Page 50 of Whispers of Wisteria (The Garden of Eternal Flowers #5)

“No one is delaying anything,” Gloria snapped. “This is exactly what Gregory was warning everyone about! Titus needs to let the rest of us do our jobs. Now look, he’s gotten himself captured!”

“You’re captured too!” Maria shot back. “Or did you forget that part?”

“That’s completely different,” Gloria replied.

Their discussion was cut short as the door opened and Jameson strolled down the stone stairs. He ran his fingers through his now skewed hair as he stopped at my cell door.

“You seem stressed.” Maria smirked at his back. “Are you having trouble with your prisoner?”

“Not quite.” He squared his shoulders, and his stride deepened as he ducked under the rising cell door.

A chill settled over me, and I buried my face in my knees as he approached.

The self-assured tone was gone from Maria’s voice the next time she spoke. “What are you doing?”

“You couldn’t have thought I wouldn’t notice,” he said, disapprovingly, to Gloria.

She didn’t respond.

He towered over me and touched my neck, and I couldn’t move away quickly enough before he wrapped his hand behind my head and forced my face to turn towards his.

“Look at me,” he commanded, and my gaze inadvertently lifted to him. My skin was humming with the need to escape, and my thoughts were dizzy with panic.

Jameson’s eyes flashed with something I couldn’t pinpoint. His grip lightened as his scowl deepened, then he glared at Gloria.

“No one consulted me. You are even more foolish than I thought.”

“Jameson…” she began, her confidence briefly falling. But then she stood straighter and narrowed her eyes. “It was the right decision.”

Something in Jameson’s gaze sharpened before his expression smoothed into cold disinterest as two guards entered the room behind him.

“Regardless,” he said. “Tell me, what’s wrong with you?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing escaped past the pressure in my chest, and I couldn’t look away from his greenish-gray eyes. Eyes that, for a fraction of a second, seemed almost afraid.

“Are we going to do it?” one of the guards asked.

I fell back onto the floor as Jameson let me go and answered, “No.”

The guard stepped forward, tensing, “But the spell—”

“We cannot afford to make any rash moves,” Jameson replied, standing taller. “You never know what it might affect.”

“But—” he tried again.

“I’ve given my orders.” Jameson’s tone was final. “There are other ways to force the dragon outside of brute force.”

He looked down at me before glancing at Gloria. “They’re deep in enemy territory, and the compound is overrun with wolves,” he continued, speaking to the guards. “There will be no escape plan before we relocate, in any case.”

Escape…

My heart began to beat a little faster.

Was that even possible?

Jameson didn’t wait for a response—he clearly expected compliance—before he turned and stalked out of the dungeon. The guards, glancing at each other, followed behind.

Escape…

The word kept running through my thoughts long after Jameson left. That and, deep in my consciousness, was an order that I vaguely recalled but couldn’t pinpoint. Something from long ago, but that I was still holding on to.

Something from Mu.

Endure.

Hope.

Live.

I wasn’t strong enough. Yet, giving up was not an option.

The doors opened, and I dimly looked up through the narrowing tunnel of my vision.

“You!” Maria pressed against the bars as a redheaded man stepped into the room. “You tricked me! You ruined the game.”

He paused by her cell, touching his navy tie, and frowned. “Don’t blame me because I’m stronger.”

“You’re not stronger,” Maria growled. She reached for him, but he stayed out of reach. “You’re a cheat.”

“It’s all the same.” He shrugged, stepping past her. He came to a stop outside my cell. “So this is the fae.”

There was a ripple of undercurrent in the air, and the three shifters tensed.

“You’d be wise to back off,” Gloria warned, still imprisoned in her place against the wall.

“Who does Jameson think he is, hiding her? Did he think I wouldn’t find out?” The man ignored her and opened the door. “We have a deal. How dare he act like he’s better than me?”

“Albert,” Gloria said slowly, “he is better than you. Even now it’s still true.”

“I don’t care about your worthless opinion,” Albert snapped. My body shook as he came to a stop in front of me.

A shadow reached out from the darkness, pulling at the edges of my awareness.

I recoiled as he crouched down. The cuffs blocked my ability to act even in a panic, and I had no leverage, no plan—I couldn’t even escape this cell.

I was pathetic.

“You, on the other hand,” he began, and I could feel his eyes raking over me, “are not quite so worthless.”

My breath was strangled in my throat. He grabbed my wrist before I could regain control, jerked my arm forward, and bit my wrist.

My body tensed as the fire roared. Not again.

“Get off her!” Maria’s shout rang loud through the space, but I couldn’t even pinpoint the direction anymore.

My head was spinning and the ground swaying, and the white-hot burn of my energy being stolen was the last thing I felt before I gave in to the darkness.