Page 67 of Venomous Lies
Isla started to laugh, but it broke off into a small cry as she collapsed onto the stone floor of the small workroom that had become my home for the last nineteen years or so.
I rushed around the solid wood workbench, knocking off a few papers and books as I went, to check on Isla. She was unconscious but breathing, which gave me only a brief moment of relief. Even though she was breathing, she was obviously not okay.
With only a few moments of hesitation, I picked her up and carried her over to my small bed so I could really check her over.
A blue liquid of some kind covered her chin and the front of her shirt. From the looks of it, it was fresh. I opened her mouth, fearing it could be some type of poison, but there was nothing.
Where had all that come from? And what was it?
I kept expecting Isla to wake up as I assessed her, but there was no movement.
How the fuck did she end up here? Most importantly, when was she going to leave?
There was no way she could stay here. Had they put some type of undetectable magick on her during the attack? I leaned back, studying her, but nothing stood out in my memory.
Though the attack had been so brutal that there was a lot to keep me distracted.
A deep sigh escaped me as I rubbed my face and closed my eyes. My magick was not meant to detect things, but I knew Isla as well as I knew myself. If there was somethingotheraffecting her, I should be able to tell.
Taking a few deep breaths, I calmed myself, focusing on the witch in front of me and around me. The lush wildness of her usual self was instantly there, taunting and beckoning me closer.
As I went deeper, though, I sensed changes.
Power and a sense of cold, though neither were threatening.
The bone fae.
A hint of a glow confirmed it was the connection to her first mate.
The connection between the two of them was still intact, so why couldn’t she feel it? I had lied earlier, trying to calm her in the aftermath of the attack, but now I was worried.
Sending my awareness out further, I detected another lingering presence. It felt alien, foreign… Powerful.
As if it sensed my probing, it lashed out, striking me hard enough that I slammed back into my body, my breath stolen from me. A sting on my face had me reaching up to touch my face. Warmth covered my fingers, and I realizedI had been cut. The novelty of it made me let out a small, dark chuckle.
“I see you,” I said out loud, directing my promise to that unknown magick. “And I’ll remember you.”
A shiver of awareness then taunting amusement filled the air.
I’ll kill them.
“Cas?” Isla groaned as she stirred beside me. “Shit, that fucking hurts.”
A hint of amusement and relief filled me as she started to sit up.
“Here, beastie,” I reassured her. I grabbed her hand, savoring the sensation of her skin against mine. It had been so long since I'd felt physical touch, but the real reason I relished it was that it came from her. “And yes, between the fight earlier and whatever else has happened to you after the healing started, I bet it does hurt.”
“I can taste that. Whatever that is.” Her face screwed up, then she shuddered, though I couldn’t tell if it was purely in distaste. “Wait… You’re here and in a body! What kind of drugs am I on?”
“None yet,” I answered with growing concern. I let go of her hand as I stood up, forcing myself to put distance between us. “But yes, I have a body here in your mind. That’s a conversation for another time though.”
“It’s always a conversation for another time,” she muttered, her hands patting around her like she was trying to figure out her surroundings. Apparently, even here she was blind.
“Do you remember what happened before you dropped in here, beastie?” I asked as I started to pick up the papers and things I had knocked off while getting to her.
“There was a forest,” Isla answered as she slowly stoodup on her own. “It was weird… The trees didn’t feel like any I’d ever encountered, and all my injuries were gone. I could see! Definitely something I’m not taking for granted when it comes back. Though, it’s weird… I can’t see here. Wherever here is.”
“What do you mean by the trees didn’t feel right?” I tried to steer the conversation before she could ramble off in another direction.
