Of Neptune (The Syrena Legacy) (25 page)

Kennedy raises a brow. “You’re not very likable, are you, Galen? Tell me, Reed, is this all you can do?”

Reed nods, rubbing his arm now for comfort instead of necessity. “That’s all I can do. But him?” He nods toward Galen. “He can do something even more special than Blend. Galen has the Gift of Triton.”

And the plan is officially in action.

“The gift of … of Triton? What on earth is that?”

“Tell him, Galen,” Reed says.

“No,” Galen says with finality.

Kennedy doesn’t like this answer. “Galen, I feel there’s a lack of communication between us. It would be in your best interest if we resolved it quickly.”

“I already told you. I’m not afraid of you and your scary metal lock.”

Kennedy’s mouth becomes a straight line. Galen can tell he’s on the verge of throwing a Rayna-level fit. “Yes, you’ve made that very clear, haven’t you? But how do you think your Half-Breed frenemy here feels about me and my scary lock?”

At this, Reed stiffens. “What? I’ve told you everything! He’s the one not opening up!”

“I told you he’s had enough,” Galen protests calmly. “He can’t take anymore. He wouldn’t make a very good test subject if he were dead.” At least, that’s what Dr. Milligan always says when Galen gets himself into trouble.

Kennedy chuckles. “No, not dead, of course not. But I can work with ‘damaged.’ So what do you say, Galen?”

“I say go to hale.” Or was it hell that Rachel was always talking about? He can’t remember.

At any rate, Kennedy seems to grasp his meaning. He fists the lock in his hands and strides once again toward Reed. Galen allows him to strike him a first time, right in the jaw. It’s something Galen had intended to do anyway, possibly worse, ever since he learned Reed put his lips on Emma. One more blow is not going to make or break Reed, just hurt his feelings a tad.

When Kennedy raises his arm again, Galen intervenes.

“Stop. I’ll show you.” Galen says it with a sigh, and not only for Mr. Kennedy’s benefit.

Reed spits blood on the floor beside him and glowers at Galen from across the room.

Kennedy raises his fist further. “Are you sure? You seem wishy-washy, Galen.” He goes in for another blow, and Galen is tempted to let him do it. But he knows it’s not right anymore. Well, not that it was right to begin with but …

“I said I’ll show you. Are all humans hard of hearing?”

Why Kennedy continues to put up with his smart remarks is beyond Galen. He must, in a way, like to be bullied. Or maybe after all these years as a laughingstock he could just be used to it. “I’m beginning to wonder what Emma sees in you, Galen. You’re not very charming at all.”

Galen shakes his chains for emphasis. Kennedy says, “I have good news. I’m going to remove those chains very shortly, Galen. But first I want to show you something.” From the back of his shirt he retrieves a small handgun. Galen knows what they can do. Rachel had a few of those little things in crevices all over the house.

“This is a gun, you ignorant fish. Maybe my fists and my puny little lock won’t penetrate your skin, but I can assure you that at close range, these bullets will tear through your flesh in a most unpleasant way. Shall I give you a demonstration?” He turns to face the far end of the cabin and takes aim at nothing. The shot is loud and splinters the wood on the far wall. A long, straight rod of sunlight streams in through the hole it produced.

“Up close, I’m a fair shot, Galen. Don’t make me waste bullets on you. Not when we’ve just really started to develop a relationship.”

“You were an unhappy child, weren’t you,” Reed drolls. “Sounds like Daddy issues.”

Whatever that means.
If Reed keeps distracting him, how will I lure him outside?
Besides, Reed is supposed to be afraid for his life right now, or something close to it. His sudden burst of confidence is ill-planned, to say the least.

“Surely you of all people don’t want to talk about Daddy issues, Reed.” Kennedy laughs. “Not the shadow of the almighty Reder.”

Reed grimaces. He knows he’s said too much, and yet he’s been provoked badly enough to keep talking. Galen can see war on his face. Talk back, no don’t, yes let’s. Reed’s pride has taken a harder hit than his face ever did.

“Why don’t you just let him go?” Galen says, bringing the attention back to him. “He’s just a Half-Breed. I’m full-blooded.”

Kennedy rolls his eyes. “Oh, yes, let Reed go so he can run away to his pa and tell him everything so the entire town of Neptune can go on a witch hunt looking for us. No, thank you.” Kennedy does something to make the gun in his hand click, then pops two more bullets into it from his jeans’ pocket. “Fully loaded. Now, Galen, what is this gift of yours?”

