While the endless ocean passed, Elyssa fell into and out of sleep.

Normally, she didn’t go longer than a few hours without snacking, and she kept waking up hungry and apologetic. Kadir didn’t eat — or sleep, or stop — so she wouldn’t complain The hunger floated away when she told it to go. Although, it left reluctantly, and at some point soon, she could tell that she wouldn’t be able to push it off much longer.

Exactly how long was the journey?

She could see forever in every direction, bright as a summer afternoon. Animals and plants and rocks and currents all glowed with extra sparkles. The day never changed into night. Her only marker of time was her catnaps.

So, she used the time productively.

Whenever she was awake, she traced the same letters over and over on Kadir’s silver-inked chest.

Fall in love with me, Kadir. So deep, you can’t ever let me go.

Because she was going to screw up. She could sense the screw-up coming like a hammerhead shark siren. She was going to offend Soren. She was probably going to offend Kadir. And when she did, if she wasn’t already embedded like the silver under his skin, he would use that under-two-years escape clause. This was going to be a very short trip.

Especially if it depended on her welcome speech.

The first day of her new elementary school in Florida had coincided with Parents Day, so her accidentally vague welcome speech — “I have three moms and three dads” — branded her a hippie weirdo until well after high school. And that was before her mom brought home a few more soon-to-be-ex dads to join their extended family.

Her step mom Suzanna said Elyssa’s biological parents were weird. “If your father divorced me, I would throw his golf clubs into the Everglades and park his cart under a nest of hornets. We would not remain friends.”

She barely understood why Suzanna was so emphatic. Elyssa had inherited the easy-going gene. She was friends with all her exes. Sometimes, hanging out after a breakup felt the same as hanging out when she was dating.

But now, finally, she glimpsed what her stepmom had meant. She couldn’t imagine remaining friends with Kadir. Two days together felt hotter and intenser than two years of past relationships. It was impossible to imagine what “after” would be like with him.

That meant she had to wow him during the speech.

“Observe the mermen closely,” Aya had told her on the last night. She’d followed Elyssa home after signing the contract and stayed late to drill her in every important underwater scenario—except how to face down sharks—while Elyssa had drafted her will. “Small clues can tell you their values. You don’t want to insult something of great importance.”

Good advice. Too bad she’d already missed several clues. Elyssa doubled her efforts now and studied.

Ciran spoke precisely and didn’t smile often. He had the manners of a young Mr. Spock as played by Zachary Quinto. Iyen zoomed toward danger with a serious look on his face like Jason Bourne. Soren was The Rock set to furious mode; he spent his time growling or throwing orders. He also looked like he could snap a whale in half, so even though he glared at her for slowing down Kadir, she still felt safer having him around. Lotar was a bit of a mystery. He swam at the outer edges, always roaming furthest. A lone wolf.

As she studied, they zoomed to the ocean bottom. The whine of the Van Cartier Cosmetics transmitter earrings went silent. Was that bad?

Normally the pressure on the bottom of the ocean could crush a zeppelin down to the size of a thimble. But it didn’t crush her at all. No ears popping or painful compression. The pressure was like…colors, maybe? If colors had a weight. Heavy blue to tangerine orange to sunshine yellow.

Another thing that didn’t bother her was temperature. The Florida coast was swimming pool warm. Wasn’t the floor of the Atlantic only a couple degrees above freezing? Instead of cold, the water felt thick, like swimming through wool blankets.

She saw uncountable fish and so many other amazing things — shipwrecks, mysterious spheres, volcanoes, crevasses, indescribable creatures — that they blurred together into one solid sense of awe. How could she report back to Aya and the rest of humanity what was really beneath the sea? Every time she tried to catalog it all in her head, she fell asleep and woke up knowing she’d already forgotten several unforgettable sights.

Finally, after one of her longer catnaps and when her hunger was really starting to pinch, they rose into thinner, warmer water and left the fast current. Kadir kicked warily. His mer guard tightened close, tridents out.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Yes.” But his intense frown deepened. They passed over a field of giant tube worms flicking hungry, barnacle-like tongues into the current. “We are approaching the city.”

