Page 149 of Whispers of Wisteria

I blinked at him as the breath caged in my throat.

“You know I’m right.” He lifted a brow. “Her light cannot exist without your darkness. That is your purpose.”

“I can undo the spell,” I said, looking at my hand. “I have to be able to undo it.”

“Of course you can,” Pops answered. He pulled a small bundle from his pocket and held it out for me.

A pulse pushed in the air between us. My blood hummed as I took it and held it between my fingers. My skin buzzed at the touch, and the familiar energy moved over me.

I knew without looking that it was the artifact I’d created.

“It was always meant to be reversed.” Pops sounded so far away. “Now’s as good a time as any.”

I unwrapped the package.

A piece of the stone had been broken off from my original flawless creation, and my thoughts swam as the bright crimson shone under the harsh kitchen lights—

Hardened blood, spelled into something solid and strong enough to tether the Quintet Bond.

“It won’t take much,” my grandfather stated. “And the energy will be restored. But you’ll need to be brave enough to bleed for her.”

I’d do more than bleed for her.

I scowled and placed the stone on the floor in front of my knees. The runes were set, and the silent spell echoed in my mind. There was no need to chant—only intention mattered.

The thin runes shimmered with magic when I grabbed the blade. The world stilled as I placed the edge across my scar and pressed. Deep.

Blood welled in my hand, yet the pain remained distant. I squeezed my fist over the stone, coating it in the deep red of my blood. The color spread over the surface as my magic whispered through the air.

I would not let her stay lost a second longer.

The stone turned into liquid, and the runes flickered a deep blue before the blood disappeared into the floor. I waited, breath tight, for the faintest change.

Anything to let me know it’d worked.

Nothing, for a moment.

And then—

A sharpness coiled deep in my chest, a warning that raged through our connection. I’d only felt it so strongly on one other occasion: when Damen was near death a few years prior.

I jerked as the dampened energy opened.

She was hurt, fading fast. And, like before, we never would have even noticed.

Damen POV

We gathered in Titus’s conference room while a preliminary search led by Declan—too furious to be around Bryce—was already underway. They’d found nothing at the graveyard, and the search at the warehouse had come up empty. Further plans from our side had to wait until we reviewed the details.

Gregory sat at the head of the table, with Lee Sao rigid beside him. It was rare to see the older onmyoji on the job, but Cécile was his shikigami. Julian and Joe sat farther down, their focus fixed on Gregory. Bryce was slouched across from me, Finn and Brayden beside him, and Miles beside me. The air between us was tense with unspoken questions.

“Now that we’re reconvened—” Gregory started. His voice was controlled, but an unmistakable undercurrent of disappointment was rooted beneath it.

I didn’t need him to tell me why. I knew.

This was my failure, and if something were to happen to Bianca, it would be my fault.

“—let’s summarize.” Gregory looked around the room. “Gloria, Bianca, and Dr. Sartore left to locate Cécile. Mr. Lee reports that Gloria confronted Dr. Duff, who tried to force information I’d already denied him. During that time, his Guild role was exposed by an ill-timed notification from his new subordinates, and the women were taken.