Page 42 of Whispers of Wisteria (The Garden of Eternal Flowers #5)

“Because she needs this,” Bryce replied, not looking too happy. “Even if she’s wrong.”

I nodded.

Miles tilted his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

But I understood.

“He’s respecting her boundaries,” I muttered. He was trying to give her autonomy where he could. “She’s standing up for something that she wants. He doesn’t want to be the one to silence her because she’ll eventually not have a choice in other matters.”

Bryce nodded. “He figures she already suspects anyway. She studies with Brayden and does research on her own.”

“Do you know why he’s so against her working with Gloria?” I asked.

“You don’t think she’d put them in danger?” Miles straightened, alarm crossing his expression. “They’re just looking for a shikigami.”

“Exactly.” Bryce shrugged. “But Uncle Gregory is always concerned about vulnerabilities.”

“Vulnerabilities?” I frowned. “How is Gloria vulnerable? She’s the mate of the Grand Wolf Alpha.”

I glanced toward the door. Should I send Kasai regardless?

“Don’t ever tell her that—she rejected him,” Bryce replied.

“Gloria rejects everyone,” I remarked. “Why did you let Bianca go then? She insulted you.”

“She always insults me.” Bryce scowled. “But I didn’t have much of a choice,” he said, looking torn. “She asked me nicely.”

Damn it, he was already doting on her. He’d be useless when it came to hard decisions, and Brayden was off the table. He’d pretty much let her do anything she wanted.

It looked like I’d need to be the bad guy in the future.

Bianca POV

Dr. Sartore was pacing at the stone and iron graveyard entrance when Gloria and I arrived, and paused when she spotted us.

“Well,” she said. “That’s certainly one way to garner attention.”

I frowned and looked down at my skirt, holding the lacey fabric out for study. There was nothing wrong with this outfit. Besides, who was she to talk?

“You’re literally in Louboutins and Saint Laurent,” I informed her.

She blinked. “Well… touché.”

“Besides,” I said, tugging my skirt in place, “I have a plan.”

“You have a plan?” Dr. Sartore repeated, casting Gloria a dubious glance.

But Gloria breezed past us, her red cape fluttering dramatically as she dropped a folded beach chair to the ground. She didn’t seem to be paying any attention to us at all.

“Why would I care about your plan?” Dr. Sartore continued. “I hardly know you.”

That was to be expected. All thanks to Damen’s logic—a logic that, to this day, still made absolutely no sense.

“You will,” I said instead, because I didn’t have anything better to offer. I grabbed the chair and followed Gloria through the rows of headstones.

Dr. Sartore stared after me a moment, lingering behind, before she fell into step beside me.

“You’re married to Bryce,” she said, and my eyebrow twitched.

“Right,” I answered, focusing more on dragging the chair after me.

She crossed her arms behind her back. “And he doesn’t mind his noble fae wife frolicking with shifters?”

I hesitated, mid-step. “Why would he care?”

“No reason,” she replied lightly. “Only that fae tend to be afraid of shifters. And I thought fae women were the fragile, terrified sort.”

“I don’t mind,” I answered. I grunted as the chair scraped over a rock. “I like shifters…” But then my thoughts drifted, and my nose twitched. “Except wolves.”

Gloria glanced back at me, and my skin flushed. “You’re different,” I reassured her.

It wasn’t like she could hurt me.

“We can stop here,” Gloria said instead. She grabbed the chair from me, set it up, and sat down. She spread the cape out over her lap.

“Er…” I hesitated. I might have had a plan, but I wasn’t so sure about Gloria’s. “Weren’t we supposed to be looking for Cécile? How is sitting here—”

She held up her hand and shushed me. “I don’t think we’ll need to look very hard. You’ve made it even easier than I could have dreamed possible. Our thoughts are one.”

What was that supposed to mean?

Gloria waved her hand at me. “Bianca,” she said, making a vague motion to the right. “Be a dear and go sit over there.” I looked, and there was a flat stone protruding from the ground. “Right there,” she said, pointing. “See.”

“Um…” Where was she going with this? “And do… what exactly?”

“Wait,” Gloria replied. She put on a pair of sunglasses and leaned back into her seat.

But how could she see anything? It was so dark!

“And?” I asked.

Gloria shrugged. “Look cute. It shouldn’t be too hard.”

“O-okay…” My skin grew hot. I wasn’t sure why she had so much faith in me. I stepped onto the stone and sat on my knees, never feeling more foolish than in this moment.

I’d expected a fanfare, or at least something, based on her reaction, but Gloria only laid back and linked her hands behind her head. After some moments of silence, I assumed that she’d fallen asleep.

Meanwhile, Dr. Sartore had begun to pace again, this time circling me in a most unnerving manner. Her attention, however, remained outward towards the graveyard.

I didn’t understand what this was supposed to accomplish.

Yet the moments passed, and nothing happened. All this sitting around doing nothing grew very boring. The graveyard itself was unexciting, and even the fog had lost its creepiness under the weight of the two shifters milling about.

I doubted that anyone or anything would attack us here.

What was the plan? Were we just supposed to wait for Cécile to pop out from behind a headstone? This was going to take forever.

I sighed and pulled my backpack to the front of me. Thankfully, I was prepared for such a situation.

“What are you doing?” Dr. Sartore stopped and frowned down at my hands. “What is that?”

I froze, the candy bar halfway to my mouth, and blinked at her. “Chocolate?”

