Page 153 of Whispers of Wisteria

“What are you doing?” I asked, pulling against my restraints, but I really was trapped. I breathed in, pushing down my emotions.

I couldn’t defeat Jameson even on my best day. If this were real…

“I’ve warned you, and so did Pearson,” Jameson said, beginning to pace, “that your childish game would backfire one day. But you didn’t want to listen.”

It was true, they’d never approved of Taken.

“It’s effective,” I responded.

He shrugged. “It certainly was. It set the stage for you to be picked up by one of the biggest fools I’ve ever met. He believes he did that on his own. Maybe one day, you’ll learn. If you can escape, that is, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

I clenched my jaw, but couldn’t argue.

He was right.

But… it still didn’t make sense.

Chains wouldn’t normally hold me. There was something different, dark, thick in the air. A black-glassed mirror had been placed in a corner, and the ground hummed under my feet.

It reminded me, almost, of the Demon King.

I wasn’t just imprisoned—I couldn’t feel my dragon at all.

What was Albert’s ridiculous monologue? Something about secret magic and the Underworld…

And now this.

“You made a deal with one of the Overseers.” I frowned. “Who?”

“‘Who’ doesn’t matter,” Jameson snapped. “What’s incredible is your sheer irresponsibility.”

“What are you—” I leaned back. What was he complaining about now? It was always something.

But then the sluggishness faded away as the last of the tranquilizing magic disappeared. My senses sharpened, and the one scent that I’d never wanted to smell—not here, not in this situation—stood out from all the rest.

My thoughts snapped, and my body tensed. “Where is she?”

How the hell was she here?

“Who?” Jameson asked, studying his nails.

“Bianca!” I replied, urgency racing through my blood. I looked past him to the door. If only I could break free.

But the fire held me back. My limbs were shaking with the restrained effort.

“Oh,” Jameson said mildly. “That’s her name, then. They didn’t say. Only that she was… insignificant.”

“She’s supposed to be with Damen!” I couldn’t think. Besides, there was no use denying it. Not with him. “She can’t be here.”

“I see,” Jameson replied. “So this isn’t just an accidental oversight, but rather it was something that was deliberately kept from me.”

I breathed it in again—the scent of her, but tainted. Blood.

“Why do I smell her magic on you?” My thoughts and voice quieted.

Again, Albert’s words and Jameson’s confirmation repeated in my mind.

Striking a deal with an Overseer always came at a cost, and the force pressing down on me—this oppressive weight that silenced my dragon—was too much even for Jameson.