Page 59 of Venomous Lies
Did the attacker do something to my bond?
Panic grew inside of me until Cassius intervened.
‘Get it together, Isla!’
‘I can’t feel him, Cas. There’s nothing there,’I said, my voice cracking with pain.
‘Then get up and get to him! Get to someone who can help you,’Cas urged me.
“I can’t see, Cassius! How the fuck am I supposed to get downstairs, outside, and to help?!” I lashed out, my voice catching in pain as new parts of my body started to ache. Even my useless eyes stung.
Fresh blood seeped out of an unseen wound and ran down my side as I grunted. Even though I was complaining about it, I had to make the effort and just try.
‘You’ve got this, beastie. Try to remember I’m with you no matter what.’
“Can you use the surfaces around me to help me navigate my way out of the dorm at least?’
‘Yes.’
When I finally managed to stand up, pain shot through my legs and my head, making what looked like lightning erupt across the black of my vision. My stomach turned, trying to find something to puke up, but I hadn’t had breakfast yet. At least I didn’t have to add vomit to the mess of my current state.
‘I’m ready, Cas.’
A phantom hand gently brushed my arm, then he started to help me navigate my way through our destroyed room and suite. The dorm building was oddly quiet. Seemingly no one reacted to my appearance on the stairs, but I didn’t have the energy to question it. I just wanted to get down the stairs without falling.
I need to get help. Who the fuck will be able to help with this?!
A problem I’d solve once I made it outside.
IfI could make it out without breaking my neck, anyway.
AMBROSE
Isla had been absent ever since this morning.
While in the dining hall, I’d overheard her friend Wells saying that he hadn’t seen Isla since self-defense.
I wasn’t a morning person in the best of circumstances, but I hadn’t been able to sleep, so I decided to watch her from afar.
She’d been acting… odd.
Usually, she was attentive in class, but even her friends had looked concerned when she was knocked down without warning. Unlike the witch I’d come to know, shedidn’t flare up or lash out at Falke. No… She’d merely brushed herself off and kept going.
The weaver had studied her, rising concern darkening his face. He and the incubus had exchanged a look that I couldn’t decipher from where I was standing, and after that, they had both followed up with her.
Or at least they tried to before the incubus shut down, his face sporting a look that was more familiar than I wanted to acknowledge.
I’d expected to see her in the dining hall, but after her not showing up with her friends, I decided to investigate a bit.
Students were milling about near the class buildings. They were planning the celebration that was set to take place in a month and a half while also enjoying the last bit of freedom before the curfew hit.
Everyone gave me a wide berth when I made my way across the grounds. My long coat snagged on thistle with every step, each tug making me contemplate lighting a cigarette. It would at least take the edge off until I could make it back to my room.
I needed the numbness after being awake for more than twenty-four hours. Maybe it would help me get actual sleep.
Too bad fate had other plans for me tonight.
Just before I could get to the dorm building, the door slowly creaked open.
