Page 99 of Whispers of the Water

That wasn’t me.

“Bria!”

Dallas raced toward us from across the lawn, her fiery red hair whipping in the passing wind. She was flanked on either side by Rance, Imani, and Dax. The rest of the team was right behind them, running in our direction.

“Dallas!” My heart soared with relief to see her and everyone else.

Dallas’s face scrunched up in a livid scowl as her hands lifted and swept sideways in front of her. At the same time, water from the lake rose up into the sky, and as she clenched her fists, it instantly morphed into dozens of ice daggers. Her arms swung downward, and the shards of dangerous ice headed directly for Myra.

Rune flung his arms wide, a burst of fire rushing through the air to meet the ice in a smoky explosion. Small flakes of ash and drops of water slowly fell upon our skin as Dallas and the rest of them made it to us.

Myra kept her glare trained on us, even as the Water Fae came up behind her.

“Why’d you do that, Rune?” Dallas snapped, although her attention never left Myra’s back.

“You were going to kill her,” Rune said in between gritted teeth.

“That was the point!”

A low growl emitted from Rune’s chest. “Don’t touch my mother, Water Fae. She’s not yours to deal with.”

“She just tried to kill our Princess,” one of the Water Fae soldiers yelled. “Whose side are you on, Fox?”

Myra’s cynical laugh suddenly rang through the air, and my skin crawled. We all zeroed in on her, watching as she doubled over with a cackle.

“Theory confirmed,” she roared, glaring at me through her smile. “What a small, small world. I knew you looked familiar. You might as well be the spitting image of Alesta.”

My heart clenched painfully, hearing my mother’s name come out of Myra’s mouth.

“Not only has my worthless son brought home a Water Fae,” she continued. “He brought home their Princess, daughter to the man who killed my Balgair.”

Dallas and the others took in a harsh breath. Her eyes sharpened as she whispered, “Balgair? That means—” Her narrowed gaze flicked to Rune, and her petite face morphed into something dark. The water next to us began beating against the shore in a fitful rage as Dallas screamed at Rune. “You’re the son of Balgair. You killed our King and Queen!”

Every beat of my heart, every ounce of air in my lungs, every thought racing inside my head stopped. Everything stopped. My parents. Rune.

No.

No.

It couldn’t be true.

“That’s not true,” I whispered, shaking my head.

“Bria,” Rune pleaded. “I—”

Myra let out another howl. “Water Fae truly are brainless. Rune didn’t kill them.”

“Mother!” Rune shouted in warning.

She ignored him. Smiling wickedly, her eyes met mine. “It was me.”

“You?” Dallas gasped. “No. It was the son of Balgair who killed them.”

“A rumor started by said son,” Myra snickered.

The Water Fae behind Myra began to shake with their fists clenched tightly at their sides. Their hate-filled eyes bore into Myra with the intensity of a thousand suns.

I was still trying to process who truly killed my parents when Dallas let out an angered cry. I looked at her just in time to see her rush at Myra. Water swept up from the lake toward her outstretched hand, elongating in her palm as a sword of ice.

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