The next time I saw Ryan, I was glaring at her. She shrugged as though she didn't know what was wrong.

Juniper slipped her hand into mine. The entire camp surrounded us.

I stared at Ryan, hoping she'd squirm under my gaze. I pulled my hand roughly out of Juniper's.

"So I say I don't trust you and this is what you do?"

She shrugged again. "You of all people would have to understand not being able to trust people. We can't trust these humans."

Her finger pointed to the group of men, snarling animals around them. The wolf I'd met from earlier was flanked by lions, massive birds, snakes, and several other animals that I barely noticed. I knew Castor was somewhere in that crowd.

Juniper clutched my arm.

I'd promised him he'd prove Ryan wrong. Now I hoped even more that he actually could. He needed to.

I pulled myself away from Juniper and moved toward Ryan.

"What do you want from me?"

"This has nothing to do with you."

"What do you want from me? What do I need to do? Name it."

There was a glimmer of a smile on her lips. "What you need to do is prove we can trust them."

"You won't believe it anyway." I signed.

"And therein lies the problem."

I froze. But the world isn't fair. Why should I be?

I needed to convince her she was wrong.

"If you act like the humans, you're just as bad as them."

She seemed stunned, but only for a moment. "We've been trying to take the high road. Look where that got us."

"I understand your argument. Just try to understand mine."

"I understand it. It's just I'm tired of having to be the bigger man. I want to be who I am, and I want everyone else to try to be morally superior."

"It's not as hard as you make it sound."

"Oh? Just because you're the siren who doesn't kill, you're an expert."

I blinked. "I never said I was an expert."

Ryan snorted. "So you aren't on a high horse right now?"

"I'm not trying to be. I'm trying to protect my friends."

"And who's trying to protect us?" She looked less angry now, but the fire in her eyes was still there.

"From where I'm standing, you're doing a pretty good job protecting yourselves."

Her nostrils flared.

"You weren't here long enough to see, Arriana. I mean, how long were you here before they started starving us? You were just the upper hand we needed to be able to defend ourselves."

"Okay, so it was bad. You couldn't defend yourselves. Let the humans defend themselves. Give them the chance they never gave you."

"But that goes back to my point. Why do I have to be the bigger person?"

"Because someone does, Ryan. Why not you? Why not us?"

"Because I don't want to. I don't want to break the cycle." She seemed strangely childlike at that moment.

I nodded. "Did you care about me at all?"

"Of course, I did. I do care about you."

"Then do it for me, please." I was scrapping the bottom of the barrel for reasons.

"Why? You don't want me."

"It's not that I don't want you. I just don't want to be looking over my shoulder every moment."

"You said you can't trust me and that there's nothing I can do."

"Trust can always be won back."

She looked at me. "What do you want me to do? I'm not going to put anyone in danger."

"No. That's not what I'm asking. Just give them a chance. A solid chance."

She nodded. "They were always going to have a chance. The centaurs are running the trial."

"Oh."

"But I will win your trust back," she signed.

Then her lips were on mine, and then she pulled away. Then she walked away and was gone.

I met Juniper's eyes. She was just staring at me.

"You two just kissed."

"Yes."

"Are you guys a thing?"

"No. No. We are not a thing."

She nodded. "But you talked to her about Castor?"

"Yep."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I think so. If he doesn't do anything stupid."

Juniper nodded. "Okay. That's reasonable. He's not too stupid, is he?"

"He'll be fine, Juniper."

She nodded and held my hand. A centaur stepped forward, holding a horn. He raised it to his lips, and everyone stood still. We were too far away to see anyone clearly. A lump formed in the back of my throat.

"He'll be alright," I repeated. I didn't know who's benefit it was for.

Juniper nodded and pulled away to translate.

"My brethren, we are gathered here today to decide the loyalty of human prisoners of war. Arguments against them?"

A shapeshifter moved next to the centaur. The thin fox was barely visible over the heads of the assembly, but when it shifted into a girl with a foxy face and cunning eyes, I could see her just fine.

"They are human above all. They're with Regno's military. We cannot forget what's been happening overseas! It's more subtle then here, but remember, they are killing us. When's the last time you saw a dragon, Wendigo, Yeti, Abominable snowman or Mahaha? When's the last time you heard of a living one? These humans are part of the force killing them."

There was a ripple in the crowd as they digested the evidence brought forth by the fox. The girl shifted back into the fox and slipped away.

The centaur spoke again. "Do we have a counter-argument from the humans?"

A man I'd seen before moved next to the centaur.

"We're the navy. We never dealt with any threats or creatures inland." Juniper translated. "We never even dealt with any sea creatures either. We were part of a group to try to discreetly monitor Kiser in case of a war. Kiser preempted us by taking us prisoner and here we are. We never killed any of you. We're soldiers and sailors. Nothing else."

The man disappeared back into his group.

"Arguments for the humans?" The centaur said, and Juniper translated.

Me and Juniper held our breaths as Castor stepped forward.

She clutched my hand, and I looked over at her. Castor stood tall and proud. He met my eyes and he exuded confidence. I sat up a little straighter.

With that look in his eyes, I believed he could do it. I needed to believe he could do it.