Page 8 of Venomous Lies (Greywood Conservatory for the Arcane #2)

Ambrose

MONDAY

P ulled barbeque, that was what the remains of the body reminded me of.

My stomach rumbled as I stood there, looking at what was left, and remembered I hadn’t eaten anything today.

A dark chuckle escaped as I pulled a hand-rolled cigarette from my pocket and placed it on my lips.

Inhaling deeply, I let my magick light the smoke and savored the burning tobacco leaves in my lungs.

That would help tide me over until after we dealt with this most recent victim.

The other professors had taken one look at the bloody chunks tossed about in the woods and suddenly found something they urgently had to do. Teaching here, you’d think they would have stronger stomachs but apparently not.

I was just a few hundred feet into the woods in a small clearing that would probably be peaceful any other time.

Right now, it was decorated with the remains of the newest dead body.

The little bit of sun that was out didn’t filter through the thick canopy of trees, so I held up a hand, calling forth a small ball of magick fire to light the space for me.

There didn’t appear to be enough pieces of flesh to create an entire body which had me questioning whether wild animals had eaten parts of the body or the killer had taken bits. Or ate them. If we were able to determine that answer, it would narrow our options down considerably.

As I squatted down, carefully keeping my shoes out of the mess, I noticed that there appeared to be a clean edge hidden among the torn flesh, hiding where pieces had been cut off. They were searching for something specific. But what?

Taking a long drag, I stood up and looked around, wondering what was keeping Falke and Julian.

“Where the fuck are the others?” I muttered under my breath.

“ Here .”

The power that rumbled in that singular word set my every instinct on edge. I glanced over to see the vampire, his face eerily blank as he took in the mess around us. Falke was right behind him with a grim expression settling on his face.

“Has Thatcher been here yet?” Julian asked, his voice still echoing with power.

“No,” I answered. Taking the last drag of my cigarette, I let my magick burn it up then blew out a big cloud of smoke as I continued speaking. “What’s going on with you?”

“What is missing from this one?” he asked curtly, ignoring my question.

“No way to tell,” I answered as I narrowed my eyes at the vampire, silently showing that I’d noticed his side-step. “Scavengers must have gotten into this at some point last night, but this is the fourth body, so?—”

“We need to act soon.” After finishing my sentence, he was silent for a moment, and just as he turned to speak to Falke, he froze. Looking beyond where the centaur stood, I searched the area to see what made him go on high alert. There was only a slight movement in the shadows, and then I saw them.

The person approached us, the shadows of the trees hiding their face even as they drew close.

“Do you all know who that is?” Falke asked quietly as he shifted around so the person wasn’t approaching him from behind.

“Junichiro,” the unknown man answered with a bland voice as he stepped out of the shadows.

I rubbed my fingers together, contemplating another smoke, as he stopped on the opposite side of the body and studied it.

I’d never seen the person before, and I made it a point to know everyone in this place.

Strands of black hair fell in front of his face as he knelt down to look at the pieces, and I noticed that he had the rest pulled back in a bun.

Junichiro didn’t appear disturbed in the slightest by his silent inspection of the remains.

At last, he stood up, staring at us expectantly with rich golden eyes.

Julian broke the silence, gaze trained on Junichiro. “I wasn’t aware a new professor was on campus.”

“I just arrived a few days ago,” he replied matter of factly, arching an eyebrow as he looked back at the vampire. “Professor Belvedere was ecstatic to let me take over the herbology classes.”

A faint memory teased my mind, but it fluttered away before I could fully examine it. He seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place where I would know him from—something to concern myself with later.

“The last time I taught here was decades ago,” he continued, completely at ease despite our intense study of him.

He tucked his hands underneath the long, black cloak that hid his other clothes from view.

“At least, I think it’s been that long. It’s hard to tell the passage of time where I was… resting.”

“This is the fourth body that’s shown up, and we’re just supposed to take a new person’s—” Falke balked incredulously until Julian held up a hand.

“There could be evidence in the forest around us. Look around and see if you can find anything of use,” Julian ordered the centaur, not taking his eyes off the new professor.

Falke looked as taken aback as I did. Julian wasn’t shy about issuing orders to us, but ordering him away was unusual in this instance.

“What—?”

“I’ll tell Thatcher you were scouring the forest for additional remains to see if we can identify whoever this is. If there’s a problem, I’ll handle it.” When Falke hesitated, Julian's expression hardened. “Now.”

With an annoyed huff, he took off to do what Julian had ordered—but not before throwing a distrustful glare at the new arrival.

My fingers rubbed together again as I considered the vampire. His posture was stiff, every muscle tight as if he was physically trying to hold himself together. As his gaze lingered on the blood pooled on the ground, it hit me.

He needs to feed.

“You need to take care of your shit, vampire. No need to lose your spot here because you can’t take care of your basic needs,” I commented, unable to resist a moment for pointed commentary.

“I’ve got it under control,” Julian drawled, shooting me a warning glare as if reminding me of our company. “Or are you offering your neck, Ambrose?”

“Depends. I know of your… arrangement with Bricriu, and I don’t bottom,” I drawled, smirking as a spark of humor lit his face for a brief moment.

“You might be a fae, but I can put you in your place if need be.”

“Flirting by a dead body? Maybe we’ve been spending too much time together. Such an Unseelie thing to do or do you just feel comfortable around your own kind?” I gestured at the remains by our feet.

