Of Neptune (The Syrena Legacy) (22 page)

Galen has the sinking feeling that it caught exactly what it was supposed to.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Galen says, pulling and testing the chains above his head. “We’ve got to find Emma before he does.”

Reed shakes his head. “The chains are bolted in, man. I sat here and watched him drill it myself. The wood’s not rotten enough to give.”

Galen beats his head against the wall. “We can’t stay here. I can’t stay here.”

“What, but I can just put on some sunscreen and relax?” Reed spits. “That’s grand of you.”

“You don’t understand,” Galen starts. Then he tilts his head. “Or maybe you do understand. Maybe you know everything. You are Reder’s son, after all.”

“Oh, geez, let’s just be as indirect as possible. Yes, I know, okay? I know he wanted Emma to help unite Neptune with the underwater kingdoms. And I don’t expect a Royal like you to understand. And for the record, Emma knows that I know. Everyone knows. So you don’t have to worry about bringing that up when you try to drag my name through the mud.”

Galen scrutinizes Reed’s face, looking for any morsel of a lie. He finds none. He decides to push further. If Reder wants to unite Neptune with the underwater kingdoms, then what does Tyrden want? “You’re telling me you didn’t know your father held me prisoner?”

“You said Tyrden did that to you.”

“He was acting on orders from your father.”

At this, Reed laughs. “My father would never trust Tyrden with any kind of orders. That guy’s crazy as a raccoon in daylight.”

Tell me about it.
“What do you mean?”

“Did Tyrden happen to tell you that he used to be the leader of Neptune? That the citizens voted him out in favor of my dad?”

No, but he did tell me democracy wasn’t working lately.
And that Reder wasn’t as good a leader as everyone thinks he is. The whole pictures paints itself in Galen’s head. “Why did they vote him out?”

Reed shrugs. “It was before I was born. All Dad will say is that he was more like a dictator than an elected leader. I’ve heard some people call him cruel.”

Sounds about right. “Why didn’t your father force him to leave?”

“You can’t force someone to leave just because they have a personality disorder. We have to abide by human laws on land, remember?”

A shame, to be sure. “Tyrden wanted me to call my brother. He wanted me to get Grom to attack Neptune. To tell him that Reder was holding me and Emma as hostages.”

Reed licks his lips. “Did you do it?”

“Of course not.” Galen rolls his eyes. “He wants your father dead.”

“We’ve got to get out of here, Galen. We have to warn my dad.”

“I left a message with my brother. I told him not to come to Neptune.”

“Oh, well that’s nice. We should just stay here then. Do you mind passing the cookies?”

Galen grins. Finally, they have something in common with each other—the urgent need to get back to Neptune.

A problem that leaves them both speechless. Both of them survey the room, as if in a contest to see who can come up with the best escape plan first. In all truthfulness, Galen has nothing. Mr. Kennedy had been very thorough in selecting strong chains and bolts for his prisoners. So thorough that none of this could have been chance.

His presence in Neptune.

The trap in the river.

The obviously predetermined location to house his victims.

Not a plant or flower in sight.

If Mr. Kennedy is a botanist, Galen is Triton himself.

Which wouldn’t help him escape anyway.

“I have an idea,” Reed says, his features brightened by what Galen recognizes as naive hope. “Is it true that you have the Gift of Triton?”

Galen blinks.

“Oh, don’t be shy about it now.” Reed rolls his eyes. “Emma swore me to secrecy. And anyway, we need to combine our skills to get out of here, don’t you think?”

Jealousy seeps through Galen’s veins, burning every part of him like the venom of a scorpion fish. Every second Galen has spent away from Emma, every inch apart they’ve been, Reed has filled in with his own presence. His questions. His flirty smiles.

Galen pushes the thought aside. “Oh? Why don’t you use your gift to send a few fish to untie us then?”

Reed bangs his head against the wood behind him. “What is your deal, man? Don’t you want to get out of here?”

Galen pulls his knees up to his chest, as if they can protect his heart in some way against what he’s about to say. “Tyrden showed me pictures of you. With Emma,” he chokes out. The words feel like tiny sharp fish bones in his throat. This isn’t the time to confront Reed and he knows it.
But what if I never get another chance?

Reed stiffens. “What? How?”

