Page 175 of Whispers of Wisteria

A haze dropped over my vision.

“And you justlet her stay?” There was an edge to his voice that Damen rarely showed.

“She refused to leave,” Maria replied. “What was I supposed to do, drag her out by her hair?”

“Yes!” Damen shot back.

Bryce’s emotions finally burst, and he stepped forward. “You shouldn’t have given her a choice!”

“Control yourselves,” Gregory snapped. He looked at Damen, then Bryce, and a chill came down on the air. “She never should have been there in the first place. Brayden—” Gregory turned his attention to the younger fae brother. “Contact Declan. His forces can reconvene at Ms. Maria’s location. They’ll be able to retrace events, and maybe we’ll find something they left.”

Brayden nodded and pulled out his phone.

Gregory looked around the room. “Until then, we track and wait. None of you needs to like it,” he added quickly, cuttingoff all protests. “The window before they disappear entirely is narrow, and wandering aimlessly will solve nothing.

“Therefore,”—Gregory’s posture tightened—“the fae will move from the outside, we cover here in case they make it back on their own. If we lose every lead, then we go to the Council.”

The Council.

I clenched my fists over my legs.

There’d be no more hiding, no more control. And—unless played exactly right—we could lose access to Bianca entirely. Without knowing their stance, we were gambling that their reaction wouldn’t be worse than the Guild’s.

But what other choice did we have?

Bianca POV

I stepped into the round, windowless room. A gold-framed mirror with black glass glimmered in the corner, and there was a large chalk circle on the floor. The whole thing felt eerie, and I hesitated only for a second before all of that fell away.

Titus.

I ran to him, hardly able to breathe. He was slumped forward, seemingly unconscious, on his knees with his arms tied above his head. Black shackles bound his wrists, and the chain holding him up went to the ceiling.

Still, if it had anything to do with locks, I could get him out. He would be safe now.

His face was almost even with mine while on his knees, and I stopped in front of him and touched his cheek. He was dirty, and his skin was warm—too warm.

The heat beneath my feet was spreading through him.

I didn’t understand why, but he had to be in pain.

My heart was pounding as I opened my mouth. I had to say something… anything.

But still, I couldn’t seem to speak.

My fingers shook as I pressed my hands to his face and shifted my touch along his rough jaw. I let my touch linger as I moved my fingertips to his forehead and pushed back his hair.

What could I do? Even if I were able to get him free, I couldn’t carry him. And we were trapped in an airplane.

He said he couldn’t fly.

I looked at his wrists. The stone was similar to Gloria’s—it seemed to have a nulling effect on shifters—but if I could get him free…

I grabbed a bobby pin from my hair. I had to hurry before someone came. I didn’t know if Albert… or Jameson was trapped here with us.

My breath caught. I hoped not.

I touched the shackles.