“Don’t let go of me, no matter what,” Vivien said. The windows cracked under the pressure, and Etta stood at their back as she and Marsha finished pushing the panes out so they could swim away. She grabbed Marsha and stepped into cold brown water. She let go of the ship and the current slammed into them, propelling them forward. She held tightly to Marsha to make sure she didn’t slip away into the deadly flow. Even in the murky water, she could see Marsha’s eyes were open wide, and she was struggling to get away from her, in full panic mode.

  She pressed her lips to Marsha’s in a tight seal and blew into her mouth. She did it on every other breath so she could keep Marsha alive and swim at the same time. Marsha stopped moving and put her arms around her neck instead of her waist and was ready whenever she blew into her mouth. Etta was swimming in front of her and pointed to the line of grass on the bottom, below the swift-moving current. One of the Sea-Doo type vehicles the guards used around the palace was sitting close by, churning up the silt at the bottom.

  Frankie motioned frantically from where he sat on it, clearly watching for them, and she let Marsha go when he reached for her and placed a breathing device over her mouth. It was a tight fit, but they all got on, and he gunned the machine and took off. Two other similar vehicles came into view behind them with Hadley and another woman giving them cover. The small pieces of cement sticking out of the bottom gave away their location, and Vivien broke the surface, knowing who would be waiting.

  The sun was in her eyes, and she was having trouble seeing, but she recognized the arms that lifted her up until she was out of the water. “You found me,” she said before she kissed Kai with a desperation born of the fear she’d never be able to do it again.

  “Your mother told me a story about a girl who found her place among the stars. To me you’re my star, and I’ll always find you.” Kai put her down and ran her hands down her arms until she reached her abdomen. “Are you okay?”

  “We’re both okay, and it’s not my birthday, but if you’re thinking of getting me something, beating the crap out of Daria Oberon is at the top of my list.” She smiled tiredly when she made Kai laugh. “She says she has enough people to put up a fight this time.”

  “She did have a larger force than her brother, but they should’ve done a better job of changing their communications frequency. It’s still in our network memory. While my mother and Frankie mounted a rescue mission, I led the forces and took care of the warriors she’d brought with her. I knew they wouldn’t let anything happen to any of you.” Kai moved them to where they’d sat all those months ago on Raccoon Island. The barrier island off the Louisiana coast was one of Kai’s restoration projects, and they’d spent an afternoon here when they were getting to know each other. Kai had taken her snorkeling and shown her the land expanders.

  “She has Bella with her, and it sounds like Daria killed her mother Wilma.” Vivien looked around, but they seemed to be alone out here without guards.

  “Our focus was getting you, Marsha, and Etta, so Daria and the others were able to get away,” Frankie said, sounding miserable.

  “Stop worrying—you did a wonderful job. Now, Etta, take Marsha with you and find cover. The guards are around, but I wanted to finish the job of drawing Daria out. You did your job beautifully, by the way. Remind me never to make you mad.”

  “You were listening in?” Vivien asked.

  “I couldn’t reach you for the longest time, but suddenly you came in clear as day. It helped me figure out which of the boats you were on.” Kai kissed her and let her go to accept her trident from Frankie but still held her hand.

  “How did you know it was Daria? We didn’t know until she actually introduced herself.”

  “Tanice just needed to be asked the right questions. We used the system Bella set up with the priestess of reading people’s thoughts and got a picture of who was here.” Kai put her hand up to her shell and nodded. “The last of the surviving invaders are being driven here by our people.”

  “If Daria is with them, it’ll take her less than a minute to make you want to punch her. And I didn’t think it was possible, but there’s such a thing as too much self-confidence.”

  The people with Daria all came out of the water together like a synchronized swimming team, and Kai stepped in front of her. She loved Frankie and Etta, but they weren’t any match for the trained soldiers standing with Daria, and she was glad to see Laud and Hadley as well as a troop of warriors standing behind them.

