Page 204 of Whispers of Wisteria

“Regardless of your ‘plans’, you have no right to stop her from being relocated. It is Declan’s decision,” Jonathon replied. “He is her father.”

“So are you,” Damen rebutted.

Abigail stopped walking, and Jonathon faltered. The move was subtle, but Jonathon’s micro-expressions had seared themselves into my consciousness.

It was the only way to tell if he was screwing with me.

“Declanis her father,” Jonathon said again, slower this time. “We might have raised her, but I never asked to take on that title.”

There it was again.

Damen was looking at him like he was a monster. He didn’t notice the way Jonathon’s seemingly aloof posture had shifted.

Guilt.

“You never planned on keeping her,” I interrupted. “That’s why you didn’t change her last name.”

But they had, and now they cared too much. It hurt them more than they wanted to admit. Where I hadn’t seen before, it was now clear.

They’d tried to keep their distance, but they thought of her as family too.

Abigail stared at the floor.

Jonathon looked at me. “Kieran Brosnan was Declan’s brother. There’d be a reason he put her under his house instead of her own. I wasn’t going to override that.”

“Especially since you planned on taking her to the fae,” I added the part he continued to avoid.

Jonathon looked away. “Our original intentions were irrelevant once we realized the situation was worse than we expected.”

“I made the call,” Abigail said. She was rubbing her hands and looked like she might flee at any moment. “As Bianca’s godmother and Alyssa’s friend, I needed to save what was left. Bianca didn’t even know who she was. We couldn’t tell her. She would’ve been too curious, and the fae would have learned about her before she was ready.”

“It helped that the Brosnans have multiple branch families,” Jonathon explained. “And a presence in the human realm. She was better hidden with that name. I set a ward to redirect the attention of anyone who’d recognize her.”

“Still, the fae wouldn’t have—” Damen started.

“Bianca can’t sing,” Abigail snapped.

I sucked in a breath. Damen, Julian, and Titus wouldn’t know what that meant—most people wouldn’t. But I did, and still, not everything.

“She can talk,” I offered, trying to grasp on to anything that’d make this better. I felt the magic when she took over my practice.

It was something.

“Not anymore,” Abigail scoffed. “We’ve had her working with a specialist for years. She thought it was just speech therapy. The doctors said the damage could be irreversible.”

My heart stopped.

Damen, still not getting it, clenched his jaw. “Taking her toWhisperwindis not the answer. She’s fragile, especially now. Forcing her to reunite with Declan—”

“Could save her life,” Jonathon cut in. “She’s in a crisis. This is not the time for you to indulge her whims.”

Damen raised his eyebrow. “Don’t be dramatic.”

I bit my tongue. Jonathon wasn’t being dramatic. In fact, even he didn’t seem to know the depths of what they’d said. Otherwise, he would have taken Bianca to the fae years ago, regardless of what might happen.

This wasn’t just a broken expression of magic. And I couldn’t say a word without revealing what Mu would’ve killed me for even knowing.

“It doesn’t matter.” Gregory finally stepped forward.