Page 31 of Venomous Lies
“All witches have grimoires,” the bone fae said with as much confusion as I was feeling.
“While I was at the academy, I was told that I didn’t have enough proficiency or aptitude to bother with creating my own book.” Isla snorted, but I could see the hurt in her eyes despite her smirk. “So… I don’t have one. All of my notes are on my laptop, so I can at least copy them down into a notebook, as long as it isn’t taken from me with Thatcher’s new rules.”
“They saidwhatabout you?” Bricriu asked. With his words, the chill in the air lowered by quite a few degrees. I could see our breath in the air, but I didn’t shiver. If anything, I was glad he could show just how pissed off both of us were.
“We’re going to fix this.”
“What?” Isla asked, her wide hazel eyes going from her mate to me. When I stood up, I found Bones’ eyes on me too.
“You’re making a grimoire. It’s bullshit that they kept you from making one, and we’re fixing that.Now.”
“Right this very second?” Isla said incredulously. “Don’t you need special?—?”
“Finish up your lunch. We’re going to go get a book, so you can start making it. I can’t believe they’d keep that from you.” I muttered the last part under my breath. “Let me drop this stuff off at the library, then I’ll be back.”
Not waiting for an answer, I snagged all the books and hurried over to the library to return them. Thankfully, no one was there, so I was out again moments later, anger making my stride faster than normal.
“Where’s the fire,Wells?”
I stuttered to a stop at the sound of Zhara’s voice. When I turned around, Zhara and Aizel were there, looking at me with concern.
“I’m helping Isla with something,” I told them with a forced smile. “Don’t worry about it. Where’s Echo?”
“Here,” a soft voice answered from behind me.
Although Echo had spoken to me, when I whirled around to face him, he was staring at Isla and Bricriu. Aizel and Zhara spotted them after a minute, the former eyeing his twin in concern before letting out a deep breath.
“After Thatcher’s speech, I caught wind of some rumors starting to spread about them.”
“He’s her mate,” I told them, though I kept my focus on Echo. He didn’t react, at least not in any way that I could see.
“You said you were helping her… What are you helping her with?” Echo asked, his voice oddly detached.
“Her academy was a piece of shit,” I grumbled, completely pissed off on my friend’s behalf. “They didn’t let her create her own grimoire.”
“What?!”
“I’m going to help her fix that. It’s fucking bullshit?—”
“I’ll help you,” Zhara declared, walking away from us and heading straight for Isla.
“Looks like she has all the help she needs,” Echo drawled, his annoyingly familiar iciness breaking through the detachment that had just been there.
“Echo,” I started, but he just turned on his heel and walked off. Part of me thought I should just keep my mouth shut, but I was tired of seeing him and Isla in so much pain. “If you would just listen instead of running away, it would fix most of yourproblems!”
“Fucking subtle,” Aizel muttered quietly, but I only felt relief when Echo froze.
“What could you possibly tell me that would help me right now, witch?” he crooned, turning back to me. His eyes darkened, tinges of black filling the whites of his eyes.
“Be careful, Wells,” Aizel warned.
“Witches have multiple mates—the women at least,” I told him firmly. Aizel made a sound, a sharp intake of breath, in response to that news, but I ignored it. I needed to keep my attention on the incubus that had been spiraling out of control since his rut. “Most have two to three, but powerful ones… They can have more. Isla would have told you all this if you had stuck around after she mentioned the mate thing. So, maybe, instead of making this about you, you can make it about Isla, who isn’t in control of any of this?”
“Multiple mates?” Aizel repeated when his brother remained motionless.
“Yes,” I told him softly. “Just like ruts, it’s not something we can control either.”
With that parting blow, I rushed back to the table. While I was dealing with Echo, Z had sat down across from Isla and they were talking a mile a minute.
