. “What did the magick look like to you?”

I wrung my hands together. “They looked like different-colored threads to me, and it was as if they were playing with each other in the air around us.”

“Playing?” he asked, eyebrows going up as he considered me.

“I don’t have any other way to describe it.” I shrugged. I was hoping he’d have some answers, not just a bunch of questions. “It felt playful.”

“Curious,” he murmured again, eyes darting back and forth like his mind was racing.

“With everything going on, I just haven’t been able to ask you about it, and I know you don’t really like to discuss?—”

“I’ve never heard about anyone besides weavers being able to see magick.

Granted, I don’t know of any other weavers…

” Wells started pacing back and forth as he trailed off, a faraway expression taking over his face.

“I’m sure I can find some things at the library here.

Greywood has a huge collection of magickal tomes. ”

“I can help you research if you want,” I offered, thankful he was willing to help me.

He sent me a half smile at that. “Let me start and see what I can find. How about we meet up in a few days? Then you can help me go through, hopefully, a large stack of books.”

I teasingly groaned, making Wells smirk. “Perfect. We can meet up at the greenhouse if you want? I know you’re not big on talking about your abilities around others. ”

“It’s more that I hate how weird it makes people act around me.” He grimaced before offering his hand.

“Good thing I’m already weird then,” I joked, loving the way he burst out laughing at that. Sliding my hand into his, I tried to focus on the books under his arm as he transported us back to the forest around the school.

“I’m going to start researching before I have to get to class. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Wells dropped my hand and started walking away before he even finished talking. He was practically jittery with excitement about having something to research.

“Yeah.” Waving goodbye to my friend, I started making my way to the dorms.

‘She could hear us.’

‘She could,’ I agreed, not surprised that Cas had broken his silence once we were alone. That odd interaction at the shop had thrown us both off.

‘No one else has been able to, so why her?’ It was almost refreshing to know that he could be just as out of his depth as I was.

‘I couldn’t begin to guess.’ I sighed. ‘But I’m going to take a small nap before dinner and figure out how to get in touch with Mom.’

Cassius hummed in acknowledgment, letting me have some downtime before dinner without more commentary.

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