Nightmares hounded my restless sleep, the worst of them causing me to jerk awake, soaked in sweat and trembling. I swallowed hard, closing my eyes as I flashed back to the harrowing and gut-wrenching scene that would haunt me in the days and weeks to come. Wyatt had floated before me, a maniacally twisted grin on his face as he'd gripped the shoulders of two terrified mermaids.

I'd forgotten how to breathe as I met the eyes of the first mermaid. They'd widened with terror, tears leaking out as she whimpered. Blood and silt had streaked her face, with the former cutting a line down her cheek. Her eyes were foggy with pain, and anger had rushed through me as I spotted a gash partially hidden near her hairline.

My heart stopped dead in my chest as I met the eyes of the second mermaid. She had hardly been better off; she had a swollen left eye, and bruises had mottled the entire right side of her face. She'd swallowed hard, closing her eyes as she whimpered. I'd thought hard before I had spoken, my voice devoid of emotion. "What do you want, Wyatt?"

The look he'd given me had been nothing short of maniacal. "Oh, Drew. You knew this would happen eventually. You have to choose. My sister or your own?"

The realization had hit me then: his insanity extended to even the most terrifying of nightmares. When I'd looked into my sister's eyes, a wave of grief had washed over me, the pain causing me to grip my chest as I cried out. "You are sick," I breathed, revulsion thick in my voice.

He'd just shaken his head as he looked at me. "I'm surprised it took you so long to find out." Without further preamble, he released Faye, and I lunged for her before she could hit the seafloor. She clung to me, sobbing, but I looked over her shoulder at Wyatt and Sara, the latter of whom whimpered again as she stared at her brother with terror-filled eyes.

"Wyatt, please," she'd begged, trying to jerk away from him. "You don't want to do this."

I began shaking my head as I opened my mouth, trying to form the words that would stop him from making a grave mistake he could never undo. But as I looked into his eyes, I knew nothing I could say would make any difference. He was too far gone. Faye realized it before I did because she cried out and tried to reach for Sara, but I held her back.

She'd twisted to look at me, her face reflecting the agony in my eyes. "Drew, we have to help her." The agony in her voice had cracked my heart wide open. I shook my head again, tears glistening in my eyes as I held her firm.

Wyatt had met my eyes, the glint of insanity causing me to bite back a shudder. "You did this, Drew. It's all your fault." His voice, low and menacing, just barely reached my ears.

It had happened in the blink of an eye, but in my mind, it seemed to last an eternity. He'd gazed fondly at his sister before taking her head in his hands. To anyone else, it would have looked like two siblings lovingly gazing at one another. Faye had shaken her head as she'd buried her head in my chest. I wanted to look away, but I'd been unable to. The awful, nauseating crack, along with Faye's gut-wrenching scream, had pierced the silence that overtook the water.

I shuddered now as Ani put a hand on my shoulder. Wordlessly, she placed one of my hands over her heart, exactly as she'd done yesterday. I closed my eyes, breathing shakily. As the minutes ticked by, I felt the adrenaline and agony fade from my body, replaced by a heaviness I hadn't felt in a long time.

As I opened my eyes, I glanced at the window, surprised to find faint sunlight shining into the water. Ani took a breath before she spoke, her voice soft. "I think it's almost time for breakfast. Do you want to go down or eat here?" She put a hand on my shoulder, gazing at me.

"Let's go down. We can talk to Aunt Izzy and Uncle Kai about Sara." Voicing her name sent a jolt through me. If Ani noticed, she didn't let on.

I nodded, though my heart twisted as I thought about Sara and the trauma she'd experienced at the hands of her brother. While we might never learn the real reason behind Sara's assault, one thing had become painfully clear from the moment I'd seen her outside the palace: she had developed severe PTSD as a result.

Even though Wyatt had not physically done anything to her in the years leading up to the assault, she would never forget the memory of the insanity on her brother's face. It had left a permanent mark on her soul, and nothing anyone could say or do would convince her otherwise. I only hoped that one day, she'd be able to live her life the way she wanted, not in constant fear of her brother.

