"Parker?"

"Parkerrrrr."

I shook my head, clearing away my thoughts of Jay as I heard Callem's worried voice. When we stopped at a red light, I looked over at him and smiled, though it was definitely forced.

"Parker, you are sad."

Straight to the point. I suppose it's for the best, though.

"Yeah."

"Why did Jayson be bad?"

I sighed, turning my attention back to the road as someone honked behind me to get moving.

"It's complicated, Callem."

"He was afraid of me."

The sudden deep voice from the backseat made me jump a little. I'd thought Mellac had fallen asleep with how quiet he had been. I suppose he was just not interested in talking until then.

"There was that."

"Fool. I would not kill my mate, he did not need to do something so stupid."

It sounded exactly like something Mellac would normally say, but for some reason, I could hear a slight rasp in his voice, making me wonder what was going on in his head.

"Besides what Mellac had intended to do, Jayson was worried about where his life was going. I didn't have much to lose since I was just basically living with him. Sure, losing my job sucks, and soon I will be out of money, if they haven't already frozen my bank account for stealing you guys, haha."

The three hundred dollars in my pocket was the only cash I had left. My last twenty went into the gas tank to fill up the truck right before I came back yesterday. Guess it was a good idea since we'd had to run pretty damn fast that morning.

"What do you have to lose?"

Callem made sure to emphasize the word 'do' in his question. I hadn't really thought about it that much, or, well, there wasn't much to think about.

"I have my freedom, and I have you."

From the corner of my eye, I caught Callem smiling softly and chuckled.

"It'll be okay, though. I'll get you guys back to the ocean safely, then figure things out from there."

"Parker stay with us?"

"I can't breathe underwater, Callem, but I'll try to find a way to visit you guys."

"I'm not staying around."

I glanced into the rearview mirror to see a very blatantly pouting Mellac.

"Okay? Leave if you wish once we get there."

He growled, but I just ignored him as I took the next turn for the interstate. It wasn't the smartest move since I figured they'd have plenty of people watching for us there, but I really couldn't afford to risk the slower roads that ran along the coast, either. At least this way we'd be at the water within the hour.

"Callem, what are you going to do when you're back in the ocean?"

"I..."

I chanced a glance over at him when he stuttered but couldn't read his expression before I had to look back toward the road.

"I do not want go back without Parker."

"I know, sweetie."

We were silent for a long while before the flashing of police lights and the clip of a siren drew my attention to the rearview mirror.

"Shit."

We still had at least fifteen minutes before the bridge that brought us over to the beach.

"Hang on, guys."

Flooring the truck, I switched lanes and powered ahead of the cop car. There was no way I would be able to break away from the guy completely on the interstate so I swerved into the off ramp and followed it straight through a stop sign and onto a smaller highway. My GPS was on, but I had it set to silent, just showing a map and the easiest way to get to the beach since Callem kept growling at the little voice as it told me to turn at different streets. Taking a right to merge into traffic, I lost the cop for a few seconds, which gave me enough time to jump across the small median for a U-turn, then turn right onto an older road. My truck easily managed the huge potholes and broken asphalt, but the cop was struggling to control his car and keep it from careening into a tree as I sped ahead.

"Yes."

"Yes?" Callem questioned.

"We got away from the bastard, and this road dead-ends into a river that should lead straight out to the ocean."

"Parker..."

"You guys will finally be free."

"Parker."

"I'm so happy right now. You have no idea."

"Parker! I not leave."

My breath hitched, and I nearly let my truck swerve into the brush as it hit a hard dip in the road. My gaze jerked sideways toward Callem, staring at him just long enough for me to lose control of the wheel as my car hit another large hole and veered off the dusty road right into several small trees.

~Jayson

That call had been the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life. The police had just dropped me off back at my house after a very long and silent ride. They had questioned me like hell about where Parker intended to go before we left the hotel, but all I could really say was the obvious, to the ocean. Eventually they took the answer for the truth, and in payment for at least calling them, they let me go home.

I was still on call for further questioning and might be called to testify against Parker when they caught him, but I don't think I'd be able to put him in jail. Giving a deep sigh, I staggered up to my front door and nearly pissed myself when it was suddenly yanked open and Oliver appeared with one of my beers in his hand.

"Um...?"

"You asked me to watch the house, idiot."

"Oh. Right."

Walking over to my sofa, I dropped into it and stretched my legs out.

"God, it feels good to be back home."

Well, it had until Oliver randomly poured his ice-cold beer right over my head. I jumped up, much more awake but also extremely pissed off now.

"What the fuck, man?"

"You're an asshole, Jayson."

"What? You just dumped beer on me and my new sofa. I just got this thing like, two months ago."

And now it has beer stains on it.

"Oh shut up. You just left Parker alone with two dangerous creatures while being chased by at least half of California's and Oregon's police force."

My face paled, a sheen of sweat suddenly breaking out across my brow.

"Th-They have that many people on him?"

"Yes. It's all over the news, idiot. And they are close to raising his capture status to 'shoot on sight' if he's seen with the two mers."

I grabbed my phone, but Oliver immediately took it from me and snapped it in half.

