Page 45 of Whispers of Wisteria (The Garden of Eternal Flowers #5)

Bianca POV

We’d been dragged into a cold, wet space echoing with sound. Someone locked my wrists and ankles into shackles. My head spun as the bag was pulled from my head, and I winced as a piece of my hair was caught in the motion, The red cape fell around my shoulders as my captor stepped away.

They were gone by the time the spots cleared my vision.

Jameson was here, though he was focused on Gloria.

She’d been shackled in my cell, but into a standing position against a mossy gray stone. Through the bars, I could see that Ada had been thrown, still a hyena, into another space opposite us. She was ignored even as she began to shift back into a human.

“This is your fault,” Jameson barked at Gloria. He didn’t look up as he paced. “You couldn’t just provide me with a simple answer? It would have been so easy. Your impertinence has ruined everything.”

“Impertinence?” Gloria pulled at her restraints. “You’re a disgrace for everything you claimed to represent.”

“You have no idea what I represent,” Jameson snapped.

He turned in a rough movement, ready to cross the room once more, when his attention moved across me. He froze, and my blood went cold at the sudden grayness that’d taken over his pallor.

The look vanished when he turned back to Gloria, and in a voice so sharp it made me flinch, he asked, “Why is a Stephens woman here?”

“As I’ve told you before, she’s my protégé,” Gloria said evenly. “And she’s not a Stephens.” Jameson’s mouth turned down as she added, “She’s a Dubois.”

“Don’t insult my intelligence.” His gaze crawled across my face. “Or bother me with semantics. You don’t think I’d recognize Alyssa’s bloodline?”

His voice dropped, low and tense, as he asked me, “Which family line do you answer to?”

I wanted to answer, but my tongue wouldn’t listen. I couldn’t talk, no matter how much I wanted.

Besides, wasn’t it both? I wasn’t sure how it all worked quite yet.

“Speak,” he commanded.

It was Gloria who replied. Her expression was blank as her eyes met mine. “She can’t talk—she’s mute. And she’s married into the Dubois family. She’s Bryce’s wife.”

“Impossible.” The fierce intensity of Jameson’s expression slackened. “Bryce is gay.”

“Fae are fluid in these matters.” Gloria shrugged.

“Declan did not mention any engagement during camp,” Jameson remarked.

“This could be a political marriage,” Gloria replied smoothly. “I don’t know the details, but she’s from the outside.”

“A political marriage?” He looked at me again, and his fingers tightened. “Who do you think you’re fooling? She looks exactly like Alyssa.”

“She’s from one of their branch families,” Gloria replied. “A distant cousin to the line.”

Jameson pursed his lips. “Maybe. They have strong genetics.”

It almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

“Now, Jameson, why would I lie?” Gloria blinked and tilted her head. “It’s not like there’d be any other logical reason. Unless you have something that you haven’t shared with the rest of the class.”

Jameson glared at her, but then paused and reached for his phone. His eyes narrowed as he scanned an incoming message.

He tsked as he slid the device back into his pocket. “We’ll revisit this.” His gaze moved over me once more, and I shrank back into myself and pulled my knees to my chin.

He scowled.

“So help you if you’re lying,” he said to Gloria. Then he turned and walked out of the room, coat snapping behind him.

Miles POV

“You did what?”

Bryce took a step back at the onset of rage being leveled at him, but recovered quickly. He braced himself, setting his jaw, as he regained his ground.

I sighed, drumming my fingers lightly against the table. I’d just been following the chore chart Bianca left for me when Gregory arrived with some paperwork for Damen.

Then he’d found out Bianca was gone and lost his shit.

On Bryce, though. Because he was the one who’d technically allowed it.

“I said, I told Bianca it was okay to go out with Gloria,” Bryce replied, an edge to his voice. “So?”

“I forbade them from working together,” Gregory snapped, his aura retreating. “You knew that, as Bianca doesn’t understand. What gave you the right to override my orders?”

Brayden, who’d been standing in the middle but away from the two men, looked between them, then allowed his attention to remain on Bryce.

“You called me for help,” Bryce said, crossing his arms. “So I made my own decision. One that, might I remind you, is mine to make—”

Oh great.

I put my head on the table.

Bryce was wrong.

Sure, he might be the heir to the Dubois house. But Gregory was the Stephens representative in this realm and had Oliver’s full authority.

Since both houses had weight in fae family dynamics, and Bryce wasn’t the patriarch yet, technically, Gregory outranked him.

Then again, Bryce and Bianca were married. So he might try—

“—since she’s my wife!” Bryce stepped forward and placed his hand over his heart.

