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I spin around and glare at Coral. “Where’s the key?”

“Back at the cabin.” The corners of her mouth twitch.

“That’s convenient.”

Dad struggles against the chains. “Use the trident.”

I pull it close. “I can’t!”

“Why in Hades not?”

“Because I just got it! I’d probably hurt you and not even touch the chains.”

“You need more confidence, kiddo.” He takes a deep breath then stares into my eyes. “You can do this. You’re Marra Ayers, heir of the throne. Nobody is more equipped to use a trident than you are.”

I look back and forth between him and my weapon. “I’m not so sure.”

“I believe in you.”

“Until I decimate you,” I mumble.

His eyes glow yellow. “I’m going to use my power to protect myself against anything that goes wrong. You need to do this. You can do this.”

I swallow. “Okay.”

Dad’s eyes continue growing brighter. I hold my breath and aim the trident at him. It warms, glows, and vibrates.

“Good,” Dad says. “That’s exactly what it should do.”

Until I blow him to smithereens.

I shove that thought from my mind and focus on destroying the chains. That’s all I have to do. Simple.

Yeah, right.

“Come on, Marra.” Dad holds my gaze and his eyes glow brighter.

I hope he’s strong enough to protect himself against the trident. I really don’t know how to control it.

As I slowly aim it closer to him, a confidence runs through me. I can do this. Not only break him free, but get us out of this shed and back to our homes. Him to the castle and me to the dorm with Halen—where we both belong. I know that now.

“You’ve got this,” Bash says behind me.

“Just don’t turn us to fish food,” Coral mutters.

I focus on the chains. On breaking them up without hurting Dad. I can do this. I have to. Obviously, it’d have been better if I had any real training, but I don’t and it’ll have to do. There isn’t another option.

The trident grows warmer and shakes more. A light forms at each tip and extends out until they meet in the middle. The one thick rod of light buzzes as it moves toward my dad. No, not him. Toward the chains.

It seems to move in slow motion, taking forever. My dad’s eyes hold the glow as he watches. The light travels in a straight line until it finally touches a chain. From there, both connecting metal lights up, then ones connected to those, and so on until all the chains surrounding him glow.

My heart races and I struggle to hold the trident still. One wrong move, and this will be a disaster. I have to keep it steady, hold myself together.

Almost there. The chains are nearly as bright as his eyes. One link pops and falls to the ground. Then another. Another. Several more.

He presses his arms out, and links burst out in all directions and fall to the ground. The shed glows brighter until the light fizzles from them all.

I did it. He’s actually free. I stare in disbelief for a moment before racing toward him and throwing my arms around him.