Page 99 of Venomous Lies
“Dead,” I replied evenly. “Eventually, I’m sure.”
The smile on Kazimir’s face slowly faded, and the first glimpse of the real man behind his mask peeked out. He didn’t believe me, couldn’t believe me, but he desperately wanted to.
“Thatcher is the one that took you?” Falke asked, breaking the moment.
“Yes, he said that I would prove useful. Now, tell me, what the fuck are you doing here?”
I turned then, looking over everyone else.
Hellsing stood over Demir, who hadn’t moved from where he had been thrown, but both men had their eyes trained on me and the fae who still held on to my shoulder. Bricriu was taking a long drag of his cigarette, and Ambrose was no longer beside him. In fact, he wasn’t here at all. And neither was Wells.
Echo didn’t say anything, but he was watching everyone.
“We are here on an assignment,” Hellsing started, a true leader it seemed. His sharp, hard features darkened as he walked slowly toward me. “There is something happening at Greywood that we’ve been tasked with stopping.”
“Thatcher was part of that?” I asked, interrupting him.
“Potentially,” the vampire allowed with a slight nod. “But students have been going missing for centuries. We had just started making headway with the investigation when the recent attacks began happening.”
“The attacks on students?” Echo and Bricriu asked at the same time.
“Yes,” Falke supplied as Hellsing nodded again. “It put the entire campus on high alert, making it impossible for us to do our jobs.”
“We have no idea who is killing these people or why.”
“You’re not telling us everything,” I pushed.
“I’d hazard to say the same of you,” Hellsing deadpanned.
Just as I opened my mouth to say more, a magickal alarm blared, making all of us flinch, even Kazimir.
‘All faculty, staff, and students promptly report to the quadfor instructions. I repeat, all faculty, staff, and students report to the quad for instructions.’
“I’ll go first, see what I can hear as people start coming in,” Falke said to Hellsing, then he left, moving much quicker than I thought possible.
“How are we just supposed to go about classes now?” Echo asked.
“For now, we need to act completely in the dark,” Hellsing ordered all of us, pointedly looking at me, and then Kazimir, who still hadn’t let go of my shoulder. “Stay hidden until after. Any new faces will draw attention.”
“Not a problem,” Kazimir answered smoothly.
Cool air replaced the warmth of his body next to me. It became even icier when a weight draped over my shoulders and wrapped around my throat.
I looked down to see that Kazimir had shifted into a white snake. Not the least bit subtle, but it would have to work.
‘Beastie… watch him,’Cas muttered darkly, and I sensed a hint of jealousy when Kazimir’s snake body snuggled closer to me.
‘I will.’
Echo fell into step beside me as we followed Hellsing and Demir out of the building. My brother kept trying to get close to me, but I made sure to keep my distance. I was pissed off and annoyed, and that hadn’t changed in the past few minutes.
My footsteps slowed to a stop as I took in the full impact of whatever had happened.
A few buildings looked to be in ruins, and the surviving students all looked worse for wear with all manner of injuries. A lot of people were covered in blood. The teachersdidn’t look any better. Ms. Belvedere’s left arm hung uselessly at her side.
Tallie from my forbidden magick class saw me and gave a silent nod in greeting, though she stayed by her group of friends. I nodded back with a small wave.
At least some familiar faces were here still.
