Page 88 of Whispers of the Water

“I’m trying not to,” Rune mumbled as he watched Dax closely. His attention turned back to me, and the corners of his eyes softened. Closing the space between us, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Are you okay?”

Smiling, I placed my hand over his. “I am now.”

“I think we have everything sorted out over here,” Dallas announced as she and the others walked back over. “Hopefully, things will go more smoothly now. Ready to continue, Bria?”

I nodded. “Ready.”

Rune suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me back to him. Our bodies pressed firmly against each other, and he shoved his hands into my hair as he pressed our lips together. My thoughts immediately melted into incoherent ramblings as the intensity of his kiss swept through my entire body. His tongue was a delicious beast, seeking to claim mine, and I returned the gesture, just as hungrily.

Rune pulled back only far enough for us to catch our breaths, and he smirked. “Sorry. I wanted to make it clear for him over there that he has no chance.”

Clearing my throat, I bit the inside of my lip. “I think he got the message.”

“Yep. We all did,” Ardley said from beside Rune. “Loud and clear.”

Rune released me with a wide grin. “Let the training begin.”

Fighting against the embarrassment trying to swarm my cheeks, I turned toward Dallas. Everyone else gathered in a group to make individual introductions, so I decided now was my chance to have a quick talk with my best friend.

As I jogged over, Dallas fidgeted from side to side. When I was close enough that she could whisper, she started, “I’m sorry for not telling you about … you know.”

A burn slid down my throat as I swallowed. “Why didn’t you tell me? You know how I feel about Dax. And Rune. Engaged, Dallas? That’s really freaking big stuff.”

Her troubled green eyes fell to her shoes, and she toed at the dirt beneath them. “You’ve had enough thrown your way. I didn’t want to add to your list of worries and troubles. It was a shitty move on my part, which I see now. I should’ve told you.”

Even though I knew that Dallas thought she was doing the right thing, the sting of the secret still lingered at the edges of my mind. It made me ask, “Is there anything else I need to know?”

Dallas shook her head. “Nothing like that. Obviously, there’s a shit ton of stuff you need to know about being Queen, your powers, Fae, and all of that. But nothing like what you’re thinking.”

Slowly, I nodded and decided to trust her. “Okay.” Taking a deep breath, I stepped back from where Dallas and I had been huddled close together. I nodded to Imani, who left the group of mingling Land and Water Fae to join us. The chatter quieted as everyone’s attention turned to Imani, Dallas, and I.

Imani drew water from the creek with a simple gesture, and the orb hovered above her hand. “What all have you learned to do so far?”

“Well,” I started as Imani gently passed the ball of water toward me. I quickly held my hands up and slowed it until it swayed in front of me. “I’ve done a couple of things, mostly by accident. I learned how to make shapes out of the water last time Dallas and I did this.”

“Wow,” Dax said dryly. Boredom clouded his features as he rolled his eyes. “So impressive. Shapes. Very powerful indeed.”

Dallas’s eye twitched, and Rance’s gaze shot daggers in Dax’s direction. With a heavy sigh, Imani quickly pulled a large wave from the creek bed and sent it blasting at Dax. It hit him with such force that his body flew back and smacked hard into a tree trunk. When the deluge cleared, Dax was slumped over on the ground, unmoving.

“Is he unconscious?” Dallas asked with not a bit of concern.

“Looks like it,” Imani said as she checked Dax’s neck for a pulse.

“Fucking finally!” Dallas cheered. “My God, he’s an annoying ass. Do any of you Land Fae want a free kill? Really, by all means. Kill him.”

Bassel shrugged and started toward Dax.

Akira quickly placed a hand on his chest and smiled. “She’s joking, Bassel.”

“I wish I wasn’t,” Dallas mumbled.

“Now that the nuisance is out of the way,” Imani said as she faced me again. “Why don’t you give us a demonstration of what you’ve learned?”

My skin prickled with nerves as I glanced at Rune and the others. While shapes had been easy enough for me to control on command—unlike other times I’d tapped into my powers—I was still nervous to execute the technique with everyone’s eyes on me. Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the attention, I turned back to the floating orb hovering above my hands, then back to the expectant faces in front of me. When my gaze found Rune’s, he smiled softly and gave me an encouraging nod.

Taking a deep breath, I looked back to the ball of moving water, and slowly, it started to bounce and move around itself, morphing as my mind guided it into its new shape. After only a few seconds, a crystal-clear fox stood in the air before me, and with only a little mental nudging, it leapt, running and darting along invisible ground.

“Whoa,” Akira marveled.

---