Page 99 of The Secret of Drulea Cottage

“But I was na nearly as helpless as he thought, and though I was a bairn, my wish fer revenge gave me all the strength I needed. When I flopped into the water, he chased after me as I knew he would. And once he was waist-deep, I simply took him fer a ride. After all, ’tis na everyone who gets to see just how deep the ocean truly is.”

Briony felt her eyes get misty.If this is what Niall was capable o’ as a child…

Niall growled. “Don’ tell me yer crying over him. It almost takes the fun out o’ killing you.Almost.”

He raised his right hand again and summoned more lightning, so quickly that Briony barely had enough time to lift her own hands to protect herself. She shut her eyes out of reflex, crying out with her mind for the storm to spare her.

Light flashed behind her eyelids, and thunder crashed in her ears as her body started to heat up.This is the end.

Santiago’s face came to her mind—I hope Costa got him out safely. I never even told him how I feel. And now I’ll never get another chance.

But a few seconds passed.

And then a few more.

Briony could still feel her heart beating in her chest.What in the world—

A great snarl made her open her eyes. Niall loomed over her, his expression equal parts wrath and confusion. “How are you still breathing? Why will you na die!”

Again, Niall summoned the lightning, bringing forth several bolts that scorched the earth around her, but none of them touched her.

Briony looked up at her hands as she, too, tried to figure out what was happening. And then, as another strike came, she watched it descend from the clouds and bend away just as it was about to reach her, right before landing a few inches from her feet.

The storm obeyed me. Even after Niall told it to destroy me, it still preserved my life.

Niall hissed, “I suppose yer a wee bit stronger than I thought. No matter. You may be able to stop a few bolts, but can you handle the full extent o’ my abilities?”

Suddenly, the lightning’s intensity doubled. Bolts rained down from the heavens, and she could feel the heat as they singed her clothes. Such raw power was almost more than she could bear.

Briony continued to cry out to the clouds, begging them not to harm her, but she could feel her influence starting to wane.I can’ keep this up.

“N-Niall, please.”

But Niall said nothing. He just continued his assault, forcing Briony to keep her hands above her head. She could feel her arms starting to tremble beneath the strain.

“Hey! Over here, selkie!” a new voice shouted over the roaring thunder.

Briony and Niall both turned in shock to see who would dare to get involved in this, someone who knew what Niall was yet still had the gall to provoke him.

A mad, middle-aged, almost toothless fisherman stood twenty feet from them. He smiled at Niall as if he hadn’t a care in the world. “Selkie, I thought you wanted revenge fer what happened twelve years ago. Why do you attack one o’ yer own…when the real killer is here before you?”

Farewell, Aveiro

The sound of water roused Santiago from his dozing, bringing him back to cold, hard reality. He glanced around the brig with a sigh. He’d been dreaming of better times, of green fields and white beaches next to a beautiful midwife he’d wished to call his own.

But the pain throughout his body made true rest nearly impossible; the commodore’s interrogation techniques had made sure of that. Santiago suspected he had a broken rib or two, and every time he turned his head, the bruises along his neck screamed in protest.

It was all the worse because he couldn’t give Cardoso the answers he sought.It would be so much simpler if I really had been the one who took the carriage that night. If I’d been the one who tried to murder the king and put the duke on the throne.

But it wasn’t me.

It was…someone else. Someone who was very clear about what will happen if I don’t pretend to be guilty. And I can’t let Lucia pay that price.

Has it truly only been a few months?

He longed for the simplicity of the previous year. Everything about his life in Aveiro seemed so far away that it was almost as if his memories belonged to someone else.If I’d known what was going to happen that night when Lucia came to me, perhaps things would be different now.

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