Page 60 of Venomous Lies
My stomach dropped, twisting into knots of rage as Isla slowly shuffled out into the open.
Her face was bruised and bloodied. Bright red dripped down the pale skin of her hands as she felt around, presumably trying to figure out where the railing was.
What the hellhappened to her?!
I’ll kill them.
“Isla! What thefuckhappened?” I growled, though I forced myself to stay still. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her into falling… at least not right now.
The witch stumbled back almost as if I had hit her. Her head whipped up, and she looked around. The light hit her face just right then, and my blood drained from my face once I realized the full extent of her facial injuries.
The bruises and scratches across her face looked awful, but they weren’t the worst of her injuries. Her eyes were wide and unseeing.
“Professor Ambrose?” Pain and what had to be nerves made her voice crack, and when she shifted her weight, trying to walk, she whimpered.
“Don’t move,” I roughly ordered as I approached. “Can you tell me what happened?”
I stalked forward and reached for her. She flinched back, and I cursed my quick movements. Slowing my hands, I gently tried to steer her down, but she moved back again.
“I can help you down the stairs if you just?—”
“Don’t— Don’t touch!”
“Isla, I won’t hurt you,” I replied seriously, biting back every bit of possessiveness that had been triggered by her battered appearance. “All of our previous conversations are shelved right now. Tell me, can you see?”
“No,” she whispered. Slowly, she leaned into my hold, softening her stance as we stood there, me holding her up. “I don’t remember Ambrose, and everything hurts. Please?—”
“Where is yourmate?”
It slipped out before I could stop it, the word mate practically spat.
Isla swallowed hard, black hair falling across her face as her head turned down.
“I can’t feel him yet,” she answered softly, her fingers curling into my jacket.
My brow furrowed as I stared down at her, then I looked around to make sure Bricriu wasn’t going to come up and kill me. If I were him, I would do the same thing, but there wasn’t a trace of him nearby.
Staring down at the witch in my hold, I released a long, slow breath. Julian had to know about this. It could be linked to the people we were tracking, and now it was becoming personal, at least for me.
As much as I detested just how personal this felt.
“Arms around my neck, Isla.” I swept her up in my arms then rushed through campus toward the library.
She squeaked in surprise then groaned in pain from the movement before wrapping her arms around my neck and tucking her face into my chest. She mumbled something about her blood, but I wasn’t paying close enough attention to register what it was.
Warmth filled me, the blissful feeling of it rivaling my drug of choice. It was achingly familiar, and I hated it just as much as I craved it.
Entanglements never ended well for me, and I had no intention of finding myself in the middle of one again.
Glancing down at the witch in my arms tempted me to rethink that stance, but ice entered my veins again when I reminded myself how I’d ended up at Greywood in the first place.
Never again.
Not even for her.
I’d get my fill then walk away.
It was better for everyone if I keptit that way.