“It didn’t look like you cared much about privacy.” In all honesty, it would be hard to convince Galen that Reed didn’t actually pose for the camera. “You’re saying you didn’t know?”

“Of course I didn’t know!”

“How could he get that close without you noticing him?”

Reed shakes his head, looking every bit as confused as Galen feels. “I never noticed Tyrden. He must have someone else working with him. Someone who could get close to me and Emma without setting off any alarms.”

Galen concedes with a half nod.
Or you’re an idiot
. “Yes, there were others at first. He wasn’t the one who actually took me. There were men with trucks. Full-blooded Syrena. When I woke up, I was with Tyrden.”

“What did they look like?”

What did they look like?
“I told you. They were full-blooded Syrena. One of them had a big nose, as far as I could tell.”

Reed rolls his eyes. “Awesome. That’s super-helpful. Thanks.”

If Galen had use of his hands, he’d be massaging his temple right now. Or dotting Reed’s eye. “It was dark and they knocked me out. I never really got to see their faces.”

A silence falls between them then, one filled with aggravation and helplessness. Minutes come and go with nothing useful presenting itself as an escape. Just when Galen thinks they’re done with the conversation for good, Reed pollutes the air with a question. “So if you saw pictures of us together … does that mean you know I kissed her?”

33

THE COUCH
in the basement of city hall is everything a basement couch should be. Comfy. Pastel floral. Fuzzy in spots. A true relic from the 1990s. And it’s the only piece of furniture in the entire room, aside from bookshelves and filing cabinets lining the walls.

So this couch is where I’ll be sitting when I call Mom. When I tell her where I’ve been, what I’ve been doing, who I’ve been doing it with. I’ll be perched atop this cushion like a vulture, shoulders scrunched, head hanging, waiting to be chastised.

I gently toss the phone back and forth between my hands. The universal symbol of stalling.

It’s time.

As I dial, I’m hoping and praying that she won’t answer. She didn’t answer any of my check-in calls yesterday and hasn’t returned them either. And if anyone had a mother to be suspicious of when she doesn’t answer the phone, it would be me.

This time she does answer. Breathless. “Emma, I was just about to call you.”

“I called you several times yesterday,” I say, enjoying the upper hand while it lasts. I’m sure I can hear the quiet thrum of a vehicle in the background. I can’t tell if I’m on speakerphone.

“Did you? My phone accidentally fell in the fish tank, so I had to get a new one.”

“The fish tank?” Our fish tank is built into our living room wall. You literally have to reach underneath the wall to feed the fish or change the filter. Accidentally dropping a cell phone in it is a feat of clumsiness even I couldn’t achieve.

“Yes, sweetie. Your grandfather told me where he sent you, and when I threw the phone at his head, I missed and hit the fish tank, shattering it everywhere.”

Great. “I was just calling to tell you all about that, actually.” I wonder how much Grandfather actually spilled.

“No need.” Her voice is smooth and sweet as molasses. I’m in huge trouble. “I’m on my way to get you.”

This makes my stomach feel like a nest of hornets. “I don’t need to be rescued, Mom.” This is not going how I planned.

“Apparently, Galen thinks you do.”

“You talked to Galen?”

“He called Grom and left a message for him not to come to Neptune. Any idea why?”

“When was that? Where did he call from? Is he okay?” Why is everyone except me experiencing Galen sightings?

“He called from his own cell phone this morning. Grom called him back, but he never answered. It just goes straight to voice mail. I’ve called the phone company to have them track the location.” She’s quiet for a minute, then says, “He sounded panicked, Emma. We think he’s in trouble.”

I think he is, too. This morning he was spotted running through the woods, toward the river. Now I find out he called Grom and warned him away from Neptune. “It’s got to be Kennedy,” I blurt.

“Kennedy?”

So then I explain everything that happened in the woods with Reed. Mom is quiet for a long time. “Where are you now?”

“For my protection they put me in the basement of city hall. There are two guards at the door.”

“Sounds a lot like keeping you prisoner.”

“All I have to do is ask one of the guards, and they’ll get me whatever I need. I’m not a prisoner.”

“Emma, what exactly is going on here? What have you been doing in Neptune all this time? I’m getting mixed information here. Galen wants us to stay away, but you want us to come?”