Thank goodness. Finally. It felt like two weeks had passed. She was hungry enough to eat a tube worm.

Oh, wait. She’d been trying to catalog her surroundings so long she’d forgotten it was speech time. “Already?”

“What is wrong?”

“Nothing.”

His eyes flashed. Real anger, and something else. “Elyssa—”

“Kadir,” Soren growled low. “Someone has hunted in that field.”

He tensed. “Our warriors?”

“No.” Soren slashed the water. “These hunters gathered paralyzing poison surrounding the worms’ tubes. See the scrape markings near the mouths. It is another raiding party. Eyes out!”

The others closed in, forming an impenetrable guard.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach.

“You are protected,” Kadir pushed. “Relax.”

She wasn’t nervous about the raiding party, whatever that was. “I’m trying.”

“Trust in us. Think of your speech.”

Gah. Her butterflies poured mimosas and started a dance party.

Wait, that wasn’t dance music, and it wasn’t in her belly, either. “I hear a shark.”

“To your left.”

From across fifty football fields, a startling goblin shark veered toward them. Even though it was forever far away, its hollow, eerie air raid siren was as surreal as its appearance, like something out of the Aliens movies. She had seen them before on Shark Week. They were like big, ugly eels with pale, sightless eyes and a gaping fake mouth rimmed by false teeth. Just when they’d suckered their prey into thinking the fake mouth had missed, their real mouth flew out and crunched the unsuspecting prey. Freaky! But they were not dangerous to people because they were pretty small.

The animal slithered through the water toward them. It grew bigger and bigger.

Her nerves twinged. “I thought you said sharks aren’t dangerous.”

“It has been driven to this location,” Kadir said grimly. “The raiders drive these types of sharks into a frenzy within our borders to tire and harass us.”

Wait. “So that means it is dangerous?”

“Elyssa.” He sounded strained. “Trust.”

It was coming straight at them.

Lotar dropped from the group and darted beneath the shark.

Its mouth loomed. Teeth. Endless teeth. It was coming!

Kadir barked. “Elyssa. Trust—”

She strangled Kadir and closed her eyes. It wasn’t real. This was a scary movie.

Something rough scraped her shoulder.

She was going to die.

Kadir shouted. “Soren!”

Soren snarled. Her eyes snapped open. Iyen rammed into her and Kadir, shoving them sideways. Soren and Ciran turned. The goblin shark cut between their two groups. It was the size of a city bus.

It wheeled.

“Fly!” Soren shouted. He stabbed the goblin shark and aimed for its nose.

The goblin shark’s fake mouth opened wide. He missed. The inner mouth closed on his trident. He tugged. With his trident immobilized, the inner mouth pushed him back, hard. Real teeth snapped at his shin.

Soren’s legs swung back, to safety.

The goblin released his trident and lunged for his head. Teeth grazed his forehead. Soren screamed in rage. The water streaked with his blood.

Kadir slowed.

Lotar zoomed up and slammed the base of his trident into the belly of the goblin shark. The shark forgot Soren and pivoted.

Kadir kicked to speed. “Iyen! Guard.”

“My king.” Iyen lowered his trident and faced the attack, watching Lotar and Soren with the goblin shark.

“Ciran. Report.”

“I see no enemies.”

“Take point.”

Ciran flew ahead.

“Soren! You are injured.”

Soren kicked, leaving Lotar behind. “A scratch.” His forehead trailed blood.

As a unit, they moved in battle-ready formation.

“What about Lotar?” Elyssa asked. Over Kadir’s shoulder, he alone remained with the shark.

“Lotar ensures our escape.”

The lone warrior faced off against the goblin shark. The shark roared. Underwater, it sounded like a lion crossed with a grizzly bear. The goblin wheeled to attack Lotar.

He dove and popped the base of his trident to punch the shark’s nose.

The shark’s bugle cut off. It turned aside and thrashed.

Lotar wheeled and waited.

The shark shook its injury off and moved in for a second attack.

