Page 53 of Whispers of the Water

I could practically see the gears turning in his head as he fought to make sense of what I was saying. After taking a large sip of my latte, I dove into my story. I explained what happened that night I fought Jonah, as well as the explanation Dallas had given me.

Akira’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head, and he leaned toward me. “You’re the Water Fae Princess? Uwa! Sugoi! You’re a Princess, Bria!”

Laughing at his excitement, I nodded. “Apparently so. I don’t feel like one, though.”

He looked up at the moving clouds and gave a short chuckle. “Princess. Ha. No wonder Land Fae couldn’t find the prince. There was no prince.”

Downing the last of my coffee, I stared into the now empty mug. I’d finally laid everything out for Akira. While, on one hand, it felt like an immense weight had been taken off my shoulders, a new pressure settled on my chest. He’d listened to my entire recounting and explanation, and his face had remained blank for the most part. I had no idea what was going through his head right now or what he now thought of me. Not knowing was making me sick.

His small hand slid across the table until it rested on top of mine. My eyes immediately lifted to his, and the world seemed to still. He was smiling at me as he said, “This changes nothing between me and you. You’re still one of my best friends, and I still love you. Human, Land Fae, Water Fae. None of that matters. You’re still Bria, and I love you.”

Tears crept into my eyes as relief began to grow in my chest and stomach.

Akira moved from across the table and wrapped me tightly in his arms. I hugged him hard, holding onto this moment where I finally felt momentarily free and weightless of the burden I’d been carrying. This revelation could’ve gone so differently. He could’ve turned me away, shunned me, or given up on me. But instead, he loved me, regardless of whether I was Water Fae or not.

“Thank you for telling me,” Akira said. “I know that couldn’t have been easy. Does anyone else know?”

Pulling back, I wiped my eyes. “No. I’ve only told you so far. I finally decided to come clean to Rune, but I haven’t yet. To be honest, I’m completely terrified about telling him the truth.”

Akira studied me before gripping both of my hands in his. “I know you’re scared, but I think you’ll be surprised by how he takes it.”

The air in my lungs stopped, and I choked out, “Surprised good or surprised bad?”

“I’ve known Rune for a long time. I’ve seen him at his best and his worst. When Rune lost his dad, he also lost his mom, in a way. Believe it or not, Myra wasn’t always so cruel and twisted. She changed after Balgair died. Then, when their family was starting to rebuild and he was given two brothers, Myra became even more wicked. Rune was forced to leave when he realized that Myra would hurt the twins as a way to hurt Rune. To keep them safe, he left, which meant losing them.

“With each loss, pain chipped away at his spirit more and more until there was nothing left but a big, empty void. He put up so many walls and defenses, and in doing so, he lost his ability to love or really feel anything except hurt and rage. You got a hint of that when you first met him.”

The memory of Rune at the start of our journey was crazy to recall. In the beginning, he’d always been standoffish. He never smiled, at least not really. He avoided deep conversations, and it was easy to trigger his anger. He’d changed so much since then.

We both had.

“But then you came along.” My attention snapped back to Akira as he continued. “For the first time in so long, I finally saw my best friend laugh and smile again. I watched as that void inside him started to get filled slowly but surely, all by you. So have faith. I don’t think he’ll respond the way you think he will.”

***

“This cake looks freaking delicious,” I said as I climbed out of the car with the large dessert in my hands.

After Akira promised that he wouldn’t tell anyone my secret, we’d ditched the coffee shop. We swung by a local bakery to pick up a birthday cake since we needed to bring something back as our excuse.

“Isn’t all cake delicious?” Akira asked as he rounded the front of the car.

“Absolutely not,” Carlos answered as he jogged up the embankment from the beach and headed right for us. Smiling wide, he placed his hands on his hips. “Red velvet cake is no bueno.”

Akira’s jaw dropped, and he spewed off something in Japanese that I was sure translated to him being offended.

Carlos ignored it and turned to me. “I was coming to see if you needed help carrying anything. Plus, I wanted to introduce myself properly since we haven’t met yet.”

“That’s kind of you,” I said warmly. “I think I’ve got everything. But it’s really nice to meet you finally. I’m Bria.”

“Carlos,” he said brightly as he fell in step with Akira and me.

“She knows.” Akira snickered, clearly having moved on from the cake slander. “We told her about your and Bassel’s love story.”

Carlos’ tan cheeks pinkened. “Well, that’s embarrassing.”

Laughing, I gave him a reassuring look. “Don’t worry. I got a very brief version. I’m happy you two reconnected. Bassel seems absolutely smitten.”

Carlos ducked his head to hide the flush climbing up his neck and ears.

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