Page 42 of Whispers of the Water

Dallas’s mouth fell open, and she shoved me, nearly causing me to drop my water, which I’d just shaped into a basic flower. “Excuse you. I am not old. Do I look wrinkly and saggy to you?”

Laughing, I asked, “Okay, what’s old to you guys?”

“Late 800s, 900s. Some have lived into their thousands, which is crazy.”

“I can’t even imagine living that long.” I held my hands wide, watching as the water stretched to form a stegosaurus. I was having way too much fun with this. “How did I never notice that you weren’t aging?”

She groaned. “God, that part was awful. I had to wrap my boobs back in high school and gradually lessen it so it looked like I grew into my assets. Plus, I kept doing haircuts that made me look younger until it was okay for me to look the way I do now.”

Narrowing my eyes, I joked, “Deceptive. Very deceptive of you.”

Well, I was kind of joking.

“Deceptive, sure. But it was necessary. I’d rather have a few lies sprinkled into our friendship than not have had you as a friend at all. Those lies let me grow up with you. They gave me the best years, the best memories, of my life.”

Her words pushed away the last bit of doubt, the lingering voice of worry. Grinning with a full heart, I whispered, “Me too.”

Chapter Fifteen

MY LIMBS WERE heavy as I stumbled back through the woods toward the house. After almost two hours of training and catching Dallas up on all the less graphic details about Rune and me, I was spent. I wanted to crawl into my bed and sleep.

Emerging from the trees lining the lake, I noted the dark house in the distance. All was still and quiet, which meant the time to sneak back in would be now.

I raced across the yard and crept inside through the back door. As soon as I was across the threshold, I waited and listened. The hallway was dark, and the house was eerily silent. The still darkness made a wave of goosebumps break out along my arms, but I ignored the unsettled feeling and tip-toed through the halls and up the stairs.

As I reached the third-floor landing, soft voices drifted to me from down the hall. My heart rate spiked when I realized it was Rune and Aidan. I crept along the wall and peeked around the corner.

They stood outside the room Rune had disappeared into on our first day here, and if not for the faint light coming from the cracked door, they would’ve been two voices lost in the darkness.

And I wished that were the case.

Rune leaned against the wall in sweats and a t-shirt while Aidan stood in front of him in thin, black lingerie that left little to the imagination, even from this distance.

As soon as I saw them, I quickly retreated around the corner and pressed my back firmly against the wall. My heart thundered, and I held my breath as I listened.

“Is she in there?” Aidan’s soft, sultry voice wrapped around my mind like a swarm of bees. I wanted to claw my ears at the mere sound. Bitter emotions I couldn’t even name rushed through my veins.

“She is,” Rune answered, and I realized that they were most likely talking about me. “Is there a reason you’re knocking on my door at midnight?”

“What do you think?” Her voice dropped with a seductive lilt. “I’ve been thinking about you nonstop and fucking myself to the memory of you. Let’s go have some fun in my room. She’ll never know. Come see how wet I am for you.”

Her invitation sank into my gut like a hot knife, and my stomach coiled around the blade. I held my breath as I waited for what felt like endless minutes for Rune’s response. Would it be a scoff? Would he snap at her? I wanted to hear his answer with every fiber of my being but also run away screaming from this nightmare.

Rune’s response came with little hesitation. “Do you want to have sex?”

My hand flew to cover my mouth on instinct as my body trembled. All the air had been punched out of my lungs like I’d been slammed into with a sledgehammer. My fight or flight kicked into overdrive, with flight winning. I raced back the way I’d come, taking the steps two at a time. Tears brimmed my eyes, and I choked on my attempt to keep my cries from escaping. As soon as I made it outside, I didn’t stop. I picked up my pace and ran. I ran and ran and ran until I reached the place where Dallas and I had been training, and as soon as I made it, my legs finally gave out. I crumbled by the creek’s edge and screamed. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I clutched my stomach and rocked back and forth to the sound of my agonized wails.

Rune was kissing Aidan.

Rune was sleeping with Aidan.

Another cry slipped through my lips, and I struggled to catch my breath. Of course he was having sex with Aidan. I’d rejected him this morning, and it wasn’t like he and I were actually a couple. He technically had no ties to me, no reason not to take Aidan up on her offer. I had no right to be upset, yet that didn’t stop the crevice from opening wide within my chest.

It was then I realized that the water from the stream coated my entire body. I hadn’t even noticed the water move or climb over my skin, but now that I was paying attention, its whispers invaded my mind and urged me to calm down.

Images of Rune and what he may be doing this very second tried to cloud my head, but the water forced all thoughts out of my mind. For once, I didn’t resist the pull. I didn’t fight against the voices. I wanted to be numb. I wanted to fade away with the steady, gentle current.

One second, I was crying and aching in every bone of my body, and the next, everything went dark. I was floating, drifting, moving. I was calm, peaceful, and light. I was …

---