She and Kadir accelerated away from the fight.

“Is he going to be okay?” she asked.

“Trust Lotar.”

“But the shark bit Soren.”

Soren bared his teeth. “Because you lacked faith!”

What?

Kadir snarled.

Soren growled and flicked away.

“What did he mean, I lacked faith?” As the adrenaline drained out, leaving her cold and shaky, she was actually pretty pleased that she hadn’t freaked out and tried to claw her way free. “I held on.”

Kadir did not answer.

Ciran cleared his throat. “You moved.”

“Huh?”

“We counted on Kadir’s ability to maintain the faster speed. You changed your shape, increasing the water’s drag—”

“Ciran.” Kadir snapped.

The warrior dropped silent.

But he was too late. She got it. A horrible shaking hollow emerged beneath her and everything tipped in.

She had pushed through her fears. She had trusted in Kadir. She had done her best and it still wasn’t enough. Soren got injured. They nearly all got killed.

She had done her best.

This was never going to work.

“Rest against me,” Kadir ordered shortly.

He sounded exhausted. The bone underneath his pectorals was too near the surface. While she’d been sleeping and daydreaming, he’d been carrying her for hours. Hours that felt like weeks.

“Now.”

She collapsed. Reducing his drag was the least she could do.

Lotar caught up to them as they flew over a rise.

Off to their left, strange architectural shapes, like towers and domes, walls and windows, formed a geometric pattern in the rocky seafloor.

“This is what remains of the ancient city,” Kadir told her. He did not sound angry. Maybe he forgave her. “Someday we will raise it to the surface once more.”

A terrible grinding noise emanated from the wreckage, like a garbage truck backing over an accordion. “What’s that?”

“A cave guardian.”

Oh. Lucy told her about those and she’d seen grainy footage on a Facebook live broadcast. Cave guardians were mammoth octopuses. In comparison to the harmonious fish, bass-heavy crustaceans, and pleasant cymbal-like jellyfish, octopi stood out as the tone-deaf, flatulent members of the undersea choir.

Kadir’s tired tone lightened. “Now we enter our territory.”

On cue, the ocean floor beneath them changed from monotone gray rock to gorgeous, colorful corals and vibrant grasses. The undersea song changed to a deep, beautiful aria. The mermen soared overhead like eagles soaring over their forest. Rainbows of singing fish wove through the kelp below. Tiny silver fish flew up and swirled around her and Kadir like twittering butterflies before descending back into the concealing forest.

In the distance, anchored to the ground but floating high above the forest, a single orb glowed. Radiant as a silver sun, it soothed the ocean with healing silence. Her chest lifted like she was stepping onto holy ground. Her heart swelled with awe.

Wait Was that it?

Elyssa was expecting a Life Tree like Lucy had described in Sireno — an actual white tree with bare branches, like a ginormous albino bonsai on a dais, floating in the middle of the city. Around it was supposed to grow fifty or a hundred giant, floating, bubble-shaped castles arranged in concentric circles. The king and important elders lived in the inner ring. The outer castles were ruled by warlords and had their “flavor.” Lucy could sense which was Torun’s by its gold, cinnamon-chocolate aura before he took her inside the first time.

In fact, a Life Tree was the stamen of its city, and the bulbs were its leaves. If anything happened to a Life Tree, the whole city would blacken and wither. So would the mermen who lived there and formed a symbiotic relationship with it, unless they quickly scrambled to get accepted at a new Life Tree.

But this small, glowing, silver bulb was no actual tree. It was like…a closed tulip? Like the Life Tree was hiding inside, and petals were still closed over it, keeping it safe.

Also, only one castle floated behind it. The castle was like a giant green planet caught in the Life Tree’s orbit. Its anchor also stretched straight down and disappeared into the forest below.

That was Kadir’s city. Atlantis was two floating orbs. One radiant silver, one larger green. One hidden Life Tree and one castle.

And that was it.

Kadir swam toward the glowing Life Tree orb.

Yay. They made it.

Oh god. They made it.

“Do not fear,” he murmured. “You are safe here.”