"Dammit!"

"They have your stupid phone number tapped."

My whole body wanted to drop as numb tingles ran up and down it like an electric current.

"I panicked and left him when he needed me the most... just because I wasn't open to trying a little harder."

"Yeah, you did. Feel like trying to make it right?"

My gaze darted up to see Oliver swinging his keys around his pointer finger with a mischievous grin on his face.

"B-But don't they have your truck bugged? I'd think you being our best friend, they probably think you might try to help."

"Oh hell yeah, they've got it bugged..."

His smile widened.

"No..."

"This is your chance to help the guy you just abandoned... and love."

"O-Oliver, man, come on. Anything but that."

When he turned to saunter out the door, I gave a stressed grumble and followed him to his car. Within minutes we were at his house, and in his garage where I stared at a very slick, black, scary-as-hell, motorcycle. He tossed me a black helmet, which I barely caught, then hopped onto his bike. Once. I'd ridden on a motorcycle once. It had been this very machine... and I had fallen off and broken my arm. Granted, that was three years ago, but I wasn't exactly over it just yet.

"Get on."

Pushing my terror aside, I shoved the helmet on and swung my leg over the seat. My arms were like a vise around his waist, but he was smart and didn't bother complaining about it. Just hearing the bike rev up made me feel ill, but I held my breath and closed my eyes until we were on the road.

"Do you have any idea where he may have gone?" Oliver asked over the roar of his bike.

"Further up the coast, probably to a reservation where he can hide his truck but still get to the ocean easily enough to get Callem and Mellac back to it."

"Alright, Black Forest National Park it is then."

We rode for nearly an hour before he pulled over and took his phone from his pocket in the parking lot of a Denny's.

"Hello? You called, Officer Lenard?"

I couldn't hear what the officer was saying, but I didn't need to wait long to find out.

"You caught them?"

No!

"Yeah... I'm coming."

Oliver hung up, the look on his face grim as he pushed his helmet back down over his head, having had to take it off to answer the phone.

"Hang on."

~Parker

It hurts...

"He's going to die if you don't give him to the doctors."

Mellac?

"No! They not help him."

"Um... Callem? We don't want him to die."

Whose voices are those?

"You chase us. You reason Parker ow!"

I felt Callem hug me tightly and couldn't hold back a pained cry.

"Parker?"

A rough, wet tongue ran along my face repeatedly, but I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes or really move anything to respond. Everything hurt. Everywhere hurt.

"Parker? Parker talk. Parker okay. Callem help Parker no ow!"

He licked my face a few more times, but when I didn't respond, he shook me, getting a response alright, a strangled scream.

"Dammit, Callem."

Mellac again...

I was suddenly jerked around, then tossed and caught before being placed onto some type of uncomfortable flat surface. Several people were shouting as I felt needles poke at me and a mask snap over my mouth.

"Parker?"

"Parker!"

It's okay, Callem. I'll be fine, but you need to go... go to the river and swim to freedom.

~Jayson

The second we got to the police station, I jumped off that blasted metal deathtrap and ran inside. A few officers tried to stop me, but I shoved them over, some into desks and others flat on their asses.

Get outta my damn way!

When I slammed the door open to the holding area, I rushed down the line of cells until someone on a gurney at the end of the hallway to my right caught my attention.

"Park!"

I skidded to a halt where he was strapped to a pathetic-looking gurney.

"What the hell? Why isn't he in the hospital?"

There were several officers around me, and one older one, a man, turned away from where Callem stood in the cell in front of him with an annoyed look on his face.

"His injuries are not life-threatening and have already been treated so he will not be admitted to a hospital. He is under arrest, and we'll have a cell opening up in a few minutes where he'll be held until his court date."

"Are you fucking serious?"

His bushy brown eyebrows rose, adding to his sarcastic expression.

"Yes?"

Grinding my teeth together, I shoved my way past him and to the cell where Callem and Mellac were being held. Callem looked okay with just a bump on his forehead and a small cut on his cheek, but Mellac's left arm looked serious. It was covered in blood and his face looked incredibly pale, even if he was glaring at me, obviously trying to still seem tough.

"Why is the larger mer not being treated?"

The blonde female officer close to me turned and answered as Oliver walked over to get a better look. He had a small medical kit, which I guessed he kept stored in his bike's saddlebags for uh... such a situation?

"We don't have a dart with a strong enough sedative to keep him down for treatment so he'll have to wait."

"Let me treat him."

The whole corridor suddenly went silent except for when the officer replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Not a chance. He's deadly, and his brother is right next to him."

"So what? I slept next to the guy last night, he's not going to kill me."

She didn't exactly seem convinced, and Mellac was beginning to breathe heavier, making me begin to worry.

"Come on. You can lock me in, I don't care. He just needs help now, or he's going to be in trouble."

"Just train a gun on the mer if you don't trust him, but I agree, he needs treatment immediately," Oliver voiced right after I'd finished speaking.

Several officers ran their fingers through their hair in stress before the blonde unlocked the cell and shoved me inside, slamming the door behind me before I could even get my balance.

