Free Of Neptune (The Syrena Legacy) by Anna Banks Page B

that still what you want?”
    I pull my hair around front for fidgeting convenience. Twisting it, I say, “I’m not sure what you’re asking me right now.” Is he saying he doesn’t want to wait to be mated? Just the thought of it, and the intimacy of the “romantically designed” room in general, makes my cheeks smolder. Or is this about Reed? Is he asking me if Reed has changed our plans to be together? Surely, that can’t be it. Surely, he’s not that insecure about his ability to make me swoon.
    Galen laces his fingers behind his head, probably to keep from fidgeting himself. I’ve never seen him this nervous before. “Triton’s trident, Emma, I don’t know how much longer I can keep away from you—I really don’t. No, no, it’s not even about that. This is coming out all wrong.” He lets out a slow breath. “What I’m asking is this: After all that’s happened, do you truly want to stay on land?”
    Whoa. What? “Everything that’s happened?” And staying on land as opposed to…?
    “You know. Finding out that your mother is the Poseidon princess. That at the first chance she got, she mated with Grom, and now they spend most of their time in the water. I mean, if it weren’t for—” Galen shifts to one foot and leans against the antique dresser.
    “If it weren’t for what?” My insides suddenly blister with anger. “First chance she got?” I guess that could be the short, rude version of what happened.
    “Nevermind. I told you, it’s coming out all wrong.”
    “You were going to say, If it weren’t for me, Mom would live in the water permanently, weren’t you?” He doesn’t try to deny it. He can’t. It’s all over his face. Along with some appropriate guilt. But the worst part is, he doesn’t just mean that she would live there permanently. He means that she would be happier if she did. That she should live there permanently.
    Is he saying that I’m somehow standing in the way of my mother’s happiness? Is he saying that I’m standing in the way of his happiness? Or am I reading this all wrong? I try to rein in my feelings and filter them into useful conversation. “You don’t want to wait until after we graduate college to be mated? Is that what this is about?” And if it is, how do I feel about that?
    But my brain won’t answer the questions my heart is asking.
    He sighs. “I didn’t mean to upset you. We can talk about it later. We’ve both had a long day.”
    “You know you don’t have to attend college, Galen. We already talked about this. I can take classes, and you can … We can get an apartment off campus, remember?”
    He grimaces. “No. Yes. Sort of.” He crosses his arms over the dresser and rests his chin on them. “Look, I’m not asking for a decision right now, and I’m not trying to pressure you.”
    “Pressure me into what? Galen, so far I haven’t heard you ask me to do anything. I don’t know what we’re talking about here.” And I’m getting pretty frustrated with it. He must be, too, because he buries his face in his arms.
    Finally he looks at me again, meets my eyes. “I don’t want to go to college,” he says. “All I want to do is have our mating ceremony and go back to the ocean. With you. Now. Ten minutes ago, actually. The sooner the better.”
    My jaw may never close again at this point. Shock pirouettes through my veins in precise, intense waves. Is that why he didn’t have a problem stopping before things got too serious on the side of the interstate earlier today? Was he trying to get me to break my promise to wait until after our mating ceremony so he could break his promise to stay on land with me? “You’re backing out of our plans?” I almost choke on the words.
    He jerks his head up. “No. I’m just … offering an alternative to the whole college thing.”
    “You were the one who wanted to come on this trip, Galen. To get away from the ocean. And now you want to get away from land?”
    “I needed to