Galen says, “It’s a surprise,” at the same time Reed says, “He can talk to fish!”

If it wouldn’t make a fantastic noise with the chains and all, Galen would run a frustrated hand through his hair. Galen decides Reed is officially an idiot.

Kennedy laughs. “This smells like a trap, boys. I mean, don’t tell anyone, but even I can talk to fish.”

Reed rolls his eyes. “Except when Galen does it, the fish listen and obey him.”

This ignites a fire in Kennedy’s eyes. “You’re bluffing.”

“Really? I’m going to have to take another beating because you won’t just go get proof for yourself?”

And Galen decides that Reed is actually a genius. The plan was to tell Kennedy about his gift of speed, but that would put the lunatic biologist on high alert as soon as they got to the water. Telling him Galen has the Gift of Poseidon is much better. Kennedy will be so intent on watching the fish’s reaction to Galen’s voice, Galen will be able to catch him off guard long enough to get into the water and swim away as fast as his Gift of Triton will take him.

Reed adjusted according to Kennedy’s intelligence.

Brilliant.

“Is this true, Galen?”

Galen turns away, doing his best to act betrayed. Kennedy takes it as a yes.

He strolls over to Reed and grabs his face, sticking the gun in his left eye socket. “I hope you’re not lying to me, Reed. Because if you are,” Kennedy moves the gun lower, to Reed’s hand.

Then he pulls the trigger. Reed shrieks and squirms as Kennedy backs away slowly. Blood oozes down his forearm, dripping off at his elbow.

“If you are lying—hush now, pay attention, Reed—I’ll cut out your tongue.”

With that, Kennedy pulls a small key from his jeans’ pocket. “Shall we, Galen?”

Guilt tightens around Galen’s chest like a giant crab claw as they leave Reed behind to suffer alone.

*   *   *

The afterglow of the sun filters through the trees behind them, staving off the full effect of dusk at the shore. “If you keep yelling like that, you’ll scare away all the fish,” Galen whispers to Kennedy. Which Galen couldn’t care less about. “Stop splashing around.”

But Kennedy is in danger of popping several blood vessels, pacing barefoot back and forth along a small patch of the beach. Already, he’s allowed Galen to get calf deep, distracted by his own fit throwing. Which might do more than scare away the fish; all this noise could attract attention. And Tyrden’s men could be anywhere.

“Did Reed really lie to me?” Kennedy shrieks. “Did he really send me down here to the lake knowing I’ll carve out his tongue?”

Galen sighs. “You’ve gone and spooked the fish again. I think we should move deeper into the water.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do!” Kennedy yells. “What, so you can swim away?”

This catches Galen off guard. Obviously Kennedy isn’t as distracted as Galen had fervently hoped he was. A breeze wrestles through the trees, and Kennedy points the gun in the woods. “Who’s there? Show yourself.”

Galen rolls his eyes. “It’s the wind. Look, you’re making too much noise. People are going to be looking for you since you took Reed. If you want to stay hidden, then shut up.”

“I’ve made tracks all over the place. They’ll be going in circles for days looking for us.” Kennedy eyes Galen curiously. “You don’t want to get caught in the grasp of Neptune either, I take it.”

“It’s not my favorite town.”

“But Emma is there.”

Galen considers. “Apparently Emma is safe there. I’m not.”

“Ahhh, so they accepted your girlfriend but not you. Interesting.” Kennedy taps his finger on his cheek, thoughtful. “You really don’t remember me, do you? Oh, but I would recognize you anywhere. You’re the reason I’m here, after all.”

Galen stiffens. “What?”

Kennedy laughs. “Maybe if I donned a mask and snorkel it would jog your memory. You know, I’ve always wondered, did you know Jerry before our little run-in at the reef?”

Jerry?
Dr. Milligan
. It all comes back to Galen in a tidal wave. He was just a fingerling then, playing around the reef with Toraf and Rayna when he spotted a human—Dr. Milligan—lying on the ocean floor, clutching his leg. The doctor had strayed from his snorkeling group and developed a cramp and was on the verge of passing out. Galen pulled him to the surface immediately and to his boat. Dr. Milligan had been with two friends—one whom Galen realizes now was Kennedy—and when they saw Galen’s fin, they tried pulling him into the boat as well. But Dr. Milligan put the boat in gear, full-speed. The other two snorkelers lost their balance and dropped Galen.