He smirked, though there was no humor in it. Junichiro watched us, and although he didn’t say anything, it was clear that he was absorbing every detail of the interaction.

Just who the hell is he?

Before either of us could continue to trade barbs, we were interrupted by a gratingly nasally voice calling out my name.

Sure enough, in strode the president, his pointy nose leading the way as usual. His dark hair was swept back off his face, and he wore one of his cheap suits that he thought looked great on him. A potato sack would be more appealing than the tragic bulky fabric he put on every day.

“Another body,” he huffed as he got closer. “At least they had the decency to kill them in the woods this time.”

“No one decent would do this,” Julian deadpanned, toeing the edge of what used to be a torso with a shoe. “But I agree, the woods do make it easier to keep the murder out of sight of the students.”

Thatcher wrinkled his nose in distaste, though I couldn’t figure out if it was from the vampire’s tone or the state of the remains.

“Did you manage to make any progress since you’re in charge of figuring this out, Hellsing? Or have you lost your touch?” Thatcher challenged the head librarian with enough insolence that I took a casual step back to get out of the firing range.

Even Junichiro had the wisdom to shift to a fighting stance as if he could sense the storm brewing within the vampire as he slowly turned to stare down the insolent necromancer.

Rage filled Julian’s face, the sight terrifying Thatcher enough that he stumbled back a few steps. He paled, and the sweat that slid down his neck made my nose wrinkle.

He smelled rancid.

“We will catalog the body parts that are not present,” I smoothly interjected when Julian remained silent.

Probably for the best. Me being the voice of reason showed just how bad off Julian was at this moment.

Normally, he was the epitome of self-control which made me wonder just how long it had been since he had fed last. “We will bring a plan to you tomorrow with ideas on how to proceed. You, of course, will select the one best for Greywood.”

“Later this week, we can have a talk with the students. That would be a strong move from the school. We need a solid show of strength as to how we’re handling this situation.” Julian’s biting tone challenged the president.

Thatcher bristled, huffing and puffing to cover up the stench of his fear while he ordered us to just take care of the body quickly. As he left, he knocked into Julian’s shoulder, a warning to remember his place.

Fucking prick.

He had been so busy trying to show up Julian that he didn’t even address the new professor. Looking around, I realized that the man in question was gone. Where the fuck did he go ?

“However things work out, he dies,” Julian stated, staring down at where Thatcher had made contact with his arm.

“I think we will all agree with that detail being added to any plan.” I grinned cockily at him. “Though, I think we also need to remind everyone just who we are because if he had talked to me like that, he would have joined the body on the ground here.”

“Patience.” Julian’s icy exterior cracked a little as he exhaled in a long sigh. “We need to find out what role Thatcher plays in all of this, if he even does. I can’t say that I would place bets that he’d be involved because of his intelligence.”

“But he’d make the perfect scapegoat.” I smirked lazily. “Perfect collateral damage if something were to happen.”

“Agreed,” Falke commented as he reappeared by us.

“Did you find anything?” Julian asked.

Falke replied with a silent shake of his head to convey he’d found nothing in the forest.

The killer was good, I’d give them that.

“What happened to the new guy?” Falke asked as he looked around.

“He slipped away right after Thatcher. Someone to keep an eye on for sure,” Julian replied with a far-off tone.

“Did Thatcher say anything useful?” Falke questioned when he didn’t say anything else.

“Take care of the body,” I informed him with a sarcastic eye roll. “We need to catalog the pieces that are missing.”

“We are meeting tonight in the archives and going over Ambrose’s plan. If we want to come up with an alternative plan to potential mass slaughter, today is the day to think of it,” Julian added on.

If that hadn’t been the perfect summary of my plan, then I would have been offended. As it was, I was just fucking amused and more than a little proud.

“Make sure things are set to get in motion as soon as possible. There are things I need to take care of. I’ll see you both tonight.” As he spoke, the vampire rubbed his face, showing his exhaustion, before stalking off.

“The parts that are missing—” I started, speaking to the centaur while keeping an eye on the vampire who seemed as if he were on the edge of losing it.

“I’ve noted them,” Falke interrupted. He, too, had his stare on the back of the retreating vampire. “We can just take care of the body at this point. No need to leave them like this for longer than necessary.”

Glad we were on the same page about that.

Julian isn’t the only one with better places to be.

My power flared, carefully aimed at the fleshy remains until the body was gone. Uncomfortably familiar at this point, the smell of the burning meat tickled my nose.

Falke wrinkled his nose, then with a brief goodbye, he left me to my thoughts.

Of course, my mind was addicted to the witch that had taunted me for weeks.

Isla Hallowes.

Being in the woods reminded me of when we’d kissed.

The feel of her lips against mine and the taste of her on my tongue. The incubus had claimed her for a rut afterward, but from what I could tell, they’d had a falling out once that was over with.

Soon enough, I would be pushing for my answer, for more , from her. My nightly visits were barely enough to keep my obsession in check. When I claimed Isla, I wanted her aware so I could bask in her cries and salty tears.

My obsession with her was growing with every minute, and my previously sporadic visits to her room had become an almost daily occurrence. She had slipped into my body and soul like a drug, yet she had no fucking idea.

Gods, I couldn’t wait for her to realize the fae she had lured to her side.

She’d regret every fucking moment of it.

I’d make sure of it.