Before we left the suite, I sent a note to Mom and Dad, explaining the situation and asking if Sara could stay at the palace until she recovered. I felt I could breathe a little easier for the first time in a long time. We were due tomorrow morning, and I strongly felt Sara would be eager to get out into the open water by then. Ani gripped my hand tightly as we left my room, silently leaving the suite and proceeding to the dining hall. By the time we reached the entrance, my stomach was growling.

When I spotted a flash of curly black hair in the distance and heard a musical voice float toward me, a small smile spread across my face despite the heaviness still looming over me. "Drew!"

I saw a blur rush toward me a heartbeat before I felt tiny arms encircle my waist. "Hey, Lil Bit." No matter the circumstances, Elle never failed to bring a smile to my face.

She giggled as she looked up at me. My heart sank, however, as I glimpsed the subtle signs of exhaustion on her face: the dark circles under her eyes, the pallor of her face, the hollowness of her cheeks. When I met Aunt Izzy's gaze, her subdued yet exhausted nod was all the confirmation I needed. The nightmares had returned with a vengeance.

As we passed her and Uncle Kai, I squeezed her hand and kissed her on the cheek while I clasped his shoulder and forced a smile onto my face. When we were seated, I stared blankly at my plate, Sara's words from yesterday playing in my head on a loop. "'I've never seen him like that. When I looked into his eyes, I didn't see my brother. I saw a dangerously unhinged merman.'"

I pushed the shrimp and lobster around on my plate but didn't touch it. My hands curled into fists as I recalled the terror on Faye and Sara's faces in the nightmare. I tuned back into the conversation to hear Uncle Kai say to me, his voice filled with laughter, "Drew, would you be willing to teach Elle the basics of cometball? I must warn you, though, she inherited my athletic skill—which is to say none at all."

Laughter erupted around the table, and I couldn't stop the smile that spread across my face as I looked down the table at Elle, her face glowing with happiness as she stared at her father. It wasn't until we were nearing the end of the meal that the large dining room doors opened, and a mermaid and a merman were swimming inside. When Mom's eyes met mine, she hurried toward me. I met her halfway, questions in my eyes.

"Are you okay? Is Ani okay? What happened? Did he hurt you?" She was rambling, her eyes near-frantic. I shook my head, putting a hand on her arm as I took her aside.

When I spoke, my voice was barely audible. "Ani and I are fine. But Sara Cruise is currently asleep in my suite. I found her outside the palace early yesterday morning, bruises covering her face. I couldn't detect any other wounds, but she could barely take a stroke forward. As I tried to figure out what was happening, I kept coming back to one heartbreaking conclusion." I took a deep breath, exhaling before I continued.

"Wyatt." His name was barely a push of breath, but from the widening of Mom's eyes, I could tell she heard me. She covered her mouth to stifle the cry that was seconds away from emerging, but I still heard it. I knew without saying a word that she was now thinking of Faye, and I could only squeeze her hands as tears filled her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

"Oh, gods, Drew. When we heard what happened, David and I rushed over here as fast as we could. I thought—I thought that you—" Her voice broke off, and she crumpled in my arms.

At Mom's cry, Dad swam over to us and put a comforting arm around her shoulders as he looked between us. He opened his mouth to speak, but another voice—weary and faint—made me turn my head. "Drew?"

I spun around, my eyes widening as I saw Jonah with an arm around Sara as they swam toward me. I didn't know where to look—Sara's exhausted, uneasy gaze or Jonah's concerned and confused stare. The latter spoke before I could, his tone matching his expression. "I got worried when your parents didn't return to Pelathas, so I came to see what was happening."

A heartbeat later, we heard another voice, filled with confusion and worry. "David? Bella? What's going on?"

Aunt Nerissa and Uncle Jay floated in the dining room doorway, confused and worried. The latter had spoken, his eyes flickering between Mom and Dad.

I swallowed hard as I looked at Jonah for the first time since he'd arrived. He looked as exhausted as Elle but hid it expertly. Before anyone else could speak, she suddenly screamed, startling everyone. When I heard his voice—full of his usual mix of sarcasm and cruelty—it took everything I had not to react.

