Page 64 of Whispers of Wisteria (The Garden of Eternal Flowers #5)

Bianca POV

There was nobody in my room when I woke. It probably shouldn’t have bothered me, it never had in the past. But lately, there’d always been so many people around—and I hadn’t slept by myself in weeks.

Minutes must have passed before I sat up, grabbed the rabbit from my bedside table drawer, and hugged it close to my chest.

It was… lonely.

“Just how long do you plan on lying around?”

I blinked, unsure that I’d heard anything at all, and looked up through the hair that had fallen over my face.

I wasn’t alone after all. Uncle Caleb had seated his ghostly self on my pink-cushioned window seat. He wasn’t looking at me, though. His focus was somewhere outside my window.

Why was he angry?

I wanted to ask, but when I opened my mouth, I still couldn’t speak.

“They had a big argument about it earlier today—Abigail, Jonathon, the others. You missed it.” he said conversationally. “They’ve decided to take you to Whisperwind.”

What?

I pulled back, heart racing, and drew further into myself.

“Can you blame them?” he asked. “You look like you’re about to disappear.”

My throat was dry, and I swallowed.

I didn’t know how to deal with this.

Uncle Caleb always had less than pleasant things to say to me on a normal day, and right now, things were far from normal.

“That’s to be expected, I guess,” he continued. He finally looked at me, and the chill in the air deepened. “Although my instincts are usually right. I thought I understood.”

I squeezed my knees closer to my chest. I doubted his ‘instincts’ had anything positive to say.

“You have no training, no education, and no idea what it means to be fae,” he said bitingly. But then he added, his tone softening just a little, “That’s not your fault. Maybe you should go to Whisperwind. But—”

I flinched, but he pretended not to see.

“—it won’t mean anything if you’re not willing to fight for who you are,” he added.

I stared at the floor.

But I didn’t know what that was.

“Don’t start crying,” he said. “That’s not Mu. That’s fear talking.”

I blinked at him, and my grip loosened.

“I—” I whispered, my voice scratchy. “I don’t know how to be him.”

Uncle Caleb tilted his head. “There’s nothing to ‘be.’ You are.”

“But…” I looked down at my knees and bit my lip.

“What?” he asked.

“What if the fae don’t want me?” I asked, picking at the edge of my sheet. “I’m—I’m nothing like what they’d expect, right?”

Uncle Caleb was quiet for a moment, and I peeked at him. He was frowning at me.

“Declan destroyed the room,” he said.

I scrunched the fabric in my fist. “W-what?”

“After you were taken.” Uncle Caleb wasn’t looking at me now.

“Declan came from Alyssa’s deathbed, expecting to see you, but you’d vanished before he could even name you himself.

He never would have let you go. He tore the door from the hinges first, then moved to everything else.

The family heads were also not informed until after you’d gone, and then the rest of us.

Outsiders thought you’d died—as Bailey. Declan was so upset that he didn’t talk to anyone while he waited.

They said there was a plan. It wouldn’t be long. ”

Dots were swimming in my vision. “I didn’t ask—”

“But Kieran never arrived at the safehouse. You’d disappeared.

After that, Declan officially abdicated his position as the Dubois heir,” he continued as if I hadn’t spoken.

“And he spent the next eighteen years chasing rumors. But it was like following air, which worried us further. A fae needs a solid place and a family to survive. You were never to live on the run. You were never meant not to be here.”

I brought my fingertips to my lips. “I—”

“Declan, Bryce, and Brayden never stopped living like you were about to walk through the door.” Uncle Caleb wasn’t finished. “Every year on October thirteenth, they’d make a honey cake. They weren’t sure what flavor you’d like, but all fae love honey, and they still wanted to celebrate you.”

My stomach cramped.

“Every Christmas they’d put out a stocking,” he continued. “And when they bought those silly matching pajama sets, they’d include one for you. I can give you more examples, but the point is that no one ever gave up.”

I blinked, trying to clear my watery eyes.

“So in answer to your questions, all we expect is you.” Uncle Caleb still wouldn’t look at me. “You’re exactly what we want.”

“I didn’t live on the run,” I whispered after he finally stopped. My head was spinning. I…

I didn’t know what else to give him other than this.

His eyes snapped to me.

“We—” My heart was beginning to race. This was what I’d promised never, ever to tell.

Otherwise, everything would be broken. “We stayed in one place until…” I bit the tip of my tongue.

What happened to Sorcha was my fault. It was my fault we’d left.

“We had to move when I was almost five. Kieran took me somewhere else and left for a while.”

“He left you to be found by Eric Richards?” Uncle Caleb’s expression was a mix of disbelief and anger.

“No.” I shook my head. “This was b-before. It was a nice place. They taught me stuff. Kieran came back. There was a fight, and then everyone was gone.” My voice broke at the end. Nobody ever stayed.

“What did you learn?”

I sniffled and wiped my eyes with the back of my arm. Typical.

He was still obsessing over my lack of education. He only ever constantly brought it up.

“Things a-about emotions,” I answered, tightening my grip on the rabbit’s foot. “Plants. How to talk to ghosts. Singing.”

Uncle Caleb straightened. “You sang,” he said in a flat voice. It almost sounded like a question.

My throat closed, and I watched my knees. My voice was strangled when I croaked out, “N-not an-an-anymore.”

He didn’t respond.

Why was he even angrier?

“Is—” I touched my mouth. “Is that a problem?”

“No,” he replied instantly. “You’re fine. You just need to stop running. You can begin by learning your roots.”

“I guess—” I pressed my lower face behind my knees. It was hard to think past the roaring in my head. I’d given up believing anyone was even looking after my first week at Mr. Richards. The concept only existed, sometimes, as a faraway fantasy. “I can try.”

