Darkness. A flare of light from a torch. The feeling of stone under my hand. As I swam closer to the light, my surroundings became clearer. The room I was floating in was scarcely furnished: an old coffee table and a few rickety chairs were the sole occupants of the otherwise bare space.

It had once been a living room, but judging by the condition of the furniture, it had been abandoned for years. The walls were stone, the floor under which the tables and chairs were situated made of a similar material. My heart lurched as I realised where I was, a scream lodging itself in my throat. Rosewood Manor. But... how? It had been in shambles when I'd last visited.

My heart was beating wildly as I swam, keeping a hand on the dagger at my waist. I kept glancing over my shoulder, convinced that someone was following me, but no one was there.

When the hand landed on my shoulder, I had the dagger out before I had even turned around. Brandon floated before me, the dagger in his hand glinting in the dim torchlight. The malicious glint in his dark green eyes chilled me to the bone.

Brandon? I wanted to sign, but I was frozen. Before I could so much as lift my hands, I felt the cold hilt of a dagger slam into the back of my head. I crumpled to the ground, my vision blurring as I struggled to remain conscious. The last thing I felt was Brandon tugging on my hand before darkness swallowed me up.

My eyes flew open, my fingers drifting to the ring on my right hand. I took slow, even breaths, trying to calm my pounding heartbeat. As I quietly got dressed and swam out of our bedroom, I scribbled a note for the others. Going out for a bit. Be back before nightfall.

My daggers were in easy reach as I swam, my fingers twitching as I imagined facing Brandon. It was the same as it had been with Naia, though: I had no idea where to start looking.

The current was choppy as I swam outside, which was unusual. Given the early hour, everyone should have been asleep. That's when I felt the vibrations in the water. Spinning around, dagger in hand, I came face-to-face with familiar dark-green eyes. They widened—first in recognition, then in disgust—as they noticed me.

"Nerissa? The infamous Queen of Aegrem? I've heard so much about you." I didn't let the bite in Brandon's words, the mockery hit its mark. My fingers drifted over to the ring on my right hand.

Brandon. What are you doing here? My hands were steady as I signed, despite the panic swirling around inside me.

He grinned. "I am here to escort you to Rosewood Manor. I believe you are familiar with the name?" His face betrayed no emotion, though dark humor sparkled in his eyes.

My heart lurched, my grip instinctively tightening on the dagger as realisation hit me. This was his plan all along. He'd wanted me to come looking for him. With a mocking bow, he gestured for me to follow.

We swam for about a quarter of an hour, various sea creatures crossing our path. Just when I thought we couldn't swim any farther, we came upon a familiar manor house.

A red-haired mermaid swam out to greet us, her dark-blue eyes—twin to my own—glittering with excitement as she noticed me. Her movements were precise as she signed. Nerissa. We've been waiting for you.

Though my face remained blank, a shiver ran down my spine at her words. Alyssa gestured for me to follow as she swam inside. Everything—the furniture, the walls, the floors—was black as night. If not for the windows, the light streaming through them, I would have given myself over to the panic attack that was slowly creeping up on me.

My hands trembled at my sides as I swam through the spacious entryway into the living room. Another mermaid appeared beside Alyssa, her emerald-green eyes sparkling with delight. I felt as if all the water had been knocked from my body. My mouth opened, but no sound came out—well, none that I could hear, anyway.

My youngest sister—whom I'd once loved with all my heart, but now hated fiercely—sneered at me, then turned to Alyssa. "What now?" She asked.

Alyssa grinned darkly, the sight chilling me to the bone, and gestured to Brandon, who'd floated off to the side until now, out of sight. "You know what to do. Start with the king first. Then we'll get to work on the other two."

Horror, despair, and agony sluiced through me as I opened my mouth to roar at Brandon. If they hurt Jay... However, before I so much as opened my mouth, I felt hands on my arms, restraining me. I struggled, but it was no use. His grip was unshakable.

He suddenly yanked on my arms, and I had no choice but to follow. We passed Alyssa and Naia, both of whom stared at me with mock pity on their faces. In desperation, I locked eyes with Naia, pleading with her.

