Page 7 of Venomous Lies (Greywood Conservatory for the Arcane #2)
Isla
MONDAY
G rimacing, I fluffed my hair, trying to get it to sit right so I could go to the dining hall. As soon as possible, I’d need to figure out how to color my hair since my brown roots were showing up.
Most people never noticed it.
But I did every time the black dye began to grow out even a quarter of an inch.
Ever since I was fourteen, still a student at the academy, I’d been dyeing my hair.
A random girl had said I had mud for hair since I liked to play around in it so much.
After being told to fuck off, she and her minions decided to “help” me understand my place.They’d tied me up and poured a bucket of shit, stolen from the familiars class, on my head.
The group of girls and boys said the manure suited me better than the mud.
Especially for an orphan with a mixed-breed family.
The professors hadn’t stepped in to stop the bullies; hell, I even saw a few of them pointedly turn away, snickering as I got free and ran away to take a shower. I’d never forget the burning rage and shame I’d felt—from both myself and even Cassius.
But revenge is best served cold… and that’s just what I did.
Over the course of a few weeks, those students had disappeared one by one, and their true fate had never been discovered. I smiled softly to myself, finding pleasure in the pride that filled me, even now, with the memory of what I had done and done very well.
That was filed under the list of incidents my moms had never found out about—the shit the bullies had done and what I had done after.
Mom and Ma just chalked the hair dyeing up to a phase or some teenage whim, but I couldn’t look at my natural brown hair without thinking of the incident… Plus, the black hair just fit me better.
’Those students were assholes.’
‘Very much dead assholes,’ I replied tartly, a small smile curling my lips. ‘I don’t even think they found everyone.’
‘Not all of them at least.’ He chuckled darkly, without a single hint of remorse.
At the beginning, I had underestimated the academy staff, but after that, I ensured that the rest of my tormentors wouldn’t be found so easily.
Catching a glimpse of the sun setting through the windows, I made myself focus on finishing up so I could grab dinner before the hall closed.
Grabbing my makeup, I carefully applied my black lipstick before doing a light smokey eye.
It went perfectly with the black dress that I had on.
Although it was a tight fit that highlighted my curves, it was super easy to throw on and it felt great.
My stomach growled as I snagged my favorite ankle boots and grabbed my laptop bag. Food then library to try to get a hold of my moms. If I was lucky, I could use their computers to do a video call or something. I’d tried it on my laptop earlier, but my internet connection kept going in and out.
If anything, I’d send them an email since that was better than nothing. Or a long ass letter on the paper, though I knew they’d rather see me.
Lost in thought, I was out of the dorm and on my way to the dining hall before I became aware of my surroundings again.
The quad was empty, eerily empty… The hair on the back of my neck stood up as Cas stirred in my mind.
‘Beastie?’
‘ Something’s wrong.’ Even though we spoke in my mind, I still whispered, unwilling to disturb the stillness.
Cas’ powers unfurled, searching for the source of the emptiness, but he seemed nothing but confused.
‘Another lockdown?’ I guessed, but I was unconvinced. Could I have missed a lockdown warning?
‘Something is watching you.’
‘Something or someone?’
‘I don’t know.’ He answered slowly, as if he were testing out each word like he was surprised by his lack of knowledge.
Right as I was about to ask Cas if I should feign ignorance and keep walking or hit the ground running, a flare of magick slammed through the air, soon followed by a piercing alarm.
“All students report to the closest building and lock yourselves in. Do not , under any circumstances, open the door to anyone until the lockdown is lifted. Anyone who does not comply will be seen as a threat to the school’s safety and will be treated as such. You have three minutes. ”
Then the flare of magick rippled through the air again.
Shit. I wasn’t anywhere near my dorm anymore.
People were filling the quad, rushing to and from buildings, trying to get inside before the three minutes were up.
Rubbing my arm, I tried to sense where Bones was, but unfortunately, I had no idea how to make the mate bond awareness kick in.
Stupid fucking magick should just work if you asked me. Bound for life, my ass.
‘Can you sense ? —?’
‘He’s not my mate, beastie.’
‘You’re in my head,’ I retorted, barely able to keep myself from rolling my eyes. ‘ It would make sense if you could sense him too.’
‘If you can’t tell where he is, how could I?’ he drawled in a completely unhelpful tone.
