Page 17 of Poison Ivy
“Is that all?” she asks, her tone clipped.
Swann’s lipless mouth twists into what I assume is supposed to be a smile. “For now. But remember, we’re watching you closely, Miss Hammond. Don’t disappoint us. One month.”
“I’ve got it,” Ivy says.
For a split second, I see a flash of something dangerous in her eyes. But it’s gone too quickly. She storms off without another word.
Swann watches her go, a calculating look on his face. After a moment, he turns and heads in the opposite direction.
Slotting the book back into place, I consider following her again, but something tells me to back up a second. I’ve walked into something way bigger than I expected. I thought I’d see her with some guy’s dick down her throat, but this… this is dangerously close to being something I should keep my nose out of.
But that look in her eyes... she reminded me of someone else. Someone dangerous and alluring. And now it is going to be my fucking mission in life to see if I’m right. “Poison,” I murmur.
“Daydreaming about our little whore?” Bram’s voice cuts through my thoughts.
Turning to him, I give him a vicious glare. “Where the fuck have you been?”
“You seriously don’t want to know,” he says witha dark look on his face. “So, what are you doing back here? Jerking off while you think about our killer?”
“Hardly,” I scoff. “Just looking for this.” I yank out the book I moved to spy on Ivy and Swann.
Bram glances at it and raises his eyebrow. “Feminine Strengths Tied to the Phases of the Moon.”
I feel my cheeks go a bit warm as I glare at the book, but I ride the wave and tuck it under my arm. “Gotta know your enemy’s strengths.”
He snorts. “Can’t argue with that. Have fun, moon boy.” He ducks back out, still wearing yesterday’s clothes, only slightly dirtier. Whatever he’s been up to, you can bet your last quid it’s no good.
Dumping the book back on the shelf, I follow Bram out of the library and into the cool autumn day. The leaves are falling from the trees, and it will soon be Halloween. My very favourite time of year. Sure, it’s clichéd for supernaturals to enjoy it, but warlocks have their own celebrations that go on underground, which consists of all things dark and delicious. I push that aside as I see Ivy hurrying across campus to her lectures. My gaze follows her moves, lithe and surefooted, across the quad. I watch for any sign that she might be who I think she is. I have thought this for some time now, that Poison is a shifter. She has to be. She just shows up and disappears at random times. It makes sense, doing what she does. She will never be caught unless someone pieces the puzzle together. Before today, I wasn’t bothered about finding her, not like Bram, who is low-key obsessed with her. She ishot, gorgeous even, and fucking her the way we do is something that thrills me. But now, after running into Ivy, I need to know if the two women are the same. If they aren’t, then I will let Ivy go, but I’m drawn to her for a reason that I couldn’t quite put my finger on until I saw that flash of fire in her green eyes.
“Hey, dickhead, why do you look like your head is about to explode?” Torin asks, flicking me on the forehead.
Slapping his hand away, I growl. “Shouldn’t you be indoors?”
“Doesn’t work that way for some of us. Besides, I’ve got that dumb magick class this morning. Seeing as most mages are not vampires, it’s a daytime activity.”
“It really pisses you off that, doesn’t it?”
“What?” he asks.
“Having magick.”
“It doesn’t piss me off. I just prefer to get my hands dirty.” He smirks, and I chuckle.
“That has its advantages. I’ve got to go. I’m late, and Swann is a dick at the best of times.”
He nods and watches me saunter off. I know I should come clean about the thoughts in my head, but the truth is, I don’t want to. Not yet. I will go to them when,if,I’m right. I want to keep this to myself for now, let it marinate, and see if I can connect the dots. Also, a bit of stalking might be in order.
Approaching Grimoire Level 5, I see Vex entering the lecture hall. He gives me the finger, and I return itbefore I take my seat near the back and fix my gaze on Swann. Whatever his deal is, he is connected to Ivy, who is possibly Poison as a shifted form. Or maybe Ivy is the shifted form, and Poison is the real one. All these thoughts swirl around and around in my head, and I don’t even hear what Swann is droning on about, only realising it’s the end of the lecture when Vex slaps the back of my head as he passes, knowing I can’t retaliate in front of Swann.
“Fucker,” I mutter. “I’m coming for you, Vex. Watch your fucking back.”
10
BRAM
Ditchinglectures today is the least of my worries after the fucked-up shit that went on last night. Pushing open the door to the townhouse, I go straight to my room and strip off, hitting the shower, turning it up to scorching levels. I reek of blood, sweat, and sex. Poison’s cum is still all over my dick, and it’s distracting me. I need to clean up so that I can focus on the wild raspberry signature that is hers. I need to set up a tracker so that I can find her without the other guys. So far, we’ve been lucky in being in the same place as her at the same time. In the last six weeks, we’ve come across her only four times. Trying to track the Syndicate’s movements across targets is virtually impossible, even for Tate. But now it’s time to step up the game, and my mysterious meeting last night might be helpful. Although, I still haven’t got a fucking clue who these arseholes really are, I know they are dark, and they arepowerful enough to have offered me something I desperately want: a way into the world of contract killings.
They aren’t the Syndicate, not a fucking chance about that, but this is the quickest way to finding out who Poison is and to them offering me more power than I know what to do with. It’s a way to split from my family and have enough mojo that I won’t be drawn back in by them. I don’t want the court life. I never have. It’s my worst fucking nightmare. I like Earth. I enjoy being here. I’m a rarity, although not the only fae up here doing my thing, there aren’t many of us.
