Page 57 of Venomous Lies
The suite was quiet when I arrived, but as soon as I opened the door to my room, I came to an immediate stop.
It was a wreck.
Clothes were everywhere. Shoes had been tossed around, and books were scattered all over my bed.What the actual fuck happened here?!
‘Beastie?’Cassius had noticed my stillness.
Movement in the corner of my eye drew my attention. Black smoke covered the mirror then dissipated to reveal Cassius examining the mess that was my room. Tangled, messy black hair fell across his tan, tattooed face as he scowled.
‘What the fuck?’he muttered.
‘Who would do this?’I replied, some of my anger dying down when I noticed that nothing was actually destroyed.
‘Well, let’s take a look at our options, beastie,’he deadpanned.‘There’s the incubus that you rode out a rut with before you two had a falling out. A fae professor that kissed you and is still waiting for an answer to his advances. The bullies from the first day whose leader no longer has a mouth thanks to you somehow using fae magick. There’s also?—’
‘Okay, I get your point. I have options,’I snarked as I put my bag of tea down on my dresser.‘Thankfully, nothing looks broken, just thrown about. I should clean up before I make myself tea. Are you going to help me look at everything or just provide unwanted commentary?’
‘Just for that, you can be alone,’he retorted then disappeared from the mirror.
And people say women are dramatic.
Just as I sighed and bent down to start cleaning up the mess, I heard some rustling in the suite. My brow furrowed as I slowly straightened up.Maybe Aizel and Echo came back to talk?
“Aizel? Echo?” I called out. When there was no answer, my heart started beating faster. Panic made my voice go higher as I spoke again. “Zhara?”
‘Isla, you need to leave. Now,’Cassius ordered, reappearing without warning. The stern tone of his voice had me jumping to obey.
But it was too late.
My bedroom door was thrown open, and a dark blur rushed me.
Before I knew what was happening, I was on the floor with the heavy weight of someone on top of me. I fought my attacker with everything in me, bucking my body to dislodge them, but it was no use. They had the clear advantage. Large hands pinned me to the ground, presumably tired of my attempts to get free.
‘Isla! Watch out?—’
Shadows along the edge of the room solidified then stalked toward me. Primal fear filled me, making me scream before I could register what I was doing.
A ringing filled my ears, and blood wet my tongue.
They’d hit me.
“Aren’t you a pretty little thing?” an unfamiliar voice cooed in my ear. “They said they needed blood, but they didn’t specify how I was to get it… Don’t worry. You’ll live through the experience, but Idoneed you to be a little more quiet. We don’t want to be rude, do we?”
That was when the approaching darkness pounced onto me. It was as if the shadows themselves had become alive. Their hands slammed into me, taking my vision and oxygen with them.
‘Cas! What?—?’
‘Let me try to help.’
‘Help?’I tried to push past the fear of blindness, tried to find a way to breathe, but it was happening too slowly.
‘I can take over to help fight them off, beastie. Let. Go.’
Without an ounce of hesitation, I did as he ordered. Relief filled me when Cassius’ power rushed past me and filled my body.
A voice that sounded like mine, yet not, snarled in the distance. It was rare that I’d willingly let Cas take over my body, and now I’d let him do it two times in a week. What I would remember? Would voluntarily letting him take the lead make a difference?
The magickal darkness took over then, snuffing out my awareness, though I vaguely registered pain in my legs.
