Page 59 of Whispers of Wisteria (The Garden of Eternal Flowers #5)

“There you are.” Jameson’s voice cut through the air. He was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. “I thought you’d have escaped by now.”

My breath choked, and—before I realized that I’d moved—I buried my face into Titus’s shirt.

He was the one who’d started it all.

Titus grew still as stone. He was still touching my back, but his aura had shifted into something powerful and menacing.

“This is your fault,” he said. “She’s hurt because you’ve changed sides.”

Jameson’s brows lifted. “At least I know that what you’re carrying isn’t stable. Tell me, why did she have to save you?”

Titus stopped breathing.

“You don’t deserve rescue,” Jameson continued flatly. “But as you’re useless, I’ll let you leave—go, jump out for all I care.”

He turned his attention to me again, face unreadable, and added, “However, she’ll be staying with me.”

My heart raced, and I shrank back. Meanwhile, Titus growled.

“That’s not fucking happening,” he said. He stood, tucking me further into the space between the emergency exit and the seat.

“Reroute the plane,” Titus said. “Come back, explain yourself, and maybe you’ll get to live.”

Jameson hesitated, just for a second, before he pushed off from the doorframe. “That’s not possible,” he said.

“Fine,” Titus replied, his form tense. He splayed his fingers wide, and before his one-word sentence had even completed, he’d leapt toward the onmyoji.

But even though he was quick and he’d struck with a purpose, Jameson was still agile enough to sidestep the dragon.

“You’re being foolish again,” Jameson said as he jumped onto a storage crate. “There’s no way you can win against me.”

Titus spun on his heel and glared.

“Shut up!” Titus lunged after him, and my stomach dropped further.

Titus had been weakened from his earlier imprisonment. His movements were slow, and his breath was heavy.

Plus, they said Jameson was the strongest Officer—and onmyoji control shifters.

We couldn’t win in hand-to-hand combat.

Jameson saw it too. He easily dodged Titus and said, “You’re a bit haggard, Ducharme. Did Yates tire you out that much?”

“Albert was nothing,” Titus growled, regaining his balance after an ungrateful landing. “And neither are you.”

Titus jumped, and this time, managed to strike the onmyoji across the chin.

Jameson stepped back, hand to his face, and blinked. “Wow,” he said after a pause. “So it takes desperation to enhance your skills. I’ll be sure to make Pearson aware.”

“You’re not going to say anything to anyone,” Titus snapped. “Because you’ll be dead!”

Jameson rolled his eyes.

I stayed away, my back against the emergency exit, and wrung my hands. Did Titus realize that Jameson was playing with him? Did he know that he was losing anyway?

What would happen if Jameson were serious?

This would have been a welcome occasion for Mu to offer up some wisdom. But the familiar feeling that I’d come to associate with an eventual Mu-takeover remained out of reach.

I didn’t feel right at all.

I touched my head, trying to blink through the dizziness. Everything was dull and muffled. Plus, there was a cloudiness surrounding my senses.

I doubted I’d even be able to sense a ghost right now.

There was a commotion in front of me, and I opened my eyes.

Jameson had moved closer. Titus tried to intervene, kicking at him, but he missed.

The onmyoji turned momentarily serious and punched him in the ribs, and Titus flew back into the crates.

“How are you going to take care of her?” Jameson asked. “You’re thirty-five thousand feet in the air, and you can’t even get over yourself enough to fly.”

I looked out the small window and bit my lip.

Yes. That would be a long fall.

“You should be more worried about yourself,” Titus responded, inching toward me. “Your quintet will turn on you for hurting her.”

Jameson paused from adjusting his cufflink. He glanced at me, then frowned.

“Declan doesn’t frighten me,” he said. He rolled his shoulders. “Still, they would be better entertainment. Let’s end this. I’ve got more important things to do.”

A shrill whistle cut through the air, and before Jameson could even lower his hand from his mouth, smoke crawled over the floor.

That was… faster than Damen.

A silver falcon landed on Jameson’s outstretched arm.

“Go play,” he said, flicking his fingers.

The shikigami didn’t need to be told twice. It screamed as it leaped into the air, massive wings spread wide.

I pressed my hands to my mouth as Titus barely dodged the falcon’s strike.

Was there really nothing I could do?

Jameson looked at me, and my muscles tensed. He watched me curiously as I shrank back.

“Come here,” he said a second later. He held out his hand.

What?

My fingers shook, and I curled my hands against my chest and shook my head.

I couldn’t do that; he’d betrayed everyone. Plus, it’d really hurt the last time he’d touched me.

“Stop it.” He scowled. “It’s in your own best interest not to fight me. You won’t win.”

He stepped closer, and my body jerked.

