Page 38 of Whispers of Wisteria (The Garden of Eternal Flowers #5)

“I-I’m sorry!” I burst out. My heart raced as I gripped a section of my skirt. “It wasn’t on p-purpose.”

Damen looked up from glaring at the floor.

On the other hand, Uncle Gregory cocked his head. “What are you apologizing for?”

“I—” He’d heard, right? He had to have. “I lost control of my abilities! People—people could have died.”

I wasn’t sure if this was true, but I was familiar with the stories. Like, the mean nurse witches had said this could happen! That was why they didn’t let me talk.

“No one is dying,” Uncle Gregory said, touching his forehead. “And I wasn’t referring to your enchantment. But now that you’ve brought it up, let’s discuss what happened.”

I held my breath as my shoulders tightened.

What the crap?

This wasn’t about me at all then! I glanced at Damen from the corner of my eye.

He was still staring at me.

This was all his fault! He’d been hiding from me since yesterday. He had to have known there was no way I wouldn’t be worried!

And because I was worried, I’d opened my mouth and now I was the subject of another lecture.

Ergo, perfect sense.

“You used an enchantment to beguile the room,” Uncle Gregory continued, and I gritted my teeth.

“That is normal, as your energy has had no outlet before now. No one was harmed other than a sudden influx of campus breakups and several young men sobbing behind the gymnasium. So that’s about par for the course. ”

People actually took my advice?

“You do need to learn to wield it properly, however,” he continued, expression turning serious. “You shouldn’t delay much longer.”

“Okay,” I said, shifting my weight. “Brayden—”

“You need to talk to Bryce.”

I looked at the light on his table as my breath got stuck in my throat. I’d just known this day would come—that I’d be beholden to him for knowledge. But I hadn’t thought it’d be so soon!

I wasn’t ready!

But then again, he’d helped out yesterday. I glared at the green lampshade.

It was time. I would command it to be so.

But first—

“Why?” I asked.

What would Bryce know that Brayden didn’t?

Gregory paused a beat, eyes flickering to Damen as if measuring how much to say, before he answered.

“It’s a matter of fae inheritance. The second son and so forth hold different roles.

Bryce is the Dubois heir. Brayden’s position is to act as the family’s guardian.

This belongs to you. You and Bryce must work together. ”

This—this—was what my elderly sage had warned me about! I still had no idea what anyone meant by ‘inheritance’; the books mentioned nothing. It was very secret after all. But he had not said that I’d be working directly with Bryce.

How very in-tune with his manipulative nature. I was impressed.

And as for Bryce—it seemed his plan of making me his protégée had come full circle.

“That being said,” Uncle Gregory continued, his voice firmer, “I also want to address who she is and proper etiquette.”

What… what did he mean?

I glanced up, but he was looking at Damen now. “You struck her.”

“Oh!” I sat up straighter, and before Damen could speak, I leaned forward. “It’s okay!” I exclaimed breathlessly. “It was my fault anyway.”

Uncle Gregory frowned, but it was Damen who responded. “What?”

“I—” I tucked my hair behind my ear, unable to look at them. But Finn had said so yesterday, and I knew he was right. “I do that sort of thing,” I explained. “Jump into fights, and stuff. So whatever happens is because of me.”

“You are not a consequence of someone else’s actions,” Uncle Gregory said, and I tensed.

He looked at Damen. “And you are not a force of nature. You’re a man who has gone through extensive training. If you cannot steady your hand when required, then perhaps you’re not as prepared for your position as you believed.”

“But—” I didn’t like that he was going after Damen.

Uncle Gregory ignored me. “She is a fae woman; you will act accordingly.”

I squirmed in my seat.

That… that sounded so weird. Plus, Damen wasn’t fae. So that really wasn’t fair to—

“Understood,” Damen responded.

“Do you?” Uncle Gregory asked. “She is smaller than you, slower than you, and does not have your instincts. She is not a fighter. This is your only warning. A second lapse will not be tolerated.”

Damen didn’t respond.

“And you.”

I held my breath as Uncle Gregory turned to me again.

“You will immediately stop jumping into dangerous situations. It is not your job to put yourself on the line for other people.”

I bit my lip and studied my knees.

“That is all I have to say on the matter,” Uncle Gregory continued. “You are dismissed.”

I stood along with Damen and followed him to the door.

“Bianca,” Uncle Gregory called as Damen opened the door. I stopped and looked back at him. “A word in private.”

He gestured back to the chair.

“Um…” I glanced at Damen.

