Luke stumbled up the trail, and it wasn't until I came closer to steady him that I realized his feet were bleeding.

He heard me gasp, and immediately turned around with a sour expression on his face. "Don't worry," he said, following my gaze. "It's only a few blisters."

But upon closer inspection, I realized his feet were cracked in multiple places—and on top of that, they were horribly sunburned.

"You need to rest," I said, motioning for him to sit down.

"But it's getting dark," he argued, "and you said we still have a ways to go."

"Never mind what I said, we can rest for a few minutes."

Too tired to argue, Luke collapsed onto the dirt and stretched his legs out in front of him. I placed my hands on my hips and gazed down at the churning ocean. It was barely visible now, save for a few hot flashes of white where the waves broke on the shore. When I turned back to face Luke, I saw that he was staring at me wide-eyed.

"Um...you do know you're glowing, right?" he asked after an awkward silence.

I self-consciously reached up and touched my hair. "Oh. Yeah. About that—"

"It's a mermaid thing?"

I laughed. "Yes."

"Well, after everything I've been through lately, I have no trouble believing that." He smiled, closed his eyes, and leaned his head against one of the rocks behind him. "Oh, Rayne," he murmured, "I'm so sorry."

"What?" I kneeled down next to him. "Luke, if anyone should be sorry, it's me. If it wasn't for my dumb mistake of missing our date, you would have never—"

Luke shushed me by placing a hand on my arm. "No," he said simply, his gaze flickering up to mine. "No, it's not your fault at all. Two days stranded in the middle of the ocean gave me a lot of time to think. I realized I had gotten worked up over a simple misunderstanding, like you said. I was so blinded by my crushed hopes that I didn't listen to you. I'm sorry for hurting you, Rayne. I care for you—I really do."

I glanced away, hoping the darkness would hide my flushed cheeks.

"Anyway," he said after a few moments, "we can get going."

I gave him a hand up, and we continued our hike. Luke never stumbled again, though it may have been to the fact that we were clinging to each other in case we tripped over an unseen ditch or boulder.

Finally, just when the last traces of sunlight had fled the sky, my house came into view. It was a huge, looming object barely distinguishable from the surrounding gloom.

"Wow," Luke breathed, "is that your house?"

"It looks more like a castle from here," I laughed, "but yeah, that's my house."

I helped him across the rough, weed-choked ground to the front door. We made it, slightly out of breath but smiling from our adventures. The worst was over—or so I thought.

With a relieved sigh, I turned the knob and pushed the door open.

"Rayne!" Dad nearly attacked me as Luke and I stepped into the hall. "Oh, honey, I was so worried! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you! Why haven't you answered your phone?"

I took a few steps backward and held up my hands in surrender. "Whoa, Dad, relax. I'll explain everything in a few minutes."

"I think you need explain everything now," he corrected me.

I nodded slowly. He deserved as much.

"Who's that?" he suddenly asked, peering over my shoulder at Luke, who was standing uncomfortably in the doorway.

"This is Luke," I explained. "He...uh...he was kind of stuck on a buoy in the middle of the ocean."

A bewildered look crossed Dad's face, but I pleaded, "He's dehydrated and exhausted. Can't we help him first before you deal with me?"

Dad scratched his head, but finally gave a small sigh and held out his hand towards Luke. "Of course. Just follow me."

"Thank you." Luke smiled, relieved that he was now officially accepted into the Bennett household. "You know, your daughter saved my life, sir."

"She did?" Dad gave me a suspicious look.

"It was nothing, really," I said.

"Nothing?" Luke scoffed. "I was kidnapped by evil mermen and stranded on a buoy for two days. Rayne is a hero—she carried me all the way back to shore."

Dad raised his eyes at the word "mermen." I cringed, expecting an outburst, but the calm silence that greeted me was somehow even more terrifying. "Well," he said after a tense few seconds, "I guess we all have some catching up to do."

I headed upstairs to take a shower while Dad helped Luke get situated. The two seemed to be getting along fine, and I didn't want to spend any more time with my father than I had to. I knew the impending discussion between us was going to be very, very uncomfortable.