“Don’t just try,” Uncle Caleb snapped. “Otherwise, whatever Osian was plotting is gone to waste.”

I sat up straight.

Osian.

“He is…” I began. My chest felt full. I knew before he spoke, but he said it anyway.

“Mu’s previous life before you.” He nodded, looking very grumpy. “He had me going all over creation running errands for his Grand Return. He was a bit melodramatic.”

He tilted his head and added, “Kind of like you.”

“I’m not!” I gasped.

Uncle Caleb rolled his eyes. “Sure.”

I looked away and clutched the rabbit tighter. I still wasn’t sure what the right thing to do was, and it was scary to think about it. But if I was going to stop running, then I couldn’t put this off any longer.

My head spun as I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and stood. Uncle Caleb just watched, unimpressed.

“I—I’m going to go talk to them,” I said. Why did I sound so pathetic?

He nodded. “Good.”

I was half-turned toward the door when he added, “Bianca.”

I paused, my heart pounding in my ears, and looked at him.

He wouldn’t meet my eyes, and his words were gruff when he said, “You were worth the search.”

I sucked in a breath to respond, but he’d already left.

There were voices coming from Damen’s office when I approached, but I couldn’t make out the words. The world was muffled without faces.

I didn’t knock—I might run away if I stopped for even a second. Instead, I opened the door.

The conversation stopped.

Damen was standing behind his desk, with Julian, Titus, and Miles nearby. Across from them, on the other side of the desk, were Uncle Gregory, Bryce, and Brayden.

Damen and Uncle Gregory had been leaning over the desk, reading, but looked up when I entered.

“You’re awake!” Julian sounded surprised. “How are you feeling?”

I looked at my feet as he started to move towards me.

The lacy hem of my nightgown brushed across my ankles as I shifted my weight from foot to foot. “I want to meet Declan.”

No one spoke.

“Please,” I added, hugging the rabbit closer.

“Of course!” Brayden broke the silence. He practically jumped across the room to stand in front of me. “We’ll have dinner, okay?”

I rubbed the rabbit’s ear between my fingers and nodded. What a thoughtful idea. Everyone knew food was an efficient way to show affection.

Well, everyone except a specific person who always forgot to feed me.

Titus coughed, looking me over, then froze. He stared at my hands, and his expression turned dark.

I ignored him.

“You understand what that means?” Uncle Gregory stood taller, yet kept his fingertips on the table.

“Y-yes,” I answered, my voice wavering. “He’ll want me to move to Whisperwind.”

Uncle Gregory nodded.

“But…” I began, hesitating only briefly before bracing myself. “I’m not ready to do that yet. Still, I’d like to see it. But I want to stay here.”

He paused as his gaze moved over me. My shoulders tightened.

“Fine,” he said finally. “So long as it remains safe for you to do so.”

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

“However,” Uncle Gregory pushed up his glasses, “moving forward, your location will be tracked.”

Damen glared at him, but it wasn’t like he’d said anything wrong.

“O-okay…” I hugged myself and bit my lip.

Uncle Gregory frowned. He probably expected me to argue.

“Seems like the right time to mention it,” he added. “You’ve had a chaperone since last week.”

I stepped back. “What?”

“His name is Zane Papadakis,” he continued, almost dismissively. “He is your half-cousin on your paternal grandmother’s side.”

Bryce, who’d had a similar reaction to mine, suddenly glared.

“He’s active when you’re on campus,” Uncle Gregory said. “He’ll be working covertly until a later time. He will not intervene unless there’s a direct threat and you’re by yourself. You’ve already seen him once.”

Was he talking about the fae man who’d saved me? But still…

“I don’t want a chaperone,” I replied.

“Still, here we are,” he said calmly. His stance shifted, more relaxed. “You are a Dubois with Stephens blood—and you are Mu. You’ve recently been taken as happenstance—”

I flinched and held my rabbit tighter.

“It would be undoubtedly worse if it were with purpose once your identity is revealed. There are other factions who’d like to hurt you that have nothing to do with the Guild.”

I stared at the floor.

“You say you do not want a chaperone,” he continued. “You don’t want to see anyone hurt. But Mr. Zane was not forced into this role. He accepted it, knowing exactly who you are and what it might mean, because he believes your life is worth protecting.”

My eyes burned.

“I guess…” I said slowly. “We’ll see. I-I don’t want to be kidnapped again.”

It’d already been twice in less than three months. I must have some kind of record.

He was quiet for a second before he suddenly asked, “Do you still want to work with Gloria?”

“I…” My voice broke as I looked up, and my face grew warm. “Yes.”

“Why?” He was studying my reactions, and I stiffened before I could stop myself. “The real reason.”

The real reason…

It wasn’t because Damen needed the help and might be in moral peril any given moment, and it wasn’t even for the sleuthing snacks.

“I like solving puzzles.” I squeezed the rabbit and added, “And I want to help the people who get left behind.”

The room was silent, and when I looked up, everyone had the strangest expressions.

“Is—is that okay?” I asked.

Titus stepped back. He was still staring at my chest, and his body was tight with tension.

Damen looked at him and frowned. “Titus?”

Titus didn’t stop to look at him. Instead, he stalked past me and left the room.

I stared at the empty doorway.

“D-did I say something wrong?” I asked, looking back at Uncle Gregory.

They said I should do what I wanted, and I wasn’t sure how everything would work.

“No,” he said, clearing his throat. “You’re exactly right.”

But then why—

“You may study with Gloria,” Uncle Gregory continued. My heart lifted. “She can shift now, so that’s one less concern. Any job you go on is contingent on your safety. We’ll discuss the details later.”

I nodded slowly. I wasn’t sure what came next, but at least this felt like a step in the right direction.