Page 58 of Venomous Lies
‘Cas… Be careful.’
Chapter 18
Isla
MONDAY
Consciousness came back with a brutal jolt.
Too bad my vision didn’t.
The weighty darkness was still there even after I blinked my eyes multiple times. Panic rose in my chest as my breathing picked up. Was the magick still around me? Was my attacker still there? Why couldn’t I see?
Reaching out, I frantically ran my hands along the surfaces surrounding me. Smooth floor, cool tile, and sharp glass. I hissed when one of my fingers was sliced open.Shit.Hopefully, I was still inmysuite, inmybathroom.
‘Beastie?’an achingly familiar voice called, making my useless eyes tear up.
Cas.
“Am I in the bathroom? How did I get here?”
‘Yes,’he answered after a weighty silence.‘Can you not see?’
“No… Canyousee?” Even after nineteen years, I was unsure how this thing between us worked.
‘I can when I’m in the mirror,’he replied, his concernmaking him sound more serious than normal.‘Are you able to move?’
“Let’s find out.”
A complaining groan turned into a humiliating whimper. Every inch of my body hurt when I tried to push myself up off the floor. The phantom weight of the intruder on my back made my panic increase. Warm puddles of liquid surrounded me, my hands slipping through it as I tried and failed to sit up.
But as much as I tried to remember the fight, I couldn’t recall one moment of it.Guess surrendering control doesn’t make it so I remember things.
When I finally managed to sit up, I uselessly looked around, wishing like hell that the darkness would be broken. The heady smell of blood filled my senses as I wiped at my face…That’s not good.
“What…” I rasped roughly. “What happened?”
‘You don’t remember?’
“I remember being attacked. And the shadows. Then I let go so you could take over. I can’t recall anything else. What the fuck is going on?”
‘In your head, beastie,’Cassius reminded me gently. He cleared his throat and seemed to be considering his words carefully as he answered my stilted questions.‘I took over your body and fought them off as long as I could. They said they wanted your blood… Given how much is all over the place and your current state, they got it. Your face is bruised and scraped up, but the most concerning wound, I think, is on your side. I think a lot of the blood I see is coming from there. At least you’re alive and still in your dorm.’
‘Do you know who it was?’I asked, thankful that he’d reminded me to talk to him in my head. My throat was killing me.
‘No,’he replied, frustration coloring his voice.‘But you need medical attention, beastie. Now.’
‘I don’t know if I can get up.’
‘You don’t have a choice.’
“Ahhh,” I groaned loudly as I failed to push myself up to standing.
‘Is there a way for me to call out to Bones through this mate bond thing? If I can use his magick, can I?—?’
‘That’s something that develops over time, so I’m not sure it’s there for you yet. You can try to reach out for him, though. It can’t hurt you any more than you are right now,’Cas replied.
I searched internally, trying to find that thrum that reminded me of Bones. Coldness, earthy, power… There was just emptiness.