"Oh, am I interrupting the party? I'm sorry. I thought you'd be expecting me." Wyatt's voice oozed sarcasm as he eyed each mermaid and merman in the room with a sardonic expression. There was no mistaking the deranged gleam in his eyes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jonah subtly pushing Sara behind him. I swam up beside him, creating a wall between Sara and Wyatt. Mom was the first to speak, grief and agony coating her tone. "Y-you killed our daughter! You murdered her!" Mom's voice rose until she was shrieking, and Dad lunged for her, restraining her a heartbeat before she would have struck Wyatt.

Wyatt's expression never changed, nor did he bat an eye at Mom's outburst. "For the record, killing Sirens has always been—and will always be—my objective. Faye's death was unexpected but not improbable. As the daughter of the descendant of the first Siren to date, she knew that someone would eventually start hunting her."

No one was more shocked than me when my voice pierced the silence following his statement. "But you didn't even know about Sirens until you met Faye."

He nodded, fixing his gaze on mine. "That's true. But when I learned about your family, I came to a realization that has eluded me for the past two decades."

My heart skipped a beat as Wyatt turned his eyes toward Sara. She shrank back, whimpering. He made to swim toward her, but Dad blocked his path. When he put his hands up in a placating gesture, his voice turned soft. He kept his gaze on Sara the entire time he spoke, as if they were the only two in the room. "Sirens killed our parents when Sara and I were nine and eleven, respectively."

My heart stumbled as I blinked, the impact of his statement hitting me with the force of a hurricane. I did the math in my head, calculating that based on the timeline, it must have been right after I was born. I sucked in a breath so hard it made me cough.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Ani spoke for me, her voice soft. "You already killed Faye. Haven't you done enough damage to our family?" Her face never changed, even as her words lingered in the water.

When his grin again turned sardonic, I felt a chill sweep over my body. His voice was void of any emotion, yet his grin widened. "Not even close. I want you all to see what it's like to lose someone to those... monsters."

Before I could blink, he swam back to the dining room door and nodded to someone we couldn't see. I choked as Waverly swam inside, her face deathly pale. Mom cried out, her voice frantic. I took a deep breath, swallowing hard.

I looked around, realizing Uncle Kai had taken Aunt Izzy and Elle out of the dining room right after Wyatt had appeared. I breathed a silent sigh of relief. They didn't need to see this.

Wyatt and I locked eyes, and everything around us faded. His eyes showed incredible cruelty—something I wasn't surprised he was capable of. He swam towards me, stopping with his mouth inches from my ear. "You can't kill me. Your morality won't let you—even if it's to avenge Faye's death. Because you know that Ani will leave you if you do."

Something snapped inside me as his words lingered in the water. A heartbeat later, I had a dagger in my hands and was aiming at Wyatt's chest. "You're right about one thing," I hissed into his ear as the dagger hovered inches from his heart. "I can't kill you."

No sooner had the words left my mouth than I was handing the dagger to Sara, who had swum up behind me. Angry and bitter tears filled her eyes as she raised the blade above her head. "This is for Faye."

Without hesitation, she plunged the tip into her brother's chest. He jerked, choking, but before he could draw in a full breath, she pulled it out. Tears streamed down her red face, her chest hitching. "This is for Drew and his family."

No one spoke as she repeated the movement. We all knew Sara needed to do this to move on. Ani wordlessly squeezed my hand, her grip warm and gentle. I kept my face impassive, but inside, my heart was breaking. When Sara raised the dagger a final time—her chest hitching so violently she could hardly breathe—her voice cracked. "And this is for me."

The sound of the dagger plunging into his chest yet again should have been satisfying. Wyatt was finally getting what he deserved. It wouldn't bring Faye back, but at least he couldn't terrorize anyone else ever again. But as I looked at his lifeless body, covered in blood, all I felt was a profound sense of emptiness.

All this senseless violence, tragedy, and heartbreak—it had to stop. I recalled Wyatt's words from moments before, filled with his usual cruelty and malice. "'You can't kill me. Your morality won't let you—even if it's to avenge Faye. Because you know that Ani will leave you if you do.'"

My breath caught as tears suddenly blurred my vision. Somehow—without even trying—Wyatt had discovered my biggest fear. And my biggest secret. The only question was, what would I risk to salvage Ani's and my relationship?

Final chapter! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and favorited!