  “Surrender now, and I’ll just use you as an example until I lock you away,” Daria said, standing in knee-deep water.

  “See, I told you she’d be too afraid to face you,” she said loudly, and Kai turned and smiled at her. She shrugged and blew Kai a kiss.

  “Once I’m through with you, I’m going to enjoy ripping her tongue out.” Daria lunged and swung her trident like a bat and brought it down, aiming for Kai’s head.

  Kai used her trident as a shield, and Daria laughed as she hit it repeatedly in rapid succession trying to weaken her hold. Vivien saw someone running from behind them and screamed before Bella shot a pulse at Kai that hit her in the back. She dropped to her knees. She couldn’t watch her love die, not again.

  * * *

  Kai wanted to laugh at Daria’s style of combat. If there was a hammer and nail way of going about things, her distant cousin had perfected it. The idiot had been hammering away at her from the moment she came out of the water like she was intent on driving her into the sand. She thought the easiest way to end this was to push her over and literally blow her head off, but she’d promised her mother Galen a different outcome.

  She brought her arms up and blocked another blow, then kicked Daria in the side. Before she could follow up, she heard Vivien scream, making her lose concentration. It didn’t happen often anymore, but she had nightmares sometimes about the pulse Pontos had gotten off. The damn thing had come close to pulverizing her chest and lungs, and she had a feeling the same thing was happening again.

  The anticipation this time made her keep her eyes open as she waited to get hit, thinking she didn’t want Vivien to have to live through this again. She wasn’t sure which of them was more surprised when Frankie got off his own shot and hit the pulse before it hit her. He quickly returned fire on Bella, and Daria screamed like a wounded animal when she went down, which didn’t make sense, but Daria seemed to need her to navigate this world.

  “You need someone like Bella to fight your battles for you?” The taunt sent Daria into a froth, and she continued her attack with the renewed force of her anger. As she drew back for another blow, Kai pushed her back with her foot, and Daria dropped her trident. Kai rushed forward before Daria could turn the weapon back on her and shoot. The trident swung around, but before Daria could aim it, she kicked it out of her hand toward Vivien.

  “You bitch,” Daria screamed, rolling to avoid another hit. She was on her feet and running toward her with her arms open wide as if she was ready to hug her.

  Kai went with the momentum and allowed herself to be tackled to the ground. She flipped Daria over her and was back on her feet as Daria let out a breath of air that sounded like she was in pain. Daria wasn’t about to give up, though, and she began a second running attack in the same fashion, making Kai think she was a slow learner. This was the type of fight strategy that would get you latrine duty in her mother’s forces. She moved with Daria again, but this time she wasn’t going down. The raging bull came close enough for her to sidestep and deliver a punch to the side of Daria’s face.

  It was satisfying to watch Daria’s head whip back. She tried shaking it off as she swung back. The soldiers with Daria stepped closer when Kai hit her two more times, followed by a kick to her ribs. A few of them raised their weapons to stop her from hitting Daria again.

  The Atlantean guards fired first, and the water surrounding the island turned red, bringing Ram and Ivan into the fight as they took a couple into the deep with them. Daria stopped for a moment to watch what had happened before rushing her again. Their fight lasted another few minutes, until Kai had Daria on her knees with her fist ready to deliver the killing blow.

  “Go ahead and kill me. That’s what your people have done to us for eons. You’ve left us to die.” Daria glared up at her with the defiance of someone who knew death was whispering in her ear.

  “Your people never change. You blame everyone except those who deserve it. It’s time to step up and take credit.” She gave Daria what she wanted and brought her fist down. The fight went out of her, and she slumped back on the beach.

  The few remaining soldiers from Daria’s group had already laid down their weapons and were kneeling on the beach. Seeing Daria motionless took the rest of their courage, and their shoulders slumped as they looked at the sand. Laud took the opportunity to place everyone in restraints and had them loaded on the large transport docked nearby. The last person put aboard was Bella, who was regaining consciousness from the stun pulse she’d taken from Frankie. When they lifted the stretcher, Bella came to and tried to get up.

