Page 10 of Venomous Lies
It had been a few days since I had seen Bones. Classeshad 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 myattention 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 couldseemagick, 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 thembothtimes?”
“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.