Uncle Gregory had never before asked me to stay and talk. He normally resorted to underhanded tricks that involved sending Damen on pointless errands.

Damen shrugged.

“Okay…” I replied.

I sat back down and folded my hands over my lap as Damen closed the door behind him.

This must be really bad.

“Can you tell me what happened yesterday?” Uncle Gregory asked, leaning forward.

My breath caught. But we’d just gone over this. So why did it feel like I was in trouble again?

I picked at a fingernail and muttered, “I bewitched a bunch of groupies, ruined romantic dreams, probably started a revolution, and got punched in the face.”

Uncle Gregory did not look impressed. “And? Did anything else happen that you need to share?”

I tapped my finger against my chin and looked to the ceiling.

“No,” I answered. “Nothing important.”

“And you don’t think being assaulted is important?” he asked sharply.

“Oh,” I replied. “Yeah, that.”

That’s right—Bryce’s little friend. I should let Bryce know about his dissatisfaction. Why hadn’t I thought to ask him his name?

How did Uncle Gregory know about that anyway?

He frowned.

I shrugged. “Well, it’s not like anything happened.”

He narrowed his eyes and asked, “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I was going to go to Bryce,” I explained. “It was a message for him. But it wasn’t something I was thinking about.”

“You mean you forgot to go to Bryce?”

“Of course not, that’d be so irresponsible,” I said, somewhat offended. “I don’t forget things. It just wasn’t important because I was dealing with being punched in the face.”

“And the reason you didn’t tell anyone directly after it happened was because you decided that waiting around to give a message to Bryce was more important than being grabbed?” he asked.

I paused. What was with that impassive expression and strange manner of questioning? I knew this trick. He was doing some kind of psychological mumbo jumbo.

I was being diagnosed.

“No…” I said carefully, pressing my hands on the seat. He couldn’t fool me—I’d done nothing wrong. “I didn’t go because Anthony showed up and asked me to help with Miles. That’s why we went to the gymnasium in the first place.”

And then all the other drama had unfolded.

He was quiet for a moment, looking at me in a way that made me want to flee, and despite my best efforts to outlast him, I gave up.

“W-what?” I looked at the door. “If you’re done, I’m just going to—”

“What was the most alarming part of the encounter?” he interrupted. He crossed his arms on the desk.

Why? This was so stupid.

“I guess whatever Bryce is doing that makes everyone want to kill him,” I snapped. “You should probably look into that.”

“I probably should,” he replied calmly.

There was a gleam in his judgmental green eyes that made my hair stand, and I knew I’d just given him something to focus on. He seemed the type to be overbearingly obsessive, and Gloria, who hated the man, even admitted he was brilliant.

Bryce was doomed.

Crap! I’d just recently determined that I didn’t want Bryce to get into trouble, and now here I was, throwing him under the bus.

I was a terrible sister.

Oh well, better him than me. I probably just saved his life anyway. One day, his shenanigans were going to catch up to him.

I looked at the door again.

“Can—can I go now?” I shifted my weight. My voice shook more than I wanted, but I wasn’t sure if I could handle any more questions.

“Why do you want to leave?” he asked.

“I—I have plans,” I told him.

Uncle Gregory tilted his head. “What plans?”

I sucked in a breath. There was no way I could tell him I was helping Gloria. That’d be a whole new lecture I couldn’t mentally deal with.

He’d made his opinion very clear.

Not that it was any of his business. Uncle Gregory was so confident, but… surely my sage would have warned me if he really mattered.

Unless… This could be one of those teaching-through-omission moments. That sounded exactly like something he’d find hilarious.

But the book said—

No. Someone would have corrected me by now.

Still, I was following the rules.

Just not Uncle Gregory’s.

“I’m…” I pulled on my sleeve. What would be an acceptable reason to run away? “I’m looking into what classes I’m taking next semester.”

“Any ideas yet?”

Why! Why was he choosing now as the perfect moment for polite conversation? Couldn’t he read a room?

“Yeah, s-sure,” I flustered and focused on a loose thread. “Maybe Introduction to Psychology.”

There, I picked something that he’d like. There was no way he could find it lacking.

“Interesting,” he replied, leaning back into his seat. His glasses caught the edge of the light, and his voice was mild as he said, “And here I was, under the impression you loathed the subject.”

I was screaming in my mind. Why wouldn’t he shut up? He was doing this on purpose, I just knew it.

I didn’t want to talk to him, but I also didn’t want to be rude. My hands began to shake. I didn’t know what to do.

He paused, gaze moving over me, then waved his hand. “You may leave.”

I left before he could change his mind.