Weren’t shifters supposed to have enhanced senses? The smell of chocolate should have been pretty distinguishable.

“I am aware!” she snapped. “But who eats during a rescue mission?”

Was that what this was? I was starting to think I may have been misled.

Or maybe she was hungry.

I glanced back at my food—the bar of sweet goodness was already softening under the heat of my fingers.

“It’s real German chocolate,” I said. For some reason, my statement came out as a question, as if the purity of the chocolate-to-milk ratio would make a difference. I broke off a piece and held it toward the angry woman.

Perhaps she just needed a healthy dosage of tryptophan. “Here,” I offered.

She reached for it, lips pursing as her nostrils flared, and her fingers were inches away before I recalled one crucial detail.

“Wait—” My pulse skipped, and I pulled my hand back, ignoring the flash of annoyance in her eyes.

“Dr. Sartore—”

“Call me Ada,” she said harshly, but I didn’t take offense. “You make it sound too formal.”

Let her be annoyed; I refused to have her die on my watch. “Can hyenas eat chocolate?”

Instead of getting angry, her expression softened slightly. “Are you worried about me?”

Was this a trick question—something to catch me off-guard before she ripped off my head? “You’re important to Titus, which means you’re important to me too,” I responded. Something stirred in my chest as I spoke the words, and suddenly, I realized I’d meant them completely.

I hardly knew the woman. However, despite my intention, my circle of people to protect grew larger. How could this be?

“Who are you? What is your relationship with Titus?” Her forehead wrinkled. “And don’t tell me it has anything to do with Bryce. You’re too good for him.”

Now I really liked her. This was a woman who understood reality.

But that didn’t mean I could tell her about me being Titus’s mate. If the others hadn’t already, there was probably a reason. “I…”

“Be quiet.” Gloria sharply cut into our conversation, and we jumped as she rose in her seat. The red cape fell across her lap, covering her pink floral skirt. She looked past me.

I sat up and pressed my palms against the stone. What was this sudden chill moving down my spine?

“Wha—” I began, but Gloria cut me off.

“Something’s out there.”

Ada froze, moving between me and it, but didn’t speak, and the panic turned my stomach. What was it—something that could frighten even a shifter?

Maybe… maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. I should have listened to Bryce.

It rounded the corner then—bright, shimmering silver bouncing from gravestone to gravestone. My breath strangled in my throat as it came near.

Cécile?

I almost had a heart attack when the light crashed directly into me. I was thrown off balance and fell sideways into the dirt.

I was only just catching my breath when the dust cleared, and I looked down at the white Persian snuggling up and purring between my boobs.

“It’s about time.” Gloria stood and shook out her cape. “Something must have been holding it back. Normally, it’d respond to the bait faster. We should still be on alert.”

“B-bait?” I craned my neck and blinked at her. “What do you mean?”

“The normal sort of thing,” Gloria responded. She draped the garment across the back of her chair and fussed with her hair. “Cécile is a bit fascinated with all things feline...” She paused and looked me over again. “And breasts.”

“Breasts!” I sat up so fast the cat fell off me and crossed my arms in front of my chest. I twisted and looked at her. “But I don’t even have any!”

“Meh.” It was Ada who responded, reaching past me to toss a treat to the cat. She, like before, only sniffed at it before licking her lips.

Wasn’t it a bit mean to be giving her things she couldn’t eat? They were spirits. Was it possible to make a snack that a shikigami could enjoy?

“Trust me, you’ve got enough,” the hyena continued. “Especially in that outfit. Besides, shikigami love fae.”

“You—you planned this!” I really was bait, and for a pervert shikigami, no less! Why did it have to be me?

Gloria shrugged. “I never told you to wear that. I was referring to something else entirely. What was your thought process?”

“I thought she might find the outfit relatable!” I argued. Shikigami did choose their animal forms, after all. So obviously, she had an affinity towards cats.

Gloria turned her palm to the air. “And so we’re on the same page.”

That wasn’t the same thing at all, and I was about to tell them so when they stiffened. They’d flanked me before I could even blink, and the light atmosphere darkened.

“What is he doing here?” Ada held her arm in front of me as she looked at the older woman.

“How should I know?” Gloria replied, brows drawing together as her teeth bared. Her frail demeanor had dropped entirely. “This was unplanned.”

“There are wolves with him,” Ada said, and I shivered.

“I know!” Gloria snapped. “I don’t recognize their scent. They’re not local.”

Ada lowered her head. “He could be on a job?”

“Maybe,” Gloria responded. “But, if so, I wasn’t briefed.”

Their serious expressions caused my shoulders to draw tight, and I shrank back and touched my lips. “Um…”

“Don’t talk!” Gloria’s tone left no room for argument. “Not until we know more.” She grabbed the red cape and tossed it over my shoulders. “Try to stay hidden.”

I looked down.

Stay hidden… in a bright red garment?

“That’s just perfect,” Ada chastised, backing up until I was pressed closer to a headstone. “Now you’ve gotten me involved in a conspiracy with his mate.”

Gloria glanced at her from the corner of her eyes and pursed her lips. “So you have been paying attention.”

“Of course!” Ada rebutted. “Do you think I’m a complete idiot?”

My eyes dropped to the ground, and my teeth chattered. I couldn’t speak if I wanted. My throat was already closing as the chill in the air dipped further.

They were here.