My back crashes into the wall, head colliding with the rough stone. Shock freezes me in place. For a moment, I can only stare at her, mouth agape—she has a second affinity. She’s a waterwielder.
This.
Fucking.
Liar.
Anger swirls inside me like a violent storm ready to burst free.
I stagger to my feet, arm raised.
She doesn’t hesitate. The waterwielder arcs her arm through the air, and thick ribbons of water tunnel toward my chest.
But I’m ready this time.
I avoid the whips easily, summoning a storm overhead, fueled by my rage, by my despair.
By my heartbreak.
It was all a lie.Everythingwas a lie.
How? How did she do this?
Her mouth parts as she takes in the dark clouds within the cavern. She steps backward, eyes riveted overhead.
Thunder cracks. She flinches.
Her back hits the wall just as a flash of lightning rips through the room. Thunder booms again, and her knees buckle. She’s panting, gasping for breath, eyes wide.
I’ve seen her like this before—comforted her, held her through the storm until her fear melted away.
NowIam the storm.
Lightning flashes again, closer to her.
She whimpers, and my heart splinters again.
I steel myself against it.
She’s not my Mayah. She’s notmyanything.
She’s a stranger. A traitor and a spy. A fucking waterwielder.
My enemy.
I stalk toward her pitiful form.
“So many lies you’ve managed to tell me,wife.” I stop before her crumpled body. “At least your fear was one truth.”
The clouds surge closer, thunder rattling the stone walls, and she faints, slumping lower against the ground.
For a moment, I’m motionless. Breaths heaving, fists clenching, I can only stare at her. There’s a sharpcrack, but I don’t know if it’s the sound of my knees hitting the stone floor or my heart shattering.
Mayah is a waterwielder.
And … and I am the realm’s worst truthwielder.
Head cradled in my hands, I weep.
