When I woke up the next morning, the sun was already high in the sky, sending beams down into the water. Kai's side of the bed was cold, but it took me a minute to realize we weren't in Beltmare. We were in Aegrem.

My body still felt weak, but my head wasn't pounding. I sat up in bed and stretched, taking a deep, steadying breath. As I exhaled, I felt my muscles relax. I didn't remember much about yesterday, but what I did remember hit me like a punch to the gut: laying the truth bare for all of them to see; their reactions to said truth; the reaction Mom had before Dad's parents arrived and the reason for it.

As far as I knew, Dad's parents had stayed in the suite beside theirs, not wanting to be far away from their son. I took a shaky breath, exhaling deeply. The knock, when it came, was hesitant. As if the person on the other side didn't want to wake me.

"Come in," I called out, my body protesting slightly as I got out of bed and swam to the bathing room. Shutting the door behind me, I braced my hands on the counter, gazing at my reflection in the mirror. My face was wan, dark circles ringing my eyes. Tear streaks were just barely visible on my cheeks.

I heard the suite door open and a voice call out, "It's me, Izzy." I quickly got dressed, pulling on a purple-and-grey gown with gold stitching.

Before her words had even finished lingering in the water, I was moving. I threw the door open and sped into the sitting room. Aunt Bella was there, grief and sadness etched on her face. The tear streaks on her cheeks suggested that she'd most likely fallen asleep crying.

"Nerissa told us everything," she whispered as we embraced, holding me tightly. "I'm so sorry, Isadora." Her voice broke on the last word. When we finally broke apart, she gripped my arms, scanning me from head to tail. "How are you feeling? Jay said you'd been sick."

I squeezed her hands. "Better. How are you? How's Uncle David?" I'd known that the news would shake them, probably as much as it had us. I could only imagine what they were feeling.

Sadness flashed across her face, gone as quickly as it came. "As well as can be expected. Even before..." she swallowed hard, her throat bobbing as she forced the words out, "the news, your uncle had always had a tenuous relationship with your father's brother. There are some things that he doesn't even share with me. He wanted to check on you, too, but I told him that you probably wouldn't want too many people crowding around."

My heart skipped a beat as I thought of Uncle Noah. As much as I wanted to feel anger and resentment towards him for what he'd done, I knew—I just knew—that Jacob had coerced him into it. But what could he possibly have said that would have been enough for Uncle Noah to betray his family, not once, but twice?

I thought of how he'd looked a few nights ago when we'd opened the front doors and saw him floating there—his bloodshot eyes, brimming with unshed tears, his face wan. He knew what he'd done, yet he didn't hide. He willingly surrendered.

"How's Dad doing?" I asked. A lump rose in my throat, but I forced it down.

She blew out a breath. "Nerissa said he hardly came out of their room yesterday, barely ate or drank anything. I think out of everyone, he blames himself the most for everything that's happened. He wanted so badly for them to be a family again. I haven't spoken to Oliver or Alicia, but I imagine they're feeling the same."

The rush of anger flowed through me as swiftly as an ocean current. My heart hurt for my grandparents, the betrayal and anger they must have been feeling. I was up and moving before the thought had even finished forming in my mind.

I was going to visit Uncle Noah. I had to get answers. Why had he done it? What had Jacob said?

Those two questions swirled around and around in my head, taunting me. When I reached the front door, Aunt Bella was right behind me, a hand outstretched. "Wait. Where are you going?" The worry on her face made my heart skip a beat.

I hated keeping things from any of my family, but I knew that if I told Aunt Bella where I was going, the news would eventually reach Mom and Dad, who would most definitely stop me from going. I knew that, in their minds at least, that what Uncle Noah had done was unforgivable, but I wasn't so sure.

I kept picturing the heartbroken expression on his face. "I'm going to meet Kai for breakfast." The lie rolled off my tongue before I could stop it. Hopefully, it was still being served downstairs.

She scanned my face before nodding. "Okay. I'll see you later." Kissing my cheek, she waved before slipping out the suite door.

I waited for a few minutes to make sure she was really gone. I carefully opened the door, looking both ways before swimming out into the hallway. Closing the door behind me, I headed toward the dining room, as if I really was going to breakfast. I made it inside the dining room before I spun around, speeding back toward the dungeons, my heart pounding wildly in my chest.