That was the first time he’d met Dr. Milligan. And the first time he’d come in contact with Kennedy. Later, Kennedy and the other man claimed they’d seen a merman. Dr. Milligan contradicted them, and the sighting was dismissed as a hoax.

Kennedy smiles as the astonishment washes over Galen. “Ah, so you do remember. It was starting to hurt my feelings.” His face turns hard. “How fitting that I’ve recaptured you after all these years. You’re my unicorn, you know that?”

Galen remembers what Kennedy said in the cabin. That he considers himself a mermaid hunter, which has made him a laughingstock among his peers.
And I’m the reason for it
.

What are the odds that he would ever find me again?
Galen shakes his head at the unlikelihood of it all.

Kennedy nods. “Yes, let it all sink in, Galen. I bet you’re wondering why I haven’t just shot you yet, aren’t you? Because you and I are going to have a long life together. One exhibition after another. Can you just imagine the millions of dollars we’ll make together showing the world that mermaids really do exist?”

He wants to put me on display?
“If money is what you want, I have plenty of that. I’ll pay you to let me go. And Reed.”

Kennedy purses his lips. “I think we both know it’s not about money, Galen. You ruined me, you little snot. You ruined my future, my credibility. I couldn’t even get a teaching job.”

Galen can tell that the bitterness is beginning to really fester inside Kennedy.
He might think better of all this talk about living and decide to shoot me. Now would be a really good time to think about escaping again.

Galen nods. “I’m sorry.”

This strikes Kennedy by surprise. “Are you? For what, exactly? Getting caught?”

“For doing it to you again.”

And Galen dives in, shocking even himself.

His fin rips through what’s left of his twisted jeans, which is a worthy sacrifice for the chance at escape. He’s stretched to his full length when a bullet whizzes by his head, then a staccato of shots all around, making thin water tunnels ahead and beside him. Galen’s tail is still sore, and it takes careful maneuvering to keep a straight course, but he shoots forward as fast as he can, remembering that Kennedy is a terrible shot but that he’s desperate. Plus, luck hasn’t exactly been on Galen’s side lately—and he’s not sure how many bullets the gun has left.

He’s mindful to keep low, toward the bottom, in case Kennedy set any traps this far down the river. He hears more gunshots in the distance but sees no bullets hurtling by.

Truth be told, he’s torn between going back and helping Reed or pressing on.
But what can I do against a gun? And how would I get Reed free of the chains? I could hardly help myself when I was tied to a chair.

No, if he’s going to go back, he needs help.

And he needs to find Emma.

39

TYRDEN PEEKS
out the window shade. “Looks like the streets have died down a bit. Everyone who’s not looking for Reed is at home enjoying their dinner. Probably waiting by the phone for news.” He turns back to me, rubbing the back of his neck. “This little town runs like clockwork. Day in and day out. Everything shuts down by five thirty.”

Beside his foot, Frank stirs, moving one leg and groaning. The other leg is bent at an odd angle probably broken from his plunge down the stairs. Tyrden nudges that one with his boot and Frank whimpers.

“Stop hurting him,” I say, closing my eyes. I sound braver than I am. I still don’t know what Tyrden wants from me. Why is he keeping me here? I keep hoping and praying someone will come check on us, that they’ll come through the door and see what he’s done.

Then again, he’d probably shoot them on the spot.

“It’s almost time to go.” He walks back toward the couch.

“Go where?”

“I have a special place for you, princess. I dug it this morning.”

He’s going to kill me
. I swallow the vomit and terror as it rises from deep within me. “Why?” My voice is shaky now. In fact, my whole body seems to quiver from the inside out. “Why are you doing this?”

He gives me a pouty face. “Oh, Emma, how naive can you be? Don’t you remember the story I just told you?”

Is he worried that he’ll be punished for his role in the conspiracy? I wish he hadn’t told me about it. Now I’m a liability to him. Now he feels he has to eliminate me. “No one else knows about that. If you let me go, I won’t tell anyone, I swear.” But that isn’t true. Jagen and Paca know about the conspiracy and about Neptune, and they haven’t told anyone, despite their sentence to the Ice Caverns.

Why is that?

“Jagen and Paca kept the secret. I will, too.”

Tyrden sneers. “You think I actually trust Jagen and Paca?”

“Don’t you?”

He clinks the barrel of the gun to his head. “Think, Emma. Why would they hide anything now that they’ve been caught? Why would they continue to keep the secret?”