  “You’re very lucky that nothing happened to my mate,” Kai said, placing her hand on Bella’s chest to keep her in place. “I don’t believe in killing for revenge, so you’re in no danger of that.”

  “You’re letting me go?” Bella sounded skeptical and glanced around as if to see who else was still alive. “Even you’re not that forgiving.”

  “What you did is simple to prove, Bella. It’s treason, and you know the punishment for that.” She stepped back and allowed the guards to take over.

  “You’re going to kill me later? Why not let your pet do it now?” Bella was as angry as Daria and it made no sense. If anyone in her mother’s employ had enjoyed the privileges of that position, it had been Bella.

  “Death is the easiest solution, don’t you think?” Kai smiled down at her, and Bella glanced away. “I can promise you a long life where you’ll get everything you want. I’ll ask my mother to spare you myself. My prayer is that your life lasts a thousand years so you can think about what you’ve done—and lost because of it.”

  “What are you talking about?” Bella rubbed a spot on her chest and grimaced. “Why couldn’t you just be more aggressive? None of this would’ve happened if you’d only taken what we deserved.”

  “Killing humans to take the land makes no sense when very few of our people want to live on land. We are happy, prosperous, and content. Our realm is vast and expanding every day with careful outreach to the human world. That will only help both our peoples, but for you it wasn’t enough.” Kai held her hand up when they started to move Bella away. “Power should never be pursued by placing a foot on someone’s throat. It’s earned with respect and service—at least that’s the only way to keep it.”

  “Where are you taking me?” Bella’s voice rose when they picked up the stretcher.

  “You’re going home, Bella.” Vivien answered her question for her. “You should be happy. Like Kai said, you’re getting everything you’ve ever wanted. You’ll spend the rest of your life in the company of the Oberon princess you served so well. If it was Kai you wanted all along, then you’re getting squat.”

  Kai walked them over to Etta and Marsha, who was being held by Frankie. “Thank you both for keeping Vivien safe.”

  “I think you got that wrong,” Marsha said. “If anyone kept us safe, it was Viv, and we’ll discuss later why everyone in the family can breathe underwater except me. It’s not fair.”

  “Trust me, it’s a good thing,” Vivien said. She leaned over and whispered in Marsha’s ear, and whatever she was saying was making Marsha nod. The way she looked at Kai and then Frankie made her wonder what Vivien was saying.

  “Really?” Marsha said.

  “Really. I’ll talk to the head priestess and see about getting you some.”

  “Do you guys want to sail home? You’re welcome to come with us, Etta.” She started for the beach where some of her people had dinghies waiting to take them to the Salacia. Laud already had people taking care of the cleanup of boats and bodies before anyone reported anything.

  Once they were aboard, they went over what had happened, and Kai told them about the body the guards had found. Wilma had been floating not far from where they’d first spent time together. Fortunately, their people located the body and were able to dispose of it. Had the sheriff’s office gotten involved and tried to identify her by DNA, that would’ve been a problem.

  “Why?” Marsha asked.

  “Our genetic makeup is much different than yours. We share a little strand of DNA since it’s what helped man evolve to where you are, but that’s it. If Wilma had been found, it would’ve been hard to shut down the investigation that would’ve come of it.” She raised the sails and left Edil to navigate.

  They were at the mouth of the river a few hours later, and the sails came down as they passed the cluster of Coast Guard cutters surrounding the half-sunken ship they’d rammed to release Vivien. It was the only bit of evidence her people hadn’t tidied up yet, but human investigators wouldn’t find anything that would lead back to them.

  “Did you know they were here?” Etta asked. “How did you find us?”

