Page 140 of Whispers of Wisteria

We’d been draggedinto a cold, wet space echoing with sound. Someone locked my wrists and ankles into shackles. My head spun as the bag was pulled from my head, and I winced as a piece of my hair was caught in the motion, The red cape fell around my shoulders as my captor stepped away.

They were gone by the time the spots cleared my vision.

Jameson was here, though he was focused on Gloria.

She’d been shackled in my cell, but into a standing position against a mossy gray stone. Through the bars, I could see that Ada had been thrown, still a hyena, into another space opposite us. She was ignored even as she began to shift back into a human.

“This is your fault,” Jameson barked at Gloria. He didn’t look up as he paced. “You couldn’t just provide me with a simple answer? It would have been so easy. Your impertinence has ruined everything.”

“Impertinence?” Gloria pulled at her restraints. “You’re a disgrace for everything you claimed to represent.”

“You have no idea what I represent,” Jameson snapped.

He turned in a rough movement, ready to cross the room once more, when his attention moved across me. He froze, and my blood went cold at the sudden grayness that’d taken over his pallor.

The look vanished when he turned back to Gloria, and in a voice so sharp it made me flinch, he asked, “Why is a Stephens woman here?”

“As I’ve told you before, she’s my protégé,” Gloria said evenly. “And she’s not a Stephens.” Jameson’s mouth turned down as she added, “She’s a Dubois.”

“Don’t insult my intelligence.” His gaze crawled across my face. “Or bother me with semantics. You don’t think I’d recognize Alyssa’s bloodline?”

His voice dropped, low and tense, as he asked me, “Which family line do you answer to?”

I wanted to answer, but my tongue wouldn’t listen. I couldn’t talk, no matter how much I wanted.

Besides, wasn’t it both? I wasn’t sure how it all worked quite yet.

“Speak,” he commanded.

It was Gloria who replied. Her expression was blank as her eyes met mine. “She can’t talk—she’s mute. And she’s married into the Dubois family. She’s Bryce’s wife.”

“Impossible.” The fierce intensity of Jameson’s expression slackened. “Bryce is gay.”

“Fae are fluid in these matters.” Gloria shrugged.

“Declan did not mention any engagement during camp,” Jameson remarked.

“This could be a political marriage,” Gloria replied smoothly. “I don’t know the details, but she’s from the outside.”

“A political marriage?” He looked at me again, and his fingers tightened. “Who do you think you’re fooling? She looks exactly like Alyssa.”

“She’s from one of their branch families,” Gloria replied. “A distant cousin to the line.”

Jameson pursed his lips. “Maybe. They have strong genetics.”

It almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

“Now, Jameson, why would I lie?” Gloria blinked and tilted her head. “It’s not like there’d be any other logical reason. Unless you have something that you haven’t shared with the rest of the class.”

Jameson glared at her, but then paused and reached for his phone. His eyes narrowed as he scanned an incoming message.

He tsked as he slid the device back into his pocket. “We’ll revisit this.” His gaze moved over me once more, and I shrank back into myself and pulled my knees to my chin.

He scowled.

“So help you if you’re lying,” he said to Gloria. Then he turned and walked out of the room, coat snapping behind him.

Miles POV