Page 27 of Renegade Kings

“He’s been through a lot, Alyssa. But you’re right, it’s time we told you everything. You need to know what your role is going to be in what’s coming.” I’d only heard Fizzle sound like this once before, and it was when he’d told me I had to leave Nymeria. That it was the only way to save me and everyone else.

I wanted to back out, and I was ashamed of it. Instead, I forced myself to stand firm. I knew this was going to hurt. Rhidian never had been able to stand by and watch someone suffer.

“You weren’t born here.” Fizzle’s voice bounced around my head as I let the truth sink in. “You are not of the Spring Court, Alyssa.”

“They weren’t my parents?” My voice echoed with the hollow quality of a person who didn’t really want the answer to their question, but I needed it nevertheless. I needed to hear him say it.

“No.” Fizzle leapt from my shoulder, gliding down to the coffee table and turning so he could look me in the face as he continued. “They loved you, Alyssa. Never doubt that. But they weren’t your birth parents. I knew they would care for you, that they would love you like their own.”

“Go on.” A pit of dread was forming in my stomach. This was going to be so much worse than I’d first thought.

“You are a child of Nymeria, Alyssa.”

I huffed in annoyance. “We’re all children of Nymeria, Fizzle. But I want to know who my actual parents were. Clearly, you were the one to give me to them, so you have to know where I came from.”

It seemed almost unreasonable to be annoyed with him, but I was tired of how Fizzle never really told me the whole truth about anything.

“Yes, I was the one who brought you here, but you’re not listening to what I’m telling you, Alyssa. You. Are. A. Child. Of. Nymeria.”

I was just about ready to throttle the little fur ball, and a breeze whipped around the room, rustling his fur as my magic joined in my agitation.

“I was there when you were born, Alyssa. I was one of the chosen few allowed into the court to witness it. Nymeria saw what was happening in our world and gave us the saviour we needed. She gave us you.”

“Okay, I’m confused,” Ryder cut in. “You said Nymeria wasn’t a person, right?”

“No. Nymeria is more than a single being.” Fizzle had his haughty professor voice on and it wouldn’t be long before he started launching into the old folk tales. Although, that was pretty much what this sounded like, and I was wondering if Fizzle maybe got his wish of losing his mind.

“So, what? Alyssa is some kind of cabbage patch, baby?” Ryder looked more amused than confused, and I was guessing there was some kind of joke in there that the rest of us didn’t understand. Either that or maybe I was the one losing my mind and everyone else was actually making sense.

Dean shoved Ryder, who stumbled to the side, his hands raised in his defence, and from the way his eyes darted to me, I could tell he felt bad about cracking a joke right now.

I wanted to tell him it was all right, that we needed a lighthearted break amid what was turning out to be life-changing news, but I couldn’t get my mouth to open, let alone the words to come out.

Because this was life changing.

My entire past was a lie. Everything I knew about myself was a lie.

Had they even loved me?

I wiped that thought from my mind as soon as it entered because, of course, they had. I’d felt it every day while I was fortunate enough to have them in my life.

“It doesn’t matter,” I mumbled before I cleared my throat, hoping my voice would come out stronger the next time. “It doesn’t matter where I came from. They raised me, they loved me, that makes them my parents and this is my home. No one’s taking that away from me.”

The room fell silent, and I just knew it was because the worst was yet to come still.

“You need to tell her everything,” Rhidian finally said. He turned from the window and locked eyes with me. “I didn’t know. I promise you that. I only found out after you left.”

My brows furrowed in confusion as my gaze darted back to Fizzle. He refused to meet my eyes, pacing from side to side instead. I knew it was going to be bad. How could it not be if it was making the others so nervous?

Tank pressed against my back, his hands coming to rest on my shoulders as I leaned back into him, soaking up his support.

I could do this.

My eyes moved to the other men in the room who held parts of my heart, even if they hadn’t had a chance to claim them yet.

I could do this because I had them all with me.

“Nymeria gifted you to this world to set it right…” Fizzle stopped, his gaze locked with mine as I fought not to show any emotion on my face. “And the prophecy says that you will do it in a battle the likes of which has never been seen.”