Page 129 of Whispers of Wisteria

She pressed her lips together and placed her hands on her hips, and there was a note of haughtiness in her voice when she said, “Now you sound like Uncle Gregory.”

“And he already told you that you shouldn’t work with her,” I reminded her.

“Well, he can’t tell me what to do anyway,” Bianca replied. She picked her bag off the floor and pulled the zipper closed. “The fae rules state I have to obey the paternal head of the house. Uncle Gregory is from my mother’s side.”

I opened my mouth to respond when she added, “Plus, Bryce already said I can do whatever.”

I highly doubted that.

Miles frowned. “That’s not how—” I glared at him, and he shut up. We had no right to say anything if Gregory hadn’t informed her otherwise.

Bryce chose this moment to enter. He yawned as he moved to the neatly decorated coffee corner Bianca had created.

I cut him off. “Do you know what Gloria has Bianca doing now?”

He paused, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. “Huh?” He looked at Bianca when I inclined my head towards her, and frowned. “What does she have you doing?”

“We’re looking for Cécile,” she replied lightly, flipping her braid over her shoulder. “She said she already told you…for some reason.”

“Oh, yeah.” Bryce tilted his head. “Right. Who cares?”

“You knew about this?” I pointed at him.

Bryce pressed his lips together and looked at me. “Of course,” he replied in a measured calm. “She asked my permission. I said it was fine.”

Bianca hissed at him, but the dread gathering in my stomach chased away any glee found in witnessing Bryce being threatened by his sister.

“Are you stupid?” I asked him, even though I already knew the answer. “Why would you let her go out in the middle of the night on such an asinine mission?”

Bryce watched me with barely concealed disdain. “Gloria said it’s urgent.”

“You know that’s not true at all!” I snapped. “No one cares about Cécile!”

Bianca gasped and covered her mouth. “You’re heartless! They have feelings too!”

“No, they don’t!” I informed her. I turned back to Bryce. “Stop this.”

Bryce watched me for a moment, then his shoulders slumped as he sighed. “Fine,” he sounded put out. “I’ll tell Gloria to wait until tomorrow.”

“What?” Bianca stepped back from him. “That’s not fair!”

“Please,” Bryce began, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s not like it’ll die. Just think of Damen’s heart.”

“We’ve just determined that he’s heartless,” Bianca rebutted. “Besides, I’m going with or without your approval. Do you know how long it took me to put together this outfit?” She gestured to herself. “You wouldn’t get it, you don’t know anything outside of your privileged little greenhouses.”

I almost wanted to laugh at his expression. Hadn’t she picked up on his role yet?

Bryce looked at her evenly. “Is that so?”

“That’s so.” Bianca waved him off. Her phone vibrated, and she unlocked the screen. “Gloria’s here.”

I looked between them, choosing, for the moment, to step back. She’d struck a nerve against Bryce’s pride with her last statement, and clearly, she wasn’t going to listen to me.

But maybe him…

Bryce stepped forward, hand outstretched. “Now see here—” But he froze when she looked at him, and the hope that’d been building inside me was snuffed.

“Please,” she begged. She touched her toe to the floor. “I want to do something useful.”