Here is the moment of truth. “I mean, I want you to come to Neptune, but just to visit. Not to like, get me or whatever.” Or like, grab my ear and use it to escort me to the car in front of the entire town. Nalia Poseidon Princess McIntosh still thinks doing things like that is okay.
Deep breath
. “I don’t know why Galen doesn’t want you to come. We had a fight, and he said he was going to tell Grom about Neptune—that’s all he told me before he left. I want you to come because … because I’ve made friends here. And they want peace. With the ocean kingdoms. With the Royals. They want to be able to swim in the oceans. They’re like me.” Yep, I’m screwing it up. I feel like a telegram machine firing off fragments and incomplete sentences with the eloquence of a woodpecker. I’m glad Reder’s not here to see just how effective I am in the ambassador role.

Mom takes a minute to decipher my word vomit. “Your grandfather was wrong to send you there by yourself.”

“Indeed I wasn’t!” I hear in the background.

“You brought
Grandfather
?”

“I brought everyone,” Mom says defensively. “Just in case.”

I imagine Rayna and Toraf and Grom and Grandfather cramped in Mom’s tiny car. I wonder whose lap Toraf is going to sit on for the ride home, because it’s not going to be mine. “Where are you anyway?”

“We just left the airport. We’re only about an hour out.”

The airport?
How did she get everyone on a plane on such short notice? They must have started making plans as soon as Grandfather spilled the beans yesterday.

Also, Mom is starting to remind me of Rachel.

“Listen, sweetie, are you alone?”

“Yes. Why?”

“It’s important that you don’t tell anyone we’re coming.”

“They know I’m calling you right now. They’re expecting you.”

Mom huffs into the phone. “It never occurred to you that you could be in danger, Emma? That these people could be lying to you?”

“What part of ‘
Grandfather sent me here
’ don’t you understand?”

“He’s over two hundred years old, Emma. And so is his brain. Use your common sense!”

If the phone had guts, I would have squeezed them out by now. I loosen my grip and try to control my voice. “And if I am in danger? Then what are you going to do? This is an entire town, Mom. You’re outnumbered.”

Mom laughs softly into the phone. I recognize it immediately. It’s the “Try me” laugh. “We’ll simply have to do a hostage exchange.”

“Hostage exchange?” I whisper-yell. “You’ve taken a hostage?”

“Not yet. But with an entire town, like you said, one shouldn’t be too hard to come by.”

“Ohmysweetgoodness this is not happening.” What a great ambassador I am. My family now thinks I’m imprisoned and are planning a hostage exchange. Awesome.

“Don’t be so dramatic. We’re going to be on the outskirts of town. We’ll get you out of there as soon as we can.”

“I don’t want to be out of here,” I say through clenched teeth.

“We’ll talk about this later. Keep in touch. Remember, don’t tell anyone anything.”

And then she hangs up.

34

HOW MANY
kisses were there? Have I lost Emma entirely? Did I throw away everything I ever wanted with one disagreement?

The questions contend for the forefront of his mind.

How could she do this?
But he knows that’s not fair of him. After all, he left on bad terms and never came back. Who knows what she could be thinking? Who knows what she’s been through without him? And if Reed was there to comfort her, then of course she would grow close to him.

And is that so horrible?
Reed is just like her. He’s a Half-Breed. He has the Gift of Poseidon. He has a normal “human” life. Everything Emma wants, all wrapped up in pale muscular packaging.

If I really loved her, wouldn’t I want her to be happy?

He grits his teeth.
Yes, I
do
want her to be happy—I want her to be happy with
me. And no pasty pile of bones is going to get in the way of that.

“Galen, you have to talk to me. We’re getting out of here, remember?” says the pasty pile of bones.

Galen slowly turns his attention away from the chains above him and assesses Reed with a cold look. “When we get out of here, I’m going to knock every one of your teeth out, then do a recount to make sure I’ve gotten them all.”

“I understand that you’re mad.”

“Mad?”
Murderous
would be more accurate. The thought of Reed’s lips on Emma’s sends lava through Galen’s veins. It reminds him of the time Toraf kissed Emma to make him jealous. Only this is much worse. That was before he and Emma were together, before he’d tasted her for the first time. Now she is going to be his mate.