After several days of trying to text her, Kade's had enough. She's either through with him or her family took her phone. Intent on getting answers one way or another, even if it means he sails up to fucking Emerald Island, Kade heads over to the OT-Nu house.

When the pledge that tried to drag Truly off to her brother at the end of rush week answers the door, all the blood drains from his face.

"Where's Davelvon?" Kade's expression hardens. "I need to speak to him."

Just as the kid is about to say he doesn't know, Finn walks down the wooden set of stairs behind the pledge.

Glancing up from his phone, Finn's shoulders drop. "Awe, feck me sideways. I should've stayed in me bloody room." He pockets his phone into his blue jeans and steps down into the landing. "Tell me yer here for someone else."

"Why would I have business with any other OT-NU?" Kade raises a brow.

"Donno, wishful t'inkin'. What ye want?" Finn steps out of the way for his fleeing pledge to head to the dining hall.

My damn wife. "You know what this is about, and unless ye feel like airing this out here, I suggest we go somewhere else ta talk."

Finn lets out an annoyed huff. "Fine, let me get me keys." He turns on his heels and jogs back up the stairs, only to return minutes later with keys and wallet in hand.

Turning on his heels, Kade walks towards the old Spanish moss tree and the skerry. "Skeleton Skerry good enough for you?"

"Aye." Finn sticks his wallet in his other pocket, before twirling his keys and shark tooth key chain around his finger.

When they reach it, Kade turns. "Where have you taken her? Don't tell me she's here. She's not."

"Wasn't gonna say she was." Finn catches his keys, stopping their spinning, and shoves them in his front pocket. "She's home with me mum and dah. Has been since ta day ye left her cryin' on de docks, so why don't ye tell me why yer feckin' askin' where me sista is and actin' like ye care."

Kade's chest tensing and the knowledge he made her cry. "She's my bloody wife. Of course I care. Being a Brovern doesn't make me heartless."

"Yer hand fasted to her." Finn corrects as his gaze drops to the pearl around Kade's neck. "Yer hand fasted ta her cause of her fickle ways, and ye abandoned her when ye were barely married a week. So why don't ye do yerselves both a favour and give me her tricord, and," he points to the necklace. "That back. Ye can wash yer hands of her and get back ta yer old life."

Kade stiffens. You didn't just say that. "Aye, we're hand fasted, it's the Atlantean way after all. Sorry if our traditions are still barbaric to ya after five hundred years. I would'a thought with Orison being the first to do it, the stories of ye being above our ways were bollox, my mistake."

"Oh, hand fastin' means somethin' to me family. T'at's far sure." Finn's gaze scrutinizingly runs over Kade. "Yers t'ough? Not so much, aye?"

Kade lightly chuckles as he runs a hand through his hair. Seems you gave them too much credit, Treasure. "Aye, cause I'm a Brovern, so naturally my word ta any girl is dirt. Is that what yer gonna tell me?"

"Don't act like yer any better." Finn's look turns stern. "Ye heard her last name and took off, jist like she feared ye would."

"You think I walked off cause of a bloody siren myth?" A look of disbelief crosses Kade's face. "If Amphitrite exists, she wouldn't need a damn Pearl to lure me into the sea. I've spent half me bloody life in it." He flings a hand in the ocean's direction. "I walked off that day so I wouldn't say something I'd regret later and hurt her. Since your family don't seem to like to mingle, I'll let ye in on something." He gestures to himself. "I'm Russian, a Petrovich, as well as half Korean thanks to me omma, though most don't seem to see that in me. Neither cultures take kindly to trust and oaths being broken. So yes, it bothers me my own wife didn't have faith enough in me to tell me worse she broke what trust I gave her."

"Our dah told her not to." A frown forms on Finn's face. "Ye have no idea what t'ings we've dealt with, what she's dealt with, jist cause she's a born Davelvon lass. Ye don't even know her, lad. If ye did, ye wouldn't of left when ye found out her name. Now," He gestures with his hand for Kade to hand the necklace over. "Give me her t'ings so I can get her to give ye yers back."

The hell I will, ye pompous ass. "Get yer head out of your damn ass, Davelvon! You're far from the only family on this island cursed by others." Kade sternly decrees, lifting a finger to point at him. "It's that pompous attitude of yours right there. Those I've met can't stand. That and the fact the women of this island never seem good enough for ye. You got blamed for a few deaths of the past, aye. It's shite and any fool could read the archive logs and see that it had nothing to do with your family. Try being accused you're the father of her kid by a lass you've never laid eyes on. I'd barely hit puberty the first time it happened ta me. And no," Kade's expression hardens, "I've never fathered a child, nor do I intend to unless it's with me wife, your sister. So no, I won't give ye..."

