Page 134 of Change

Chapter Twenty-Two

Titus

Voice

I woke with the undeniable sense that something was very, very wrong.

It felt as though a knife was piercing my chest—a pain that overshadowed the agony coursing through my arms. And if that wasn’t enough to remind me of my imprisonment, the ominous glittering of black mirrors in gold-plated frames were a visual reminder of the hellfire that the onmyoji used to keep me contained.

There was serious magic at play here, more than I even understood. There was no other way for people like Jameson and Albert to amass the strength necessary to perform a spell of this magnitude without outside help.

I had to get to Bianca. I still had no idea where she was, or even how she was in trouble, but it’d been impossible to ignore this growing number of coincidences.

Why would she be in trouble now otherwise?

“Where’s Bianca?” I growled, my chest swelling with urgency and fury.

Albert had been cracking chestnuts from his seat near the closed metal doorway, and the redhead glanced up at my question. “Oh,” he frowned, his freckled face turning pale. “You’re awake.”

I wanted to insult him—to ask him if he really believed that even with all of this, they really believed they’d be able to hold me for long. Already I could feel their control slipping.

But now wasn’t the time.

Concern for Bianca was making it harder for me to ignore my instincts.

I wanted to shift. Every fiber of my being ached for it. My arms shook against the burning resistance of the magic forcing me to stay human. And I also had a personal desire too, a need to shed this limited form and rip everyone to pieces. My skin vibrated and hardened with the slight touch of the beginnings of my transformation, but nothing happened.

I was stuck in this weaker, more vulnerable, state. And while I was helpless, anything could be happening to Bianca.

She was on her own. Defeated. And I had to help her. I couldn’t get past the helplessness in her voice. It clawed at my senses.

It was a dream, but it wasn’t. I rarely ever connected with Jin—though I’d had more experience in working with my past lives than the others—but preferred to allow my baser instincts to take over.

Our relationship was unique. Unlike the others, who were reborn in every life as a different individual with learned memories, the dragon part of me was directly inherited: memories and abilities.

That’s the only reason we were able to reach through the fragile bond that Bianca and I currently shared—it might not be as strong as it could have been, but as Bianca gained strength, and the more time we spent together, it would grow stronger.

“Where’s Bianca?” I asked again, my shoulders straining as I leaned forward against my bindings. The blank look on his face caused my anger to grow. “Don’t play stupid. You know exactly who I’m talking about! The fae that you’ve got hidden around here somewhere!”

At this, Albert made a sound of understanding. “The girl!” He nodded, and I could almost see the lightbulb of understanding appear over his head, and he grinned. “Oh, so you do know her?”

“Yes, she’s…” I began, the reply slipping out before I could stop myself. I hadn’t felt this helpless in a long time, and panic was already tearing its way out of my chest.

She wasn’t dead—I should feel that, at least.Hopefully.

I might not even know.

But even if she wasn’t, that didn’t mean she was okay. She didn’tsoundokay at all. Since I hadn’t shifted, I couldn’t access her thoughts. But I could hear it in her voice. Something terrible had happened, and I wasn’t naïve enough to believe it was only being drained for her energy.

“She’s Bryce Dubois’s wife,” I told him. It wassohard to keep a straight face at my next statement, but I had to persevere, “He’ll kill you if you hurt her.”

Albert frowned, his eyebrows drawing together in contemplation. But fear was absent from his scent.

On one hand, I didn’t blame him; Bryce didn’t scare me either. Though most people—including Albert—should have found the threat of the infamous Er Bashou going on a murderous rampage at least a tiny bit terrifying.

Bryce would have to defend his ‘wife’.

I still believed it was stupid, but the others had put together the paperwork before telling me. Probably because they knew I’dtellthem that it was an idiot plan.