Page 14 of Venomous Lies
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 notmymate, beastie.’
‘You’re inmyhead,’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 hurriedpast 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 wasmyspace, 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, carefullylooking 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 theyarewatching 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.