Muttering more than a few unflattering things about Cassius under my breath, I kept looking around, hoping to find Zhara’s bright red hair or catch sight of Aizel. But nothing… Wells was in class, and I bet he’d be stuck there until the lockdown was done.
I could go back to the dorm and just wait, but…Echo would be in the dorm room with the others, and I didn’t need that level of awkwardness right now.
Pulling my bag higher on my shoulder, I rushed around the chaotic groups of students, trying to get to the one place I knew was safe.
My greenhouse.
I wouldn’t be bothered by anyone there, and I’d be completely safe during the lockdown. A video call wouldn’t be possible, but there would be uninterrupted time where I could write to my moms to catch up. Hopefully, that would be enough.
There were quite a few looks sent my way as I hurried past the dorms and into the forest, but no one stopped me. Everyone was too concerned with their own safety to worry about a strange student going away from the conservatory’s buildings.
A light hum lit up at the edge of my awareness as I weaved between trees, letting my gut lead me to my destination. Usually, that would be a dangerous-as-hell Hail Mary, but the greenhouse was my space, and I knew my intuition wouldn’t lead me astray.
Relief filled me when I saw it, and power seemed to pulse in the very earth itself as I opened the door and rushed inside.
When a flare of magick tore through the air, making my ears ring, I knew the lockdown had officially begun.
Inhaling deeply, I closed my eyes and let the tension in my shoulders melt away as I dropped my bag onto the soil beside me.
The place was still overgrown, the essence of my magick thrumming in the plants I had coaxed to grow when I was here last. The plants reached out to me, needing my attention, and a happy smile curled my lips.
I needed to fix that as soon as possible. Knowing my magick, it had already done enough altering of the plant itself that I’d have to examine them to see what changes had occurred.
One thing at a time.
Slipping off my boots and socks, I was about to let myself get lost in the plants around me when Cassius said my name.
‘Yes?’ I replied distractedly as my toes curled into the dirt.
‘Whatever was watching you is still out there.’ His voice sounded so sure and deadly calm that I stilled, carefully looking around. I couldn’t see anything unusual or threatening inside or outside the greenhouse.
‘But others can’t see this place,’ I argued. ‘Echo and Wells couldn’t see this place without me.’
‘You were the one that walked in, so maybe whatever is out there can see it because of that,’ he pointed out grimly. ‘I don’t know what it is… but they are watching you. And they’re hungry.’
UNKNOWN
The witch was in a building made of glass.
I tilted my head one way then the other as I watched her slowly walk around, touching the green things inside.
They looked like the trees in my home, but different.
There was something about her that called to me. It was as if she was a predator whose web called to me, the look of it so consuming I found myself edging closer to the building before I realized it.
Being around others made me feel sick. The sickness stirred my rage, which only encouraged my hunger to rumble even louder in my head.
But right now I felt none of that.
Maybe it’s because of the glass between us?
I could shatter it and break her out like the others tried to do. But the last person who’d tried that… With that reminder, I ignored the thought.
She had run into this cage all on her own.
She’d chosen this cage…
This witch was crazier than I was, which was saying something. The white coats called me crazy all the time, along with a lot of other words I didn’t know the meanings of.
My ears twitched, moving back and forth to catch any sounds that might help me figure out what she was doing.
The witch began to make a noise I’d never heard before. Sharp bites crawled along my skin as power like I’d never felt before twined along my arms, seemingly holding me in place.
Her body swayed as the cadence of her voice rose and fell. Her lips curled up, and throughout the dark of her hair, just the hint of green began to show.
Whatever this witch was, she was strong .
The chill of the evening turned into night as I stood there, observing her from a distance.
I wanted to approach her, but I knew what would happen if I did.
The last time I was almost caught I had been locked up until my hunger was almost uncontrollable… Like this time.
I’d been so hungry that I’d almost forgotten to get what they had requested.
Blood.
It was always blood with them.
They didn’t care about the rest… which worked for me. We all got something out of it, even if they didn’t realize it yet.
A sharp pain tore through my body, making me grunt and curl into myself.
They were calling me back.
How long had I stood here watching her?
Another sharp tug was the only warning I had before they shocked me again, bringing me down to the ground.
My own cage was calling me, my forest and moon promising relief from the pain of living, at least for a little while.
With one last glance up at the glass, I memorized the witch whose back was now turned to me. I’d never dreamed, but maybe I’d be able to recall her voice in the stillness of my solitude.
If they let me remember.