Page 185 of Whispers of Wisteria

My heart raced, and I shrank back. Meanwhile, Titus growled.

“That’s not fucking happening,” he said. He stood, tucking me further into the space between the emergency exit and the seat.

“Reroute the plane,” Titus said. “Come back, explain yourself, and maybe you’ll get to live.”

Jameson hesitated, just for a second, before he pushed off from the doorframe. “That’s not possible,” he said.

“Fine,” Titus replied, his form tense. He splayed his fingers wide, and before his one-word sentence had even completed, he’d leapt toward the onmyoji.

But even though he was quick and he’d struck with a purpose, Jameson was still agile enough to sidestep the dragon.

“You’re being foolish again,” Jameson said as he jumped onto a storage crate. “There’s no way you can win against me.”

Titus spun on his heel and glared.

“Shut up!” Titus lunged after him, and my stomach dropped further.

Titus had been weakened from his earlier imprisonment. His movements were slow, and his breath was heavy.

Plus, they said Jameson was the strongest Officer—and onmyoji control shifters.

We couldn’t win in hand-to-hand combat.

Jameson saw it too. He easily dodged Titus and said, “You’re a bit haggard, Ducharme. Did Yates tire you out that much?”

“Albert was nothing,” Titus growled, regaining his balance after an ungrateful landing. “And neither are you.”

Titus jumped, and this time, managed to strike the onmyoji across the chin.

Jameson stepped back, hand to his face, and blinked. “Wow,” he said after a pause. “So it takes desperation to enhance your skills. I’ll be sure to make Pearson aware.”

“You’re not going to say anything to anyone,” Titus snapped. “Because you’ll be dead!”

Jameson rolled his eyes.

I stayed away, my back against the emergency exit, and wrung my hands. Did Titus realize that Jameson was playing with him? Did he know that he was losing anyway?

What would happen if Jameson were serious?

This would have been a welcome occasion for Mu to offer up some wisdom. But the familiar feeling that I’d come to associate with an eventual Mu-takeover remained out of reach.

I didn’t feel right at all.

I touched my head, trying to blink through the dizziness. Everything was dull and muffled. Plus, there was a cloudiness surrounding my senses.

I doubted I’d even be able to sense a ghost right now.

There was a commotion in front of me, and I opened my eyes.

Jameson had moved closer. Titus tried to intervene, kicking at him, but he missed.

The onmyoji turned momentarily serious and punched him in the ribs, and Titus flew back into the crates.

“How are you going to take care of her?” Jameson asked. “You’re thirty-five thousand feet in the air, and you can’t even get over yourself enough to fly.”

I looked out the small window and bit my lip.

Yes. That would be a long fall.