Her gaze was stone, the pity transforming into emptiness as she stared at me. Brandon tugged on my arm again, violently this time, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from crying out. We swam for what felt like an eternity, down endless hallways and through multiple doorways until I was dizzy and disoriented.

We finally stopped in front of a door that could have opened to my old suite. Who knew what Brandon or Naia could have done to it while I was gone? He pulled out a master key, unlocking the door and pocketing the key. He kept a tight grip on my hand as we swam inside.

The bedroom was nowhere near the size of mine and Jay's in Aegrem—it was barely bigger than an attic, the ceiling slanted so I had to duck to swim fully into the room. A window seat on my left provided the only natural light in the room. A cot was pushed against the wall across from the window seat, barely the length of my body.

Brandon wordlessly swam out of the room, shutting the door behind him. The minute he shut the door, I gave myself over to the sobs that had been building inside me. Unconsciously, my hand drifted to my neck, the lotus necklace resting there. As I carefully opened it, the tears spilled down my cheeks.

I made no effort to hide the sobs. Let Brandon and Naia hear what they had done. When the tears had finally subsided, I pulled myself together and gazed at the tiny frames inside the necklace, the pictures inside them.

There was no clock in my room; the only way I could tell time was passing was to look outside at the sun. I swam to the window, glancing up at the surface.

Judging from the angle of the sun, it was late afternoon. I cautiously swam to my door and jiggled the knob. It opened as soon as my hand brushed the handle. I grabbed my cloak and threw it over my hair. No doubt word had spread that I was here—that didn't mean I wanted eyes on me. I carefully swam through each hallway, keeping my eyes peeled for servants and the like.

As I neared the entryway, hope bloomed in my heart. I was going to make it! A heartbeat later, however, the front doors opened wide. I ducked out of sight, peering around a corner to see who had entered. I saw flashes of brown, black, and golden-brown hair, respectively; my heart skipped a beat all the same. When Jay faced one of the servants, half of his face came into view.

His green eyes were hard, his jaw clenched as he spoke. Even from this far away, I could see his body tense. I waited three heartbeats, then swam down the hallway toward them. Bella suddenly gripped David's arm, her eyes lighting up as she noticed me.

Before I could even try to make sense of what was happening, I was being lifted off the ground. I clung to Jay, my shoulders shaking with sobs. He swept curls off my forehead as he pulled back and scanned my face, eyes wide. When we finally broke apart, I gripped his hand so tight I was afraid I'd break it.

My hands were raised, but before I could so much as open my mouth, flashes of movement beside me caught my eye. Brandon and Naia swam in front of us, faces filled with the same mock sympathy as before.

"Well, well, well," Brandon said, his tone sardonic and dripping with sarcasm. "The happy family, together again."

Jay's hands clenched into fists, his eyes wild. Before he could so much as open his mouth, Naia made her move. Swimming back into the entryway—when had she left?—she stopped in front of me, something glittering in her clenched fist.

My heart stopped completely, fear gripping it with an iron fist. I backed away from them, my back hitting the wall with a jolt. All the while I was shaking my head, begging, pleading for them to stop. Everything slammed to a halt as she leaned towards me, fastening something around my neck. I didn't have to look down to know it was the Lost Soul Pendant.

I looked at the others, but they wore horrified expressions. Naia opened her mouth, chest rising as she took a breath, but I moved before she could. Faster than she could blink, I had the necklace off and was in front of her, fastening it around her neck. Her eyes were wild with rage as she glared at me.

We took that as our opportunity to escape. I swam faster than I ever had in my life. The only thing I was aware of was my frantic breath in my lungs. We arrived at home a few minutes later, thankfully without incident. Wordlessly, I swam into our room, not even bothering to change my clothes before swimming into bed.

Jay joined me a few minutes later, his face drawn and exhausted. I didn't need to look in the mirror to know I had an identical expression on my face.

Did I do the right thing? My hands shook almost uncontrollably as I signed.

He kissed me gently before signing. No one could have predicted how that would turn out. All we can do now is wait.

I wrapped my arms around him, closing my eyes as I felt sleep fold its gentle cloak around me.

Read and review!