Brayden made a face, and I sighed. I had no one to blame but myself.

Plus, Bryce was still wrong. He had to know it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be acting so dramatic.

To my surprise, Gregory didn’t press the issue.

“It is the wrong decision,” he said instead. His attention flickered to the kitchen door, as if expecting Bianca to appear. “Where did they go exactly?”

Did it matter? The whole argument was just so dumb. Cécile was harmless.

It was obvious that Gloria was easing Bianca into working together with an easy mission.

And she’d looked adorable with her braids and the little bells.

Bryce paused, opening his mouth briefly, before he finally answered, “I didn’t ask.”

I sat up and frowned as Gregory’s features grew heavier.

What was his problem?

He turned in my direction, and I felt Damen tense beside me as the fae glared at him.

Gregory was usually controlled, but there had been some times in the past…

“Recall her here now,” he demanded.

“What?” Damen frowned.

“You’re in charge of your quintet,” Gregory said. “She will ignore anything from me or Bryce. Get on your phone and tell her to come back.”

I tilted my head.

She would probably ignore Damen too. Especially if she thought he might change his mind.

Still, he could try.

I could see the indecision on Damen’s face. He’d told her to stay at first, but then allowed her to go. If he did this, he’d be going back on his word.

And she’d been so excited.

I mulled over some recipes. She’d be pissed, so I should make something calming…

Damen crossed his arms over the table and leaned forward. “Why?”

“It is dangerous,” Gregory said.

“It’s Cécile,” Damen countered. “We see it all the time.”

Gregory’s mood darkened. I froze.

“It is not the shikigami that concerns me,” Gregory said, voice lower now.

Damen’s stance shifted as he furrowed his brow. “Then what? Or are you just mad that she keeps running away from you?”

Gregory clenched his jaw, and the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach grew stronger.

What was going on?

“You could just check her location,” Finn cut in.

He was sitting on a barstool on the other side of the kitchen, where he’d set up his laptop on the granite slab. He’d been working earlier, but stopped at Gregory’s initial outburst.

Finn spun his seat to face us. “Just pull up whatever it is you’re using to track her phone.”

“Why would I be tracking her phone?” Damen asked, genuinely offended. “I’m not you. I’m not going to stalk her, especially not for a stupid cat.”

Gregory pressed his lips together and watched Damen. Meanwhile, Finn paled as he leaned back like he simply couldn’t comprehend what he’d just heard.

“You absolute idiot,” he snapped a second later. “Do you think I did that for fun? Don’t you listen to a word I say? She has a death wish! How can you not be monitoring where she goes?”

“Don’t talk to me like that.” Damen scowled. “I don’t monitor anyone else either. I trust that she knows her limits.”

“What?” Finn stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “No, she doesn’t! Do you know how many times I’ve had to save her? Plus, she was almost eaten by witches not that long ago under your watch!”

Gregory looked toward the door again, and my stomach knotted. Maybe she really should come home.

I pulled out my phone, and everyone’s attention snapped to me. “I’ll call her.”

Damen frowned.

“She’ll pick up for me,” I reasoned.

He bristled, obviously wanting to argue, but I ignored him and dialed.

The knot in my stomach grew tighter after the third ring.

“She’s not answering,” I said.

Still, it wasn’t time to panic yet.

My hands almost shook as I called Gloria—she and I often talked over my research. She wouldn’t ignore me.

No Officer would.

“Gloria isn’t answering either…” I said.

“What does your Quintet Bond tell you?” Finn asked. “It returned when you met, right?”

I looked at Damen. Finally, he was serious.

“I don’t notice anything off,” I offered, meeting Damen’s eyes. We hadn’t talked to anyone about this yet. “But—”

“It isn’t working as it should.” Damen’s expression was dark. “Something is blocking our access. I’m working on it.”

“Oh my God!” Finn looked like he wanted to strangle Damen. “You’re telling me that you’ve been letting her go out all this time completely unprotected?”

Bryce’s face morphed into a storm, and Brayden looked ready to lunge across the room.

“You know she’s reckless! She jumped into a river for him,” Finn said, pointing at me. “And she can’t even swim!”

Technically, she’d fallen. But the point still stood.

“Why the hell would you let her go?” Bryce said accusingly.

Damen turned on him. “You’re the one who told her to go! I ordered her to stay. But you couldn’t say no!”

“This is not going to help us find Bianca,” I pointed out, and they backed off.

“Well,” Damen began, more slowly this time, and his voice dropped in the way it did when he was taking control. “Would anyone know where Gloria is?”

“Why would they?” I cut in, standing. “This was super easy. Cécile runs away like every other day!”

Think positive thoughts.