Finn turns utterly serious. "Don't talk about shite ye don't understand." Finn's voice falls low and his lips thin. "When we date lasses here, it alway blows up in our bloody faces. Like ta time, Ronan dated a feckin' Adébáyọ̀. Ta wench told him ta t'rough our sista off a cliff and back into ta feckin' sea, right in front of Tru. Tru idolized Sharisha, but when she saw Truly's bloody teacup didn't have any tea leaves in it, she called her a soulless monsta and wanted her dead. Tru gets that from all ta feckin' locals t'at find out who she is." Finn takes a step back. "So don't feckin tell me I'm pompous when ye don't even know why we don't let others in, ye feckin' prick. Ye don't even feckin' care enough about her ta ask what she's been t'rough before ye jist assumed it wasn't t'at bad." Shaking his head, Finn brushes past him and starts back up the hill. "Excuse me, but I got a date with a local lass I'm apparently too good for."

"I did ask," Kade grinds out. "And Sharisha is zealously superstitious and a nightmare ta deal with. Trust me, I'm well aware, she thinks I'm Drake reborn because of me looks. It doesn't mean I am, nor does it make Truly a monster. She's far from it. And I said what others think, don't twist me words." Kade points a finger at him. "But you're pressing your luck with the way you keep disrespecting our hand fast and acting like we both don't take it seriously. I have no intention of goin' back on me vows. I told her from the start, if she wanted to end it, I wouldn't fight her, but I will draw my last breath before I cut the bloody cord for you or any other man, Davelvon."

Finn stops in his steps and turns on his heels to face him. "I never said I didn't take ye marriage seriously. Trust me, I do. Me sister spent t'ree years braiden t'at tricord, it means a lot ta her, and I didn't want it sittin' in some fecker's chest t'at only married her cause he lost a bet. And t'at," he points to the necklace. "Probably means more t'an ye realize. T'at pearl around yer neck makes ye one of us. She protected ye from us by makin' ye part of ta family."

Kade crosses his arms. "I knew it made me part of the family, aye, but in her fashion, she left that particular part out. She wears one of my star rubies in exchange, because even I knew this kind of exchange meant something to your family. I do respect customs. It's why I let her do whatever she wanted for our fasting, including giving her the pair to this," he holds up his Kraken's tear necklace, "when she asked for a piece important to me and me family for the cord. And no, neither's fake. I let her sew one of Drake's Kraken's tears into our tri-cord cause I knew anything less would be insulting and ye might take this as a joke coming from a Brovern, but I take commitment damn seriously."

Finn lets out a heavy sigh before pulling his phone out of his pocket. A blue light illuminates his face as his fingers fly across the screen. "Do ye have anywhere ta be tanight or tamorrow?"

"Why...?" Kade warily eyes him. "You planning on killing me?"

Finn lightly chuckles as he pockets his phone. "Aye, jist for tanight and possibly part of tamorrow."

"It's all you'll get. Davy can't stand us visiting longer than that. Ye might get even less with me considering who I look like."

"Noh, ye fecker." Finn rolls his eyes. "I'm takin' ye ta Emerald Isle."

"I'll have ta take me dog. My brothers already watched her while I was at sea. Besides," he smirks, "she'll kill ye if you keep her darlin' Petals from her. She found her precious Coconut."

"She'll have ta ride in ta back. I just got ta damn monkey fur off me seats."

Kade's lip lightly curls. "She'll be fine. She's highly trained. I assume I need an overnight bag."

"T'ere's a chance. If me dah doesn't kick yer arse off ta island, t'en aye." Finn dips his hand into his pocket to get his keys. "I'll park outside ye damn house."

"Aye, won't take me too long." Kade jogs up the hill only to meet Finn out front ten minutes later with Petals at his side. Lifting her up, he commands her to stay before he hops into the front passenger seat.

When they get to the bridge that connects Emerald Isle to the mainland. Finn glances over at Kade. "With t'at pearl, ye can get on ta isle by yerself, but I wouldn't suggest it until ye meet ta dogs. They don't look for pearls."

The great gate at the end of the drive that opens automatically for them. "A guard would greet ye until t'ey know yer car." The drive takes them past a large lake and to the other side island where a large, white coastal mansion sits. Finn pulls up to the front of the house, turns the truck off before throwing his door open. The sound of dogs barking in the distance fills the air. "I told 'em yer bringin' a dog, so she." He nods to the back. "Will be safe ta let out, as long as she doesn't go charin' after ours. T'ey're with t'ere handlers."

"Aye, she won't move from my side. She's trained by one of the best." Kade hops out and opens the truck's gate. "Out," he commands in Russian, only to tell her to heel.

"Yer goin' ta have ta meet me dah if yer hopin' ta have any chance in hell of seein' Tru." Finn gives him a serious look, showing Kade that the next bit of advice is crucial. "Ye betta be humble as feckin' pie. Ye piss him off and t'at will be t'e end of it. Tru won't even fight him on it if she wants to. She's a daddy's girl. She'll do as he says."

