Page 31 of Whispers of Wisteria
“Hi…” I felt so stupid at being called out in such a way.
She scowled at me.
“Bianca, meet Ada Sartore,” Ms. Protean said, still studying a paper on her desk. “Dr. Sartore is Mr. Ducharme’s Tongjun. She’s the Alpha of the hyenas. She works with him and is also a veterinarian with her own practice.”
The blood rushed to my head as my cheeks grew hot. She was an Officer, and here I’d already embarrassed myself.
“She’s here today on a personal mission,” Ms. Protean said dismissively. “Ignore her.”
Dr. Sartore shoved a shiny, bow-tied bag of cookies into her purse. “Fine!” she snapped. “I’ll come back when you care!”
Ms. Protean sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Um…” I pulled my sleeves over my wrists and looked between them. Was something wrong? If Dr. Sartore worked for Titus, I should probably do something.
“Can—can I help?”
“No,” Dr. Sartore replied sharply. “Not unless you’ve seen a white Persian with perfect fur and doe-like eyes.”
I glanced at Ms. Protean, who shrugged. “She’s looking for Cécile.”
“Oh,” I said, touching my jaw. “I saw her running around in the courtyard earlier. I think she was chasing a wolf?”
I was still slow on placing species but hopefully I was getting better.
“See?” Ms. Protean waved her hand. “There’s nothing wrong. Cécile is just out making friends.”
Dr. Sartore, who no longer seemed so angry, just nodded.
I curled my finger and paused.
I wasn’t an expert in feline behavior, but it hadn’t look very friendly to me.
“What is she?” I asked. They looked at me, and I shuffled. “I mean… she’s not just a cat, right?”
“That’s very rude,” Dr. Sartore said, at the exact moment Ms. Protean answered.
“Cécile is a shikigami.” She nodded. “It belongs to the onmyoji in my quintet, Lee Sao.”
They didn’t really explain anything, though.
“So—” Dare I ask? It was kind of presumptuous. “Why do you have her?”
It wasn’t like Damen sent Kasai out to babysit Titus, or at least I didn’t think so. Seemed like a waste of energy.
Ms. Protean pursed her lips, considering, before finally responding, “Reasons.”
Okay…
I was still getting the hang of things, so maybe that was normal. I wanted to learn.
My attention lingered on the shiny bag peeking out of Dr. Sartore’s purse. “Can Cécile even eat that?”
If so, then was it neglectful that we didn’t offer comfort items and snacks to Kasai and Kiania? The tiger seemed to enjoy the idea of being brushed.
But Damen said they didn’t care…
“It’s the thought that counts,” Dr. Sartore said defensively. She grabbed her purse and held it to her chest as her cheeks darkened.
