Page 192 of Whispers of Wisteria

I was hesitant; the pressure against my back had been a mild annoyance before—easy to ignore in the face of impending death—but now it was growing into something more concerning.

So I looked.

Sage and gold caught the light, rippling like sunlight on water. Thin veins webbed the translucent panes, each edge tipped in a faint shimmer, as if dusted with stardust. My mouth went dry.

I shivered, and the wings—mywings—fluttered. And yet… I barely felt them. It was as though they belonged to someone else entirely.

I reached over my shoulder and touched the edge of the fragile-looking appendages. They were surprisingly soft and more solid than expected.

But how would they work? They didn’t seem to be made for flying.

Titus dropped from under me, moving so quickly I hadn’t even had time to try to hold on.

He’d thrown me off!

My heart leapt into my throat as I was suddenly free-falling once more. Was this revenge for pushing him off the plane?

I only fell for a second before the air calmed.

I opened my eyes, looking for Titus.

The dragon soared through the air, stretching as he split his attention between me and the land below. The pressure against my shoulder blades increased, but this time I didn’t have to look.

Iwasflying, somehow. It really wasn’t the time nor the place to worry about the logistics.

All that mattered was that it worked.

Nice.

Suddenly, my adrenaline dropped, and so did my focus. My thoughts wavered and my head spun.

I was falling into darkness, and there was no use trying to fight it anymore.

An ear-shattering roar pierced through the sky, and the air stopped. I’d been caught in Titus’s soft, yet claw-like, talons, and the air lurched forward. My head fell back as my vision turned black.

‘Wake up,’ Titus ordered.

But I couldn’t anymore. I was so tired.

‘We’re almost there,’ he said. ‘Julian will help you. Don’t give in.’

I wanted to listen. I tried.

We were moving fast—the wind whipped at me until my skin felt raw—but I couldn’t stay on the surface any longer.

A roaring cry sounded as I let myself drift away.

29

Damen POV

(A few moments earlier…)

The shockwave slammed into me like a punch to the chest. For a second, I couldn’t even breathe. I just stood there, nails digging into my palms, while it echoed through the air once, then vanished.

Something had shifted in the energy between us. A strength that’d been locked away for lifetimes had been released.

Jin had let go. Titus could move again.