I hoped a warm shower would help clear my head and reorganize my thoughts, but one look in the bathroom mirror was enough to send my anxiety overboard. My hair was matted, tangled, and sandy. I looked horrific. Even my face resembled something from a crime scene—dark circles under my eyes, sand clinging to my eyelashes, dirt smeared across both cheeks, and a purplish bruise forming on my jaw. To make matters worse, I even had a dried trickle of blood across my knuckles and forehead.

"How embarrassing," I muttered. How could Sage have looked at me with a straight face after my fight with Madeleine? How could my mother even say I was beautiful? I suddenly burst out laughing. What a strange first impression I must have made! And Luke...well, Luke technically looked worse than I did.

It was a small consolation while I showered. Once I was thoroughly clean and rejuvenated, I stepped out and slipped into some dry clothes. Upon walking downstairs, I found Luke and Dad already chatting at the kitchen table. Two empty glasses of water and a large plate with some sandwich crumbs sat in front of Luke.

He looked like a completely different person. His eyes were still full of life and energy, but they were now greatly accented by his smooth, unblemished skin. His lips curved up into a friendly smile when I entered the room, and as he leaned forward, his perfectly combed hair fell slightly in front of his eyes.

I slid into the seat across from him and self-consciously adjusted my bun. Aside from Luke's sunburn, he looked nothing like the boy I had rescued from sea just hours ago. As for me...well, I'd been unable to scrub away the last traces of my bruise and dried blood, and probably looked only slightly better than earlier.

"Well," Dad said slowly, placing his arms on the table, "I guess we should get started."

I nodded. The sooner we began, the sooner I would have it other with.

But the tactic Dad chose was different from what I had been expecting. Instead of lecturing me, he settled back in his seat and said, "I guess you've figured everything out, right?"

I nodded again.

"You know about the mermen, so you must know the truth about your mother."

"Well...yeah." I shifted nervously in my seat. "But that's not all."

Dad raised an eyebrow. "It's not?"

I glanced at Luke, then back at my father. Luke clearly hadn't told him much. Did Dad even know that I could transform into a mermaid myself?

"Rayne," he prodded, "what else do you know?"

I didn't know where to begin. Everything was a tangled mess. I knew I had to tell Dad about all my adventures, including the dolphins, secret cave, mysterious message, and discovering Mom. But where did I start?

Dad and Luke were staring at me expectantly. I decided to start from the beginning—from the moment I discovered the private beach. After taking a deep breath, I dove in.

_ _ _ _ _

By the time I finished telling my tale, nearly twenty minutes had gone by. Dad was sitting thoughtfully in his seat, staring at something far in the distance, something I couldn't see. Luke, on the other hand, was staring at me with wide eyes, as if he couldn't fully digest my story.

Not that I would blame him. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders—there were no more secrets; no more hiding behind lies and pretending everything was normal. Because my life was obviously anything but normal.

I was a little surprised that Dad was acting so calm, though. It was actually quite unnerving. I had expected him to bombard me with questions and demand why I had been keeping so many secrets from him. Moreover, I had expected him to express some sort of emotion after hearing that Mom was still alive!

When no one made a move to answer, I awkwardly cleared my throat. "It's crazy, right?" I chuckled nervously. "I still have a hard time believing it myself."

"It's insane," Luke agreed. "Like something straight out of a fairytale."

Dad shifted in his seat. "And yet it must be true," he said. "Oh, honey..." He suddenly took my hands in his. "I'm so sorry for not telling you right away. I didn't want to tell you the truth about Miranda because I wanted you to live a normal life. That was her one wish, that you would grow up as a normal, happy girl, not having to glance over your shoulder for fear that your mother's kidnappers would be after you too."

The words came out in a rush, but emotion—trembling, overwhelming emotion—poured out with them. "Then you knew," I said softly. "You knew why Mom disappeared."

"Not really," Dad admitted. "Though she had often warned me her own race was after her, there was no clue as to whether or not that was the cause of her disappearance."

"But why would her own race capture her?"

"She had broken an ancient law—a law that said merpeople must never have relations with humans. And that's why they are after you, Rayne: you are the evidence of that broken law."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "What's the penalty?"

Dad glanced away, and his silence spoke volumes. Though I was horrified at the extent the merpeople would go to keep their race a secret, I identified with them. The fear I felt about hiding my own secrets was nothing compared to the fear of hiding an entire race of creatures.

