Once they were at the sample fridge they straightened up and Darya opened the door carefully. She read each and every label until she found the one she needed.

"Extract of Sarpa salpa, this is what we need. Did you find the algae?" She asked and when she looked back she didn't see Marty looking for the algae, instead, she saw him standing completely still and staring at nothing. Or so it looked. When she slowly walked towards him and met his eyes she could see fear shaking in them.

She looked around them and saw nothing but the closer she got to him the more scared he became. Her heart raced and she wasn't sure what was really going on but when she looked around the corner from where he stood in fear she knew exactly what he was terrified of.

Tyler Weiss.

"Did you really think I was that dumb? Fake tail, I knew it was real the day you saved me from that shark." She stood close to Marty and tried to reach out to him but the second she moved Tyler pulled out a stun gun from his pocket. She froze, not really knowing what to do. She was part fish, not part action hero.

"What do you want Tyler? You sufficiently duped us, happy?" Darya seethed as she turned further towards him. Marty still didn't move and when his eyes met the side of Darya's face. She was being strong where he was showing his weak side. His hands trembled and the spot where he hit his head weeks ago ached as if to tell him to get the h.e.l.l out of there.

"I want a matching pair." Darya's head c.o.c.ked to the side when he finally answered her question.

"What do you mean, matching pair?" Her curiosity was getting the best of her but she knew that he was holding the trigger of the stun gun tightly with his finger waiting for an excuse to pull it.

"I have one I need a second. Does the pressure of the ocean make you dumber?" His snide voice made her heart beat faster and louder than before.

"Are you telling me you're the one that stole my father from his kingdom? That you're the one that killed my grandmother and nearly left my sister an orphan again?" Darya's voice had more of an edge to it when she realized just how far this p.r.i.c.k had gone.

"Personally? No, I did not go into your kingdom and abduct your father. I did, however, send a couple of people who were very interested in your father and his people. They've probably cracked him down to nothing by now." Darya's blood began to boil and before she could make a move Marty finally snapped out of his fear-induced trance and jumped to tackle Tyler to the ground. The moment his body came in contact with Tyler's the gun was shot and Darya's stomach took the hit.

Feeling the currents of electricity rush through her body suddenly making her fall to her knees as her body seized and muscles constricted painfully.

"Darya!" Marty shouted as he struggled to get up off Tyler who was painfully planted on the ground flat on his back.

"Tyler, you son of a b.i.t.c.h, you'll pay for hurting her." Marty found his voice and his strength. Lifting Tyler up from the ground by the collar of his s.h.i.+rt Marty pushed him up against the wall. "As I see it, she has one choice. Come with me willingly and she gets to see her father again." His voice was rough, the fall hit more out of him than he realized.

"She will never go with you. We'll call the police and get him back the right way." Marty's vibrant voice pushed the idea of doing the right thing into Tyler's head but he wasn't having it. Tyler pushed back on Marty's shoulders allowing him to come off the wall. Their eye contact was only broken when Darya's voice cut through it.

"I will go with you." Marty's heart sunk in his chest when her tired voice broke through the pain that radiated in every bone of her body.

"You can't go with him, we can do this the right way." Marty's voice of reason nearly made her rethink the decision to go with the boy who had her father captive somewhere unknown to either of them.

"What will the police do? They'll think we're crazy, Marty. Who would believe that my father and I are merpeople and the leaders of an underwater kingdom? No one. That's who. If I can at least see him before anything more happens, then I'll be happy. Go back to school Marty, I'll be home soon." Even she didn't believe her outright lie. She met his eyes and knew it was possibly the last time she would get to see him without something more coming in between them.

"I can't see you go like this. I can't see you walk away with this a.s.shole. Someone will believe us." His words were a plea to her and with every breath, he took more pain filled his lungs. Her stance didn't change and his heart sunk because he knew she wasn't going to change her mind.

"I have to see him, Marty, he's my family. You know what it took out of me to leave him the first time. I can't let him get away from me this time." She walked a little closer to him but he didn't receive the hand she held out for him. His hard gaze wouldn't leave her's and he knew what came next. "I'm your family too, remember that." A tear escaped his eye quickly and fell down his cheek. Darya looked away from him and to the p.r.i.c.k standing and waiting for her. If he wanted a matching pair, he would get one.

"Where are you holding him?" She asked Tyler while a sly smile crossed his face. "Yeah, like I would tell you. Get in the jeep out front and we'll go straight to him. My stepfather is probably worried sick." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice that Darya didn't like but she followed him regardless. Marty stood in the middle of the office in the dark while he watched Darya follow the boy that played both of them like the fiddles he treated them as.

The moment the door closed Marty broke into action. He knew what needed to be done. Whether Darya hated him for it or not. His hand landed on the landline phone that was connected to the main desk that Denise used the most. He dialed as quickly as his fingers would let him. They followed the only number he had memorized since he was a kid.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Denise? It's Marty, we have a huge problem."