No, no, no…

Then Titus was standing between us. “Back off, Jameson.”

He’d been wounded—blood seeped from a cut on his arm—and his breathing was heavy.

Jameson, in comparison, was in better shape. He looked at Titus, annoyed, and waved his hand dismissively.

“I told you to entertain yourself elsewhere,” he said coldly.

The shikigami came in from the side, and Titus was flung into a stack of crates on the opposite end of the room.

I covered my mouth as he fell.

How could Jameson be so strong? Maria had called Titus, Damen, and Julian the Power Trio. Yet right now, Titus didn’t even stand a chance.

Was this the strength of the legendary quintet that everyone kept talking about?

Would Declan be the same?

“Come,” Jameson said, closer now, and my breath hitched.

Titus wouldn’t win—instead, he might even die. And Damen wouldn’t be able to save us up here.

There was no way to escape.

‘Summon me.’

I sucked in a breath, blinking, as Kiania’s voice rang through my head.

It was strange. It seemed like forever ago that I’d last heard her in my head—since Damen further split the contract into four.

Where had she been?

‘I’ve been here the whole time,’ she said. ‘Tiberius is nothing. Summon me and I’ll drive him back.’

I glanced at the falcon. Of course, he’d have such a showy name.

Still, it wasn’t possible for me to summon a shikigami.

Right?

Titus had moved to his feet and ducked another swooping attack from the bird. My pulse steadied.

I could do this. She wouldn’t suggest it if it weren’t possible.

I felt silly, but I whistled anyway. I had no instruction manual, so all I could do was hope. I visualized Kiania in my thoughts and prayed that she wasn’t wrong.

The air grew dense and, through the fog, Jameson stepped back.

“What the…” His question dropped as a white tiger leapt out from the mists, moving between us.

That felt like forever.

She only stilled for an instant, her ears perking and tail curling, before she jumped after the other shikigami.

My chin quivered as my chest began to ache. The burning had already started, licking at my toes.

“How did you do that?” Jameson grabbed my arm. “That’s Finn Abernathy’s shikigami!”

I stared, head spinning, before Titus was there. Jameson stumbled back as Titus pulled me against him and held my wrist.

“You’re still dealing with me, Jameson,” Titus said. “Leave her out of it.”

“Don’t give me that shit. She just summoned a shikigami!” Jameson replied, pointing at me.

“So?” Titus sounded eerily calm, even though his grip tightened.

“How is she contracted with Kiania?” Jameson asked. “Why is Damen allowing this?”

“You made your choice,” Titus responded. “We don’t need to explain anything to you.”

“Do you even comprehend what this means?” Jameson snapped.

I looked past them to the fighting shikigami. The falcon and tiger collided in the air with a flash, then vanished.

The pressure against my chest lifted, and I swayed before falling onto my knees.

“Move!” Jameson demanded. There was a silver-orange light surrounding him as he stepped forward. The temperature turned hot as a pressure rippled through the space.

The wind whipped, and Titus grabbed me and moved us aside as the door exploded.

Titus turned away from Jameson and angled himself in front of me, blocking the worst of the wind. One arm was planted against the wall, the other wrapped tightly around my waist, keeping me anchored as the storm pressed in from all sides.

I couldn’t make out what Jameson was saying anymore, but he was still casting. My heart sank.

He hadn’t even finished his attack.

A weapon—I couldn’t tell what—began to form in Jameson’s hand, and Titus tensed.

The worst of the wind had passed, and Titus’s steel hold had loosened. We weren’t in danger of being sucked out of the plane anymore.

Well, one of us wasn’t.

I grabbed Titus’s shirt and looked up at him. He was between me and Jameson—features set, and gaze determined.

He was bracing for pain.

There was nowhere to go—he was going to get hurt if he didn’t abandon me.

He’d never do that.

I grabbed his collar, pulled myself up, and mashed my lips over his. It wasn’t so much a kiss, but rather an attack. Still, it was enough to get Titus to see me again.

His posture turned slack as his attention snapped to me.

Which gave me the exact opening I needed.

I shoved him as the edge of Jameson’s attack hit.

It grazed him, although I couldn’t tell how badly, and Titus fell back, stumbling, before he was gone into the sky.

Well… that’d worked surprisingly well.

Jameson lowered his hand. He glanced at the hole in the plane, then back at me.

“You made the dragon fly,” he said coolly.

Oh dear.

My breath caught. I did do that, didn’t I? I pressed my hand to my chest.

I’d better be right.

Jameson tilted his head and added, “Pearson’s going to love you.”

I didn’t have time to stay for a chat.

I looked back at the hole. It wouldn’t be all that bad, right?

I glanced back at Jameson.