Page 135 of Whispers of Wisteria

“As will I,” she said. “So your theatrical play was for naught. What a waste of resources.”

Her gaze followed one of the men as he pulled out his phone and looked at the screen.

“Jameson.” He barely spoke, but I could still see his mouth under the moonlight. “We have him.”

An instant later, Ada’s watch lit up. She looked down and froze.

“Gloria.” Her voice dropped to something colder. “Titus has been taken again.”

“What?” Gloria looked at her. “That idiot.”

Ada tilted her wrist, showing the tiny screen. “The signal cut two minutes ago.”

There was a short silence before the women swiftly turned their attention to the men.

“You,” Gloria breathed, zeroing in on Jameson.

Jameson casually adjusted his collar. “Me? The dragon plays this stunt all the time.”

Gloria took one step forward. “Then why are you nervous?” she asked. “Your pulse just spiked.”

Ada crouched and touched my leg to push me further behind her. My hands began to shake as I looked between them, and I held on to the cape so tightly my fingers hurt.

Something was wrong.

“He was tracking the Guild tonight,” Ada said.

Gloria showed her teeth. “You’re working with them.”

Jameson hesitated only a beat longer before his expression hardened. “I see I’ve no choice.” There was a tension in the air as he waved his hand. “Take them in.”

Ada yanked me to my feet before the words fully landed. “Run,” she ordered, shoving me hard in the opposite direction.

My heart surged into my throat. My legs moved—but only barely. I got two steps, maybe three, before something collided with me from behind.

A weight wrapped around my arms and knocked the wind from my lungs. The cape wrapped around me almost suffocatingly and I hit the ground face-first. The world spun sideways as voices roared, teeth flashed, and something snarled close to my head.

I lifted my face just enough to see a blur of gray and fur—Ada’s hyena form—stalking towards a wall of wolves. A fight of growls and snarls broke out as only two humans remained standing: Gloria and Jameson.

“You’re not going to shift?” Jameson asked.

“It’s not necessary,” Gloria said. Her pink dress fluttered around her calves as she stepped closer to me. I was still silent, although not from choice anymore, even though I wanted to argue that, yes, it was very necessary that she shift.

Wasn’t she an Elder Tongjun? If the stories about animal hierarchy were true, then by that alone, she should outrank every wolf here.

So why wasn’t she doing anything?

Then Cécile—whom I had almost forgotten about—dashed out in a silver blur and landed in front of Gloria. Jameson barely spared her a glance before she leapt through the air, claws extended, and her once-fluffy form sharpened into something jagged and dangerous.

Jameson twisted as she passed, and her claws sliced through the fabric of his pants near the thigh.

He turned, unbothered, and she didn’t have time to strike again before she vanished into smoke.

Jameson watched Gloria as if she were a disappointment. “You should have known better. Lee Sao couldn’t even beat me on his best day.”

Gloria’s jaw tightened.

A presence moved over me, and I couldn’t see them anymore as a large hand grabbed both of my arms. The sudden pressure made my wrists ache, and before I could scream, fabric dropped over my head. The rough texture scraped my skin as darkness collapsed around me.