Kades eyes flick to him as they give Petals a quick break to do her business. "I know she holds you all in high regard, and I've met yer father at my coming of age. I know he's the serious type, but thanks."

Finn nods, and guides him through the house. The halls are dark, given the hour. Most everyone has gone to bed. Once they get to a remote room in the back of the house, Finn knocks on a light pine door.

"Come in." A deep voice bellows from the other side.

Finn swings the door open and walks in first, with Kade following him into the light tan and white office. Behind a large butcher block style desk sits a man who should look like he's in his mid-fifties, but appears young enough that he could pass one of Truly's brothers. A stern look rests on his brow as his calloused hands are folded hands rest on the desk in front of him.

"Lieutenant Governor Davelvon," Kade dips his head, knowing better than to take a seat.

"Kade." Shane's grey-blue eyes to his son. "Seen and not heard, Finn."

"Aye aye." Finn sits in a weathered leather chair that sits in the far corner of the room.

Shane gestures to the tan seat in front of the desk. "Have a seat."

"Thank you, sir." Kade places his backpack down beside the chair before he sits where he's told, his posture perfect thanks to his strict Russian father.

Behind him, Finn raises a brow as he glances up from his phone.

"I've done a lot for ye, lad. Helped tip te votes in yer favour given' ye ta rights ta Drake's inheritance when ye came of age." Shane's ruffled chestnut hair frames his ageless face.

"I know, sir. If you recall, I thanked you after my father and Draken stormed out and for the other times as well."

Shane nods. "I realize ye didn't know what ye were gettin' yerself into. I asked me Pearl not ta tell anyone her name, and Finn showin' up on ye was quite ta bomb dropped on ye."

"Aye, sir, I only knew she was uncomfortable, and he was causing it, so I stepped in his way when he tried to approach her."

Shane gives him an appreciative nod. "Aye, I can respect t'at. But do ye have any idea t'e danger ye put her in?"

"You mean the myths? With all due respect, sir, I believe you all know how I feel about them. Even Mama Adébáyọ̀ says I can't help it, it's in me nature." Though she means he's literally like Drake in her eyes, and that man was too brazen to care about such things.

"It doesn't matter, lad, if ye believe t'em or not. And trust me when I say, I appreciate ta fact t'at ye don't believe t'em." Shane splays his hand out on the desk in front of him. "But t'ere are families in t'is bloody country t'at still do, even some in yer own, and that is where our concern is."

Kade's expression hardens. Raven, or my father and brothers?

"T'ere have already been t'reats against her. If t'ey find out she's been hand fasted to a man, a Brovern man no less, t'ey may make good on t'ose t'reats. T'at's what we're worried about, lad."

"Raven or me brother Draken?" Kade coolly demands, knowing the latter would follow through.

"Aye, t'ey are a couple of t'em. And I know ye are close to t'e Adébáyọ̀s, but there is a long lastin' grudge t'ey have against me kin. Jemila isn't gonna take to kindly ta Draken's reincarnation fallin' for ta Pearl of Amphitrite." Shane points a finger at Kade. "And don't tell me she don't believe t'at Truly is ta Pearl, cause she already knows about her, and I had me arse lectured about me own daughter already. T'at woman isn't always as nice as she appears."

Kade's lips thin. Mama Adébáyọ̀'s been nothing but doting to him and understanding to his mother's plight, but he knows there's a much darker side to their voodoo based religion, and she's its heart.

"I respect mama and she's cared for my omma for years after my father threw her out, but I'm not indebted to her if that's what ye fear. That debt was repaid when I asked to be seen as Drake at me coming of age. It might not help, but as such, in her eyes I have the greatest control over the Kraken. I could threaten to release it, it's already part of our curse if the cord's cut by another."

"It might." Shane shifts back in his seat, setting his hands in his lap. "But I don't want to risk me daughter's life ta find out. I'd rather Jemila not know who Truly is at all. I hear t'ere's a." Shane slightly frowns and leans to the side to look around Kade. "What's his name?"

"Murphy, Killian Murphy, Dah," Finn looks up from his phone.

"Aye, t'at one. He's takin' me lass under his wing, aye? And most t'ink Truly is his sista?"

"He has," Kade agrees with a dip of his head. "Though if you ask him, she's his unicorn daughter with one of her sorority sisters, not his sister." Kade makes a face. "Don't ask. It makes no sense, but Finn's right, most know her as Killian Murphy's little sister and he's exceedingly protective over her. Considering an incident in his past with his own sister, I'd say he'd go to great lengths to protect her. Our Psi brothers picked up the habit after I defended her during rush week and it's grown since they've learned she's me wife."

