Page 92 of Venomous Lies
His head tilted slightly, waiting for me to say more.
“Make him suffer.”
I swore I could see the creature smile before I ran out of the room and into the twilight beyond.
Screams and begging followed me, and I swore I heard an odd, rough laugh rumbling over Thatcher’s voice.
Luckily, the darkness had faded into some kind of lighter gray, which I hoped meant whatever magick had been used was wearing out.
What was that creature? What is happening here? And where the fuck are my mates and my friends?
“Isla?!”
When I whirled around, I found Demir holding Wells against the stone wall of the building at knife point.
Wells’ face was bruised and swollen, his lip busted and bleeding. My brother pressed his knife closer to my friend’s throat, making him hiss as a fresh trail of blood appeared on his neck.
“Demir? Wells?” I stumbled over my words. “What are you doing to Wells?! Let him go.”
“Bats—”
“Let. Him. Go.Now.”
Chapter 28
Wells
SATURDAY
As Demir dropped the knife and slumped down, I tried to catch my breath.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Bats, he was trying?—”
“He’s my friend!” Isla cut him off coldly. Long fingers tilted my chin up and urged me to look up at her. “What happened?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” I asked as I reached up to touch her face. Where was all this blood coming from? “You’re bleeding. And you can see?”
“Thatcher attacked me,” she said grimly. “When I woke up this morning, I could see again. No idea what changed.”
“Isla, we can’t?—”
“Maybe the person I can’t trust isyou, Demir,” she pointed out as she helped me stand up. “I’ve been attacked, and then I find you holding one of my best friends at fucking knife point with no one else around.”
“Isla, it’s okay,” I coaxed, trying to reassure her. “He just didn’t like what I said, but he didn’t hurt me. This is from thefighting."
“Besides the cut on your neck,” she muttered darkly.
“A small prick,” I countered as I looked at the kelpie who couldn’t cover up his jealousy fast enough for me to miss it.
Interesting.
“You said Thatcher is the one that attacked you?” Demir asked after taking a deep breath. He was looking better than I was, for sure. His long, black hair was tied back in a ponytail that had somehow gone untouched even in the chaos of the fighting. Currently, his dark brown eyes were homed in on Isla, imploring her to answer him.
“He did,” Isla answered him. “Where is everyone else? I thought I heard Ambrose and Professor Falke when Echo and I were trying to find our way?—”
“Where is Echo?” I asked her.