Tch! Whatever.

My attention quickly turned to Mellac as Oliver set his medical bag just inside the bars. The larger mer was growling quietly, but I just ignored him and picked up the bag, then sat down next to him on the steel seat jutting out from the wall. I grabbed his arm, getting a snarl that just made me grin.

"Oh, shut up."

For the next twenty minutes, I spent my time meticulously pulling pieces of glass out of his left arm with a pair of tweezers from Oliver's kit. When I was finally done, I made sure to scrub the wound with alcohol, then rub medicine on it.

"How the hell is he not dead yet?" The blonde officer mumbled to herself in shock from just beyond the bars. They had been whispering about Mellac and I the whole time I'd been working on his arm, but now it was just getting annoying.

"Because they aren't animals, idiots." I growled back.

"Yeah right. He was reported as being extremely aggressive at the water park." The blonde replied, making me want to roll my eyes.

"Oh? So you would be a sweet little angel if you were suddenly dragged from your house and forced to sit in a cage and be watched by hundreds of people every day?" I spat the words, but she just came back with more garbage.

"Don't try to tell us that they're just like humans."

Okay, that pissed me off. Finishing up with wrapping Mellac's arm, I stood up and walked over to the bars.

"Oh yeah? Talk to him."

The blonde officer looked over at Mellac, then back to me.

"He won't be able to keep from killing someone, he's too aggressive in the long run."

"He won't? Well, what if he can?"

She looked at me funny so I elaborated with a grin.

"Let him prove it."

Now I had all the guards' attention. Good.

"How?"

"I'll stay with him for a full week, and Parker can stay with his brother since they get along, too. Parker will recover pretty fast if you guys say his injuries aren't that bad, so why not let us prove that they won't just kill people at random and can behave appropriately if given the chance?"

The guard narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips.

"I will be back momentarily. I need to call the head office."

She walked down the hallway and disappeared around the corner. I took the time she was on the phone to relax and regroup my nerves. I was still terrified of Mellac, but man, I'd abandoned Parker once and things turned out like this. I was going to fix my mistake as best I could manage with this opportunity. I hadn't realized my eyes had closed until I heard the woman's footsteps approaching again.

"My boss has okayed it, but both brothers must be kept together and in a confined location. Do you know anywhere that can hold them?"

Licking my lips, I thought about that for a moment before sighing and giving a slow nod.

"Yeah. My work's isolation ward. The rooms are strong enough to withstand his strength in his current condition, and there is a pool in the back they can submerge in."

It sure as hell wasn't ideal and I would have preferred them go to the holding pools or the large tank, but those were both completely out of the question.

The woman nodded and began to dial her phone again while turning away, mumbling, "Alright. I'll make the arrangements for transport" before someone on the other end of the call picked up.

"I-I'm coming too."

All eyes turned to Parker, none of them happy besides mine and Callem's.

"No, you're not. You are under arrest and will be due in court soon."

"Let him come. He won't be able to get out of the isolation room, same as the mers and me. It will also keep the younger mer calmer and healthier."

The female guard turned toward me again, shutting her phone in annoyance.

"How is he going to make him healthier?"

"Callem gets depressed very quickly and will stop eating. His chest still hasn't completely healed from the stress he dealt with at the water park. You can see the scales flaking off still from his last bout of depression. He loves Parker and will eat for him without issue, which should help him finish recovering."

Several of the guards made a disgusted face, but the blonde female, who really should be wearing a damned name tag, shrugged and nodded.

"Whatever. The transport should be here any second now so get up, both of you."

Mellac stood with some effort, and I did the same. I saw all of the officers take their guns out and aim them at the two mers, immediately making me fidget.

"Callem is going to run to Parker, guys. He won't hurt you, so please don't shoot him. He's just extremely worried about him and doesn't understand as much as Mellac yet."

The group looked at each other and backed off until they were behind where Parker lay, still strapped to the movable bed.

"If he goes a step farther..."

"He won't, I swear."

They nodded, and then the female guard shakily undid the lock, allowing the cell door to swing open. My words were right on the mark. As soon as that door was open far enough, Callem was out, running full-on until he skidded to a stop beside Parker. My friend smiled for the mer and received multiple licks to his face, making him chuckle tiredly.

"Hey there, Cal. Did you behave for me?"

"Callem is good, Parker ow. Parker okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Walk with me?"

Callem nodded his head repeatedly, walking with his left hand clamped firmly in Parker's right one as he was carefully wheeled from the building and loaded into one of those armored trucks that were used to transport large sums of money.

Heh, good idea. Doubt the mers can break through the metal it's made of.

I began to follow them but was stopped when my left hand was grabbed. Mellac appeared at my side with a blank look on his pale face.

"What are y—" He began walking forward quickly, cutting off my question and forcing me to partially run to keep up. I had no idea why he was holding my hand or doing as told instead of snarling and screeching at the guards, but once we were settled inside the truck and the door was closed, cloaking us in nearly complete darkness, I couldn't help but notice the tiny little butterfly inside my belly struggling to fly as Mellac's arm gently wrapped around my waist and pulled me softly against his side.