Page 32 of Venomous Lies
“You guys almost done?”
“We’re ready,” Isla said as she stood up. Her next comment was directed at her mate. “Can you come with us?”
“There’s something I need to take care of, but I’ll see you tomorrow, witchling.”
“Okay.” She smiled softly then kissed him before walking off with Z.
The bone fae and I watched them walk off for a few seconds before the weight of his gaze shifted to me. Iturned and waited, knowing he had something he wanted to say.
“Be careful with my mate.”
“She’s my friend, Bricriu. I watch out for my friends.”
“See that you do.”
He stood up slowly, carefully considering me before he offered his hand. Without hesitation, I took it, shaking it firmly.
“You’re welcome to join us, you know,” I told him as I let go of his hand. “You’re not excluded from hanging out with us.”
“I… Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.”
Chapter 10
Isla
WEDNESDAY
The Singing Bones had been closing when Z, Wells, and I rushed there yesterday, but Maude agreed to stay open a few extra minutes once we explained what we wanted.
In fact, her dark green and brown eyes had filled with storms when I breezed through the academy explanation. The air felt almost electric, the hair on my arms standing up on end, until it suddenly stopped. I swore I even saw flashes of lightning in her eyes before she turned away and walked further into the store.
She ignored the selection of books that were laid out on the floor, telling us to wait for a moment as she slipped into the back room. Maude came back carefully holding three old leather-bound books.Each of them looked old, worn, but when she opened them, they were full of untouched paper.
One was a dark brown leather with gold leaves along the spine and edges, its worn yellow pages feeling too thin beneath my fingertips. I shook my head, my instincts telling me this wasn’t the right book for me.
The second was dark blue, the cover decorated with whatlooked like a sun and moon design. These pages were white, thick, but almost too heavy when I tried turning them.
“No, definitely not the right one for you either,” the fae murmured as she took it back.
Maude paused before offering the last book. An odd look came upon her face as she gently laid it down in front of me.
This one was a rich red, the color so deep that it almost appeared black, with a gold snake depicted on the front. The aged pages felt crisp under my fingers, and as soon as I touched it, I knew.
Cassius did too, though he remained silent, both of us mindful that Maude could overhear us.
“This one… It feels like mine. How much?—?”
She had held up a finger, stopping me from asking anything. My cheeks heated at my almost misstep.
“These books were never for sale, witch. I am merely their keeper until the ones they are meant for come to collect them. No fae deal or gift is part of this, just me doing my duty by passing on each book to its rightful creator. It is yours now. Be careful what you make of it.”
Her words felt heavy, reminding me of the powerful presence in the greenhouse when I discovered it. I opened my mouth to say more, but she whisked us out, saying to come again during business hours.
“Isla?”
I shook my head to clear away the cobwebs. It had been a long day of classes, especially without my laptop thanks to Thatcher’s ban. Whatever he had done to cut off the internet and communication rendered all technology unusable before the week’s end—a wonderful detail that I’d found out when I got to politics this morning. I could access my old notes but not write anything new.Guess I do need to copy all my notes into notebooks before classes tomorrow.
“Sorry. It was a long as fuck day,” I told Zhara ruefully as I fell back on the couch in our lounge. “At least I have the rest of the day to recover… and copy notes over, I guess.”