"So why is Mom still alive after all these years?" I asked quietly, hoping my voice didn't waver. "Why haven't they—you know—killed her?"

"They're using her as bait." An angry look flashed across my father's eyes. "Just like they used Luke as bait, they've been using Miranda as bait, too. Their ultimate goal is to capture you, Rayne. The merpeople want to keep their race a secret. They don't want to become known to humans. And you are their number-one threat."

I swallowed nervously.

"Do you see why I've been so protective of you all this time? I used to be so paranoid, I would have doubts about letting you join the swim team. I didn't want your past to become known, because then you would be stolen from me, just like your mother was. But when I saw how happy and talented you were in the water, I let you go. Miranda had told me that, depending on which genes you inherited, it was possible you could transform. However, only saltwater could bring about that transformation."

I let that sink in for a moment. "Then why did we move back here to Shady Cove?" I asked skeptically. "If you knew the ocean would make me turn into a mermaid, why did we come back?"

Dad seemed to struggle with this question, but he finally replied, "Because it felt right. It had been over a decade since your mother's disappearance. I honestly thought the threat was gone, that the merpeople had forgotten. I had an inkling of doubt in my mind, but for the most part I was willing to take the risk. I loved your mother so much that I never wanted to forget her. She had changed my world."

I let out a deep breath and propped my elbows up on the table. This was too much information to take in, but it all made sense—why I had never known about merpeople, why I could never grow a tail before, and how serious this situation really was: life or death serious.

"Um, can I say something?"

Dad and I both swiveled our heads to stare at Luke.

"So, I don't really understand all this," he said slowly, turning to face my father, "but I get that your wife is being held captive in the ocean, and these merpeople are after Rayne because she's the evidence of some ancient law being broken."

Dad nodded, and his silence cued Luke to continue.

"Since this all sounds pretty serious, aren't you going to do something about it?"

My stomach twisted into a knot. "Of course!" I exclaimed. "I know exactly where Mom is and what kind of danger she's in. But since I'm the only person who can go get her, how is this going to work? I can't rescue her all by myself while the entire race of merpeople is out for my blood."

"Rayne is right." Dad fixed his steely gaze on Luke. "We are not putting my daughter in danger."

"So you're just going to leave your wife down there? She's been trapped for over a decade, Mr. Bennett. Isn't it time someone came to her rescue?"

"We are not putting Rayne in danger," Dad repeated. "Stay out of this, Luke."

Luke held Dad's fierce gaze with a fiery one of his own, but he clenched his jaw and remained silent. The tension in the room had suddenly become suffocating.

"Actually, Dad, Luke is right." I surprised myself by speaking my thoughts aloud, but once the words were out of my mouth I had no choice but to endure Dad's glare and press on. "I mean, I've already swam to Mom's cave and back without getting caught. I can easily do it again. And this time I won't have to swim all the way into shore while carrying someone on my back."

Luke smiled faintly, but Dad still wasn't amused. "This is serious, Rayne," he said sternly. "You were lucky that there weren't any mermen guarding your mother's cave. You could have been killed, and I would have been left with another disappearance to grieve over."

His words stabbed my heart, but I took a deep breath and continued. "Look, Dad, I understand how serious this is. I really do. But if you'd just give me a chance, I promise I can save Mom and bring her back. She's counting on me, remember? She left me that secret message in the grotto and had two dolphins show me to the current. She wants me to save her because she knows I can."

Dad was quiet for a few seconds.

"I know where you're coming from and how hard this is for you, but please trust me," I pleaded. "I can do this."

He stood up and walked over to the kitchen window. He studied the scene outside for a few tense moments before turning back to me. "Fine," he sighed reluctantly. "But before you get too excited, I have a couple rules."

I sat up straighter.

"First of all, you have to let me help you," he said sternly. "This is not all fun and games. We need a plan."

"Understood."

"And secondly," he added, "I am not letting you go right this minute."

"Of course not."

"How about tomorrow?" Luke suggested, much to Dad's chagrin.

"Early,"I confirmed, remembering what Mom had told me. "Operation Rescue Mom starts at seven o'clock sharp."