I knew that I was going to learn something. The only question was, would I be ready to hear it? I clenched my hands into fists, breathing deeply.

The guard at the door nodded to me as I swam inside. I shivered, but I knew it wasn't from the temperature. When I heard my name, in a voice raspy from disuse, my heart stopped. "Isadora?"

I kept my face carefully blank as I swam in front of the cell, the merman floating before me ragged and gaunt. His clothes were covered in silt, his face streaked with it. I was practically trembling with the force of the unspoken words in my heart.

My face may have been blank, but my eyes were wide, glassy with unshed tears threatening to spill over. "How could you?" I cried, my words echoing in the small space.

He visibly flinched, as if I'd struck him. When the tears welled in his own eyes, I lost it. I screamed, the sound full of years worth of pain, anger, sadness, and grief. The water was charged in the silence that followed. Uncle Noah had taken a stroke backwards, eyes wide. "He loved you," I finally whispered, my voice breaking.

I knew I should stop—try to get control of myself before I said something that I would regret—but once the words started pouring out, it was impossible to stop them. "Your brother loved you and you betrayed him not once, but twice. Did you have any idea how that would affect him? He blames himself. He's hardly come out of his room, barely eaten or drank anything since yesterday."

The look on his face—pure agony mixed with grief—almost made me falter. But I couldn't stop. Something deep inside me—a part of my soul—had been cracked open during the last couple days and I wasn't sure if it would ever be whole again. "And what about your parents? After everything they've been through—after everything you put them through—they'd finally started to trust you again. To even entertain the idea of being a family again."

"Isadora," he said, swimming up to the bars and clutching them, "you have no idea what Jacob said. What he did."

I was gritting my teeth so hard the cords stood out in my neck. My body was taut to the point of trembling, my nails digging into my palms. "I don't care what he did!" I shouted. He flinched again at the sound of my voice, and I waited for a guard to come rushing in.

When none did, I took a deep, shuddering breath and exhaled deeply. The last thing I wanted or needed was to lose my temper and do or say something I'd regret. He put his hands out in front of him, as if to try and calm me down.

"Please," he said. "Just let me explain." When I didn't answer, he took a breath before continuing. "We spend quite a bit of time alone here in the dungeons. We got to talking one day, shared a bit of our histories, and that's when he told me about his wife and daughter's deaths. He also mentioned the Lost Soul Pendant, how—if and when he got out—he was going to find and use it to bring them back."

I shivered at the mention of the pendant. The information I'd gleaned about it could be a game changer—in the right hands. In the wrong hands... I didn't even let myself finish the thought.

Regret and grief flashed across his face as he finished speaking, so quickly I barely caught it. "So?" I countered, trying to pretend my heart wasn't pounding. "He'd say anything to gain sympathy. Surely you knew that."

He looked down at the ground, took a deep breath before looking back up at me. "He said if I didn't eventually help him, that he'd kidnap all of you—our family—and use the Lost Soul Pendant..." Uncle Noah trailed off, but his unspoken words were clear.

All the color drained from my face at the implications of that statement. Everyone—including myself—was at risk. Use the Lost Soul Pendant on us until we slowly lose our sanity, then kill each other. Jacob would escape scot-free, since there would be no evidence linking him to our deaths.

I shook my head, unable to find words to describe the bone-chilling, heart-stopping terror settling into my bones. "W-what now?" I finally whispered.

A faint knocking sounded from somewhere, making both of us turn our heads. That's when I noticed the door tucked in the back left corner beside the last row of cells. That must be the suite adjacent to the dungeons. I swam to the door, hand trembling as I reached for it.

A face appeared in the tiny window beside the door, also gaunt and hollow. "You have a choice to make, Isadora. Me or him. Choose wisely."

I glanced from Uncle Noah to Jacob, then back again. I could feel the tension in the water, so thick you could cut it with a dagger. "I'm sorry," I whispered to the former, pulling a key from the pocket of my cloak and unlocking the door.

Jacob swam out in front of me, a grin on his face. "Ah, finally," he said, inhaling deeply.

I could do nothing but stare. Horror sluiced through me, colliding with dread. One thought ran through my head on repeat, each word laced with fear. What have I done?

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