Behind Kade, Finn scoffs at the idea of Truly being Killian's sister. His disruption only earns him a glare from his father.

"Sorry, sir." Finn's attention drops back to his phone.

"It might be best ta play on t'at. Don't let t'at woman know Truly is a Davelvon. Not unless ye want yer wife going ta her mum's homeland, aye?" Shane raises a brow to Kade, showing him that he means what he says. If Mama Adébáyọ̀ finds out that he and Truly are married, he will send her away.

Unamusement crosses Kade's face. "You'll force a hand fasting divorce. I can't follow. They'd bar me at the airport and even if I took a boat, I have no passport."

"If it came down ta it, aye." Shane leans forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "Don't t'ink I'd make ta decision lightly. It'd be me last resort. I'm not tryin' ta break ye two up, lad."

Kade's lips thin. "If Mama becomes an issue, I'll do my best to draw eyes my way if it comes to it. I may not be a Lieutenant Governor, but I have enough power to give one a bloody headache." His eyes flick to the clock on the wall behind Shane. She might have already gone to bed. "Am I allowed to speak to Truly now?"

"Aye, course ye can." Shane catches Finn's attention. "Go fetch ye sista."

Finn frowns as he sets up. "It's late, Dah, she's probably asleep."

"T'en wake her."

Grumbling under his breath, Finn pushes up out of his chair and leaves the office. As soon as he leaves, Shane's gaze shifts back to Kade. "Ye handfasting cord, Tru said it's in ye chest."

"Aye, in a box that used to hold Drake's pearls."

"And ye consider it safe t'ere?"

"Not as safe as one of the family vaults, no. It's one of the best personal ones, and heavy as seven hells, but it's not impenetrable. I don't exactly trust me family's vault, even if I used Drake's."

"I'll offer ye me family's vault, but not force it." Shane leans back in his chair, causing it to creak under his weight. "I, me wife, and Ronan have access to it."

"And neither of them would think to cut it themselves?" Kade holds up an apologetic hand. "I ask because Finn first insulted Tru's beliefs, then had the gall to say we were just hand fasted. Then he demanded, as if it was nothing, that I hand it and this," he touches his necklace from her, "to him."

"Noh, they won't touch it, or I wouldn't have offered. I'm afraid ye had the misfortune of dealing with one of me youngers. Finn and Brody aren't the diplomats. Seems ta be how it works in me family. Ye get two t'at are sensible, then two," a smirk appears on his face. "T'at are completely full of shite. Which is why t'ose two won't ever touch it."

A frown forms on Shane's face. "Her ways make us all nervous. Ye may not believe in t'at type of stuff, but we've seen what she can do with her magic. It puts most voodoo priests to shame, and Davelvon women often called sea witches. T'ere was one t'at was born inta te family. When her husband died, it didn't end well for her. So when Tru told us how ye both ended up hand fasted, none of us were pleased it was over t'under and a bet."

"It was more than that to her. She feels tingles too, and I caught her trying to find her soulmate in a mirror once on me way back from the skerry." Kade smirks at the memory. "She was hopping backwards and spinning as she looked over her shoulder." He tips his head. "Till she tripped, went sprawling and that damn cat of hers went up a tree. I scared the shite out of her when she found me looking down at her only to have ta climb a bloody Spanish Moss barefoot after that chickenshit for her."

An amused smirk pulls at the corner of Shane's face. "T'at was some dedication. I'll give ye t'at. No one likes t'at damn cat, except her."

Kade lightly shrugs. "I might have given him two options about the way down. One might have been fast with a hard stop."

"I hope ye went with t'at one." Shane's gaze snaps to the door as it swings open.

"Since when isn't Nav-" Tru stops mid-sentence when she sees Kade sitting in front of her father's desk with Petals at his side. Her heart drops into her stomach. The grip on her dad's door whitens her knuckles as her mind races over all the reasons he could be here. He wants his necklace back like Brody warned me and ta cut ta cord. He came ta daddy ta force me ta do it.

"Treasure," instantly on his feet, Kade dashes towards her, drawn like he always is. The need to kiss her fills him and, without thinking, his hand reaches out and caresses the side of her face. It entangles in her hair as he tilts down and kisses her.

"Well," Shane slaps his desk before he stands, reminding them both that he's still there.

Truly jumps and pulls away as her eyes warily flick to her dad, slightly shocked Kade. Not only kissed her, but that he isn't dead yet by the hand of her father for doing so.

"I'm goin' ta bed. It's feckin' late." Shane points to Petals before he leaves. "T'ere's dog food down at ta kennels if ye need it in ta mornin' probably best ye take her and yerself down t'ere ta meet ta dogs."

"Aye, thank you, sir."

"Don't mention it." With that, Shane leaves them alone, but not before stoppin' and kissing the top of his very confused daughter's head.

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