“You should put it around his whole head,” Rayna says from behind him. “It’ll hurt more if he has to pull it out of his hair.” Then she smacks the sleeping man on the cheek. Hard. “He’s really out of it.”

Triton’s trident, but Galen has missed his twin sister. “Hopefully he won’t get the chance to pull it off at all.”

“He won’t.” She leans against the back of the SUV and slowly raises a hand to touch his face. “This guy did that to you?”

“It doesn’t feel as bad as it looks.” Which isn’t a lie. His lips will tear themselves back open if he’s not careful, but other than that, everything seems to be healing well. At least, that’s what Nalia had said.

He shuts the hatch to the SUV and turns toward the picnic tables where everyone is gathered. “You coming?” he asks Rayna.

Slowly, she shakes her head. She walks around to the side of vehicle and opens the rear passenger door. “I’m going to keep an eye on him.”

Galen is about to tell her that their hostage is not to be toyed with, but he sees the hard look in her eyes and thinks better of it. She knows exactly what she’s doing. “If he moves I’m going to beat the smell out of him,” she says. Then she hops in and shuts the door behind her.

Maybe it’s best that it is Rayna standing guard over Tyrden. Out of all of them, Rayna might be the only one who wouldn’t hesitate if the situation called for it. His sister has always been fond of asking for forgiveness rather than permission. And her temper is unmatched in all the kingdoms.

Which is exactly the kind of vigilance Tyrden deserves.

Galen walks to the picnic tables and takes the seat next to Emma and across from Grom and Nalia. Toraf stands against a tree behind them, watching Rayna watch Tyrden. Antonis sits at the picnic table beside them, waiting expectantly.

Galen and Emma have much to tell about their individual experiences in Neptune. Emma starts by telling them about the town itself, how it came to be, how Reder wants peace and unity between the ocean dwellers and the land dwellers, and how Tyrden was involved in Jagen and Paca’s conspiracy to overtake the Triton territory. And a fact which shocks everyone: Jagen has a Half-Breed son. “We have to make sure he’s going to be okay,” she says.

“We’ll do the best we can,” Grom says. “I would say that right now he’s safe, since Tyrden is tied up in the back of a vehicle.”

Galen tells them of his captivity with Tyrden, then with Kennedy. He nods toward the SUV. “We’ve got other problems besides him,” he tells Grom. “Dr. Milligan is on his way here to help us deal with the Kennedy situation.”

“What exactly is the situation?” Nalia folds her hands in front of her. “You escaped.”

Galen tells them about Kennedy shooting Reed and his intention to run experiments on him. “I have to go back for him,” he says with finality. “He helped me escape and I owe him that. We can’t leave him there.”

“And we can’t let Kennedy run experiments on him,” Nalia interjects. “All of us are at stake. Though I’m not sure I understand how Dr. Milligan can help us.”

“Maybe he can talk some sense into Kennedy,” Galen says. “Maybe we can buy him off.” But Galen knows the unlikelihood of that. Still, he believes Dr. Milligan can help. He’s just not sure how.

“But the whole town has been looking for him,” Emma says. “If they can’t find him, how can we?”

“He told me he purposely threw them off his trail,” Galen says. “I need to get to the river. Then I’ll be able to find my way back to the embankment where I escaped. From there, we’ll find the cabin.” And hopefully Reed.

“Then what?” Grom says. “Then we have two captives from Neptune, and a human scientist and no plan. I think that’s a little more than we can handle.”

“Tyrden isn’t just a captive,” Nalia corrects. “He’s coming back with us to the ocean for his own tribunal. His crimes against the kingdoms are too great to ignore.”

“Neptune won’t like that,” Grom says. “He’s their citizen, after all.”

“Ask me if I care,” Nalia says. “And why do you care? Neptune shouldn’t exist. We don’t have to recognize their authority over anything. He screwed with my family. He’s not getting away with it.”

“But Neptune does exist,” Antonis says gently. “And Grom is right—a little diplomacy goes a long way. I’ll go back to the kingdoms and recruit some backup for us.” He hops up from his seat and places a hand on Grom’s shoulder. “The town of Neptune can no longer be ignored by the kingdoms. We must begin talks with them.”

Grom shakes his head. “You put us in this position. You and your secrets.”

“It’s a secret that has been kept for thousands of years. It would be unfair to call it my secret.” Antonis crosses his arms. “And they want peace. They always have. I think now might be the time to pursue it. The Archives accepted Emma, after all.”

“Emma is one exception. One,” Grom says. “This is asking too much too soon.”

“Then maybe we shouldn’t ask the council just yet,” Antonis says. “Maybe we should limit the discussion to those present. Allow the Archives to ease into the idea over time.”

“You’ve been thinking much about this,” Grom says irritably. “You have this all worked out in your mind, haven’t you?”