Page 56 of Venomous Lies
‘Not right now because he’ll think you want to kill him, beastie.’Cas replied, rage-filled ice coating his words.
“Echo,” I said softly, gently moving my hand until it was down at my side.
“Maybe this should be a private conversation,” Wells suggested, slowly approaching Echo. “We could go back to the dorm?—”
“What the fuck did you do?”
At the sound of Aizel’s angry growl, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge.
“We were talking, Aizel,” I replied evenly, fighting to keep everything under control. Erasing Allison’s mouth was all fun and good, but I didn’t want to lose control of any magick with my friends, even if we were fighting.
“Yes, this is what my brother does when you’re justtalking.”
“Don’t take out your frustration on me, Aizel,” I warned. “We were just trying to sort things out. It’s not always a smooth process, but that’s all that was going on.”
Aizel glared at me, but just as he opened his mouth Echo spoke.
“Brother, I’m fine. Just… flashbacks. All we were doing was figuring things out, or trying to before…” He gestured helplessly at himself before his hands fell to his sides in defeat. Everyone was silent, like they were trying to figure out what to say that wouldn’t set someone off. “Did you manage?—?”
“No,” Aizel answered, combing his fingers through his hair and tugging at the ends. “Zhara won’t stay in one place long enough for me to talk to her about anything.”
Despite my anger and frustration, my brain homed in on what Aizel had said. What happened between him and Z? Why were they still fighting? I looked between the two brothers but didn’t find any answers in their expressions.
I wonder if I can get Z alone to ask her what happened.
“I’m getting coffee,” Aizel rumbled. “It’s too damn early for this, and I’m fucking exhausted.”
He stormed away from us, the other supernatural beings rushing out of his way as he went. We all watched him go off, and Echo let out a long sigh as he straightened up.
“I should go.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, bitterness filling me. I really fucking thought we’d just have it out and move past it. I guess not. “Aizel needs you.”
“Isla—”
“We’ll talk later, Echo.” I forced a smile. “It’s not like we share a suite or anything.”
Echo glanced from where his brother had gone, to me, then back a few times before muttering a thanks and going after him.
“Isla…” Wells started.
“I think I’m going to head to my room, actually. Grab some hot tea then check on the potion before our familiars class. See you there?”
“Yeah,” he replied softly.
“Lunch after?”
“Sounds like a plan.” He gave me a crooked smile and walked off.
Great, now I’d hurt his feelings along with whatever that was with Echo.
‘I can’t fucking win, Cas.’
‘Get some tea, beastie, and calm down,’Cas reasoned.‘Echo was trying to talk to you, and Aizel is upset with Zhara, not you. You already knew he was protective of his brother, and we just saw some evidence as to why.’
I didn’t reply, but I mulled over what had just happened anddidn’t happen, unsure what to make of everything. Echo had flinched because I started yelling. No… he flinched when I started to move toward him while yelling.
Anger coursed through me when I imagined someone hurting Echo in any way. Sure, we were all kinds of fucked up right now, but that didn’t mean I didn’t care.
