Page 70 of Venomous Lies
She was my fated mate, but there was no way I’d burden her with that knowledge. I’d take it with me to my second grave before I bound her to the ghost of me.
Stumbling over to my bed, I sat down, rummaging around for a small portrait that I kept close by. The edges of it were worn and faded, though the subject of the painting had withstood the test of time. Staring back at me was a face I remembered better than my own.
Julian Hellsing.
Protect her.
Please.
Chapter 21
Julian
FRIDAY
A week later
Prey.
That’s what Isla smelled like curled up on the floor.
Junichiro had done what he could to heal her, but she wouldn’t wake up. It had been days of rising tension on all sides.
When Ambrose had come with not just Bricriu but Isla’s friends as well, they brought more terrible news. Anyone who’d been present in the dorm during the attack had been killed.
Thatcher had put the entire campus under another magickal lockdown, with all classes suspended. A shield trapped everyone inside, and the celebration plans were on hold indefinitely.
The sheer number of bodies and the party being cancelled made it impossible to hide the murders. Students were on high alert and so were the professors.
Everyone wanted answers, including the people Ireported to. But there was no information to share, and the only person that could give us answers was unreachable.
My gaze shifted to Isla, still curled up in the corner, then I closed my eyes. Everyone was taking shifts watching the witch, hoping she’d wake up soon. Bricriu had finally broken his vigil at her side at, surprisingly, Ambrose’s urging.
No sleep for days on end would wear on even the most powerful of fae, so we made sure he didn’t go more than twenty-four hours without some kind of rest. Her friends hadn’t gone far away, either. One of them was always here or another section of the library.
The entire conservatory seemed to be holding its breath, waiting for Isla to wake up. For information only she had.
Hopefully.
The mind was a mysterious place, so we could only hope that she could in fact remember something, anything, that might help us out.
An odd sound drew me away from my musings. The croaking sound gave way to small whimpers before transforming into terrified screams.
Her entire body was trembling, eyes wide open but unseeing, as she started to claw at her face. I jumped up from where I was sitting to grab hold of her wrists, but she reacted as if I had burned her, jerking away from any attempt at restraint, and slammed her head against the stone wall.
The familiar scent of blood bloomed in the air—whether it was from the hit to the head or her nails breaking her skin, I didn’t know. Shock filled me as she clawed at her eyes, blood coating her fingers.Over and over again, she muttered something about needing to open her eyes. To make it stop.
A piercing scream slammed into my head.
‘Get me out!’
It was Isla.
Since when does she have telepathic abilities? Fuck, not the time.
I squatted down and snagged her wrists, using my supernatural strength to pull her hands away from her face. A grim frown tugged my lips down when I took in the damage she had done to herself.
“Miss Hallowes.” I gently shook her, trying to snap her out of it, but there was nothing for it. Right when I was about to say her name again, I sensed it.