  “Daria left a coin in your office, and I kept trying to reconnect with Vivien through our shells. Once I saw the coin, we scanned for the pattern of frequency used by Pontos’s boxes. Once we had that, we were able to catch up to you. I was able to feel Vivien, so your ship was the only one we laid carefully on its side,” Kai said.

  “I don’t know what blocked me, but we need to figure out what it was, so it won’t happen again,” Vivien said.

  “We have plenty of time to study that, and to question Bella and Daria. All we have left is to find anyone else in the realm who was working with those two and bring them to justice.”

  “Thank you for getting here so quickly, Highness,” Etta said.

  “I had every faith in you, baby,” Vivien said, kissing Kai’s cheek. “But I’m with Etta. Thank you for finding us before that lunatic figured out I’m pregnant.”

  “From here forward, it’s all naps and lazy afternoons wherever you’d like to be.”

  “So you really are having the next head guppy,” Marsha teased Vivien and almost got pushed overboard.

  “Let me call my parents,” Vivien said, taking her phone from her.

  Her parents said they’d be waiting for them at the dock close to the French Quarter. It wasn’t meant for luxury cruisers, but Winston’s connection would save them an hour’s drive when they tied up.

  “What happens now?” Marsha asked. “Those idiots were really going to hurt us.”

  “All the people from our realm will be tried for treason, and all the invaders with Daria will be kept like we have the people we’ve rounded up from Pontos’s attempt. Once we complete all that, my mother will pass judgment.” She sat with her arm around Viv and was in the mood for a nap. She’d never been so emotionally exhausted. “Being found guilty of treason is a death sentence like it is in the US, but my mother is no killer. At times it’s unavoidable, but our queen has a merciful heart.”

  “Being stuck under the frozen tundra doesn’t sound like a picnic either,” Viv said.

  “This time it might be a different outcome.”

  They stopped talking after that and enjoyed the scenery as they motored up the river. The Palmers were waiting when they reached the city, and her mom was with them. Kai felt the heat of her blush when Cornelia held her and cried as she thanked her over and over again. She could feel the relief coming off Viv’s parents in waves. Vivien’s call and their shells let them know everyone was okay, but seeing them after what had happened drove their emotions.

  Their dinner was filled with laugher and stories of Kai’s childhood thanks to her aunt Clarice later that night, and she was glad the families didn’t need much help in getting comfortable around each other. They told everyone good night so they could lock the door on the master bedroom and enjoy the rest of the night. Kai was happy to hold Vivien against her and think about a lifetime of spending time like this and not having to worry about strategy for whatever came next.

  “When they called and told me they’d taken you, I thought my heart would stop.” She decided to take her mom Hadley’s advice and admit her fears as well as her love. “The reality that I wasn’t there to protect you was brutal.”

  “It wasn’t easy for me either, and when I couldn’t feel you I almost panicked. I had faith that you were still okay and tried to keep my head. All I needed was a chance to get off that boat and back to you.” Vivien pressed closer to her and kissed her. The press of her stomach between them reminded Kai of all they could’ve lost. “I know it was scary for both of us, but it turned out okay. That’s what we need to concentrate on.”

  “Now that this is done, are you ready to marry me? It’ll help with all the looks you get when people think I’m not paying attention. A ring on your finger will be a great way to tell them you’re taken, but I can’t blame them. You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”

  “If you don’t shut up and touch me, I’m sending you next door for another lecture from your mother on romance.” Vivien had put Kai’s parents in the guest room next to theirs, and Kai wasn’t interested in making a lot of noise. Her family already had enough stories about her to last a lifetime.

  “My mother Hadley would love that, but I think I know what I’m doing.” She rolled them over and kept her complete weight off Viv. “Do you think I know what I’m doing?”

  “I don’t know.” Viv moved her hand down and ran her fingers through her own sex so she could run them over Kai’s lips. “You might have to prove that to me again.”

  She moved down and put her mouth on Viv while Viv threaded their fingers together. “You taste so good.”