It wasn’t her safety she was worried about.

Warriors erupted from the distant green castle, zoomed across the vast, open distance, and swarmed their party. The ocean filled with light, sound, and gladness. The warriors of Atlantis darted and swooped, whooping. Her patrol broke formation to greet their comrades.

Kadir swam determinedly on. A smile curved his lips. The white light of the orb reflected in his silver-flecked eyes.

As they neared the orb, it grew to the size of a huge cathedral. Kadir swam past the curved outer walls. She could reach out and touch them. They looked smooth as marble.

Maybe it was just the last peace before the storm, but she almost felt like everything would be okay. Kadir had chosen her. Despite his doubts and her fears, she had arrived. She was chosen. She belonged.

They left the Life Tree and crossed to the castle.

Now, in perspective, the Life Tree was like a cathedral and the castle was like the Death Star. It was just huge. It was also no longer solid, flavorless green. A gentle, silvery-green light radiated hints of vanilla and hickory. Yum. This was Kadir’s castle.

Kadir swam to the entrance. A tiny dot in the center of the bulb was actually a grand hallway tall and wide enough for two cars to drive through.

They entered and flew down the long hall. It opened into a large inner courtyard.

But it wasn’t actually as vast as she expected. It wasn’t like a football field or even a soccer pitch. It was more like a baseball diamond. The inner diamond, not the outfield.

That meant the walls were thick enough to hold conference rooms. Doors and windows grew organically from the inner walls, but she couldn’t see very far inside, as if they hadn’t been fully carved out. Some hinted at mysterious corridors inside. One would lead to the castle’s “heart chamber,” the most protected room deep within, where Kadir would take her to consummate their marriage. It made her squeaky with anticipation.

Kadir swam down. The floor of the courtyard was blanketed in a leafy garden. Rows of plants radiated from a central dinner plate-sized pedestal.

“The Life Tree will soon grow its first seed,” Kadir told her. “It is a symbol of citizenship and great honor. As a castle makes a warrior into a warlord, his seed is the heart of his castle. All the warriors you see today will be warlords of Atlantis who possess queens and seeds.” He stopped before the pedestal. “Our seed will rest on this pedestal. Practice honoring it.”

He released her, bowed his head, and hovered his hand over the empty pedestal. “I vow to defend this seed as I defend my home.” He kicked back. “Now, you.”

She paddled to the pedestal, her feet brushing the garden leaves, and held her hand out, palm down. Deep breath — well, not literally. Hah.

Around them, mer warriors flew into the courtyard and suspended in front of her and Kadir, just above the garden. They formed an iridescent, well-muscled, impressively endowed ring around her. They eyed her curiously, edging each other out for the best view. Elyssa was on display and she hadn’t even met any of them yet.

Oops. In her distraction, currents buffeted her away. She paddled back. Currents pushed her into the pedestal. It rocked and started to fall. Aah!

Kadir righted it.

She spoke quickly. “I also vow to defend this seed as I defend my home.”

The mer fell silent.

Uh oh. Had she done it wrong?

Kadir broke the silence. “Welcome my bride. Elyssa of Van Cartier.”

Her heart sped. Her mouth went dry. Her tongue went numb.

“Now, the speech.”

Someone in the back protested. “Speeches are for warriors. Brides do not give speeches.”

Kadir hardened. “They do now.”

The warriors quieted.

Kadir looked at her. Not angry. Maybe tired. Definitely expectant.

She was supposed to be his queen. She was supposed to represent humanity, Van Cartier Cosmetics, and Aya. She had to make the best impression now or ruin her image forever.

And that old trick of imagining her audience naked? Well, they were all naked — displaying large, at-ease, tattoo-swirled cocks as far as the eye could see — but it didn’t help at all.

Her palms couldn’t sweat underwater, but her belly crunched like her insides were made of aluminum foil.

“Hi. I’m Elyssa. Uh…I’m very pleased to be here. I’ve wanted to be a mermaid since I was a little girl, and so this is like a dream come true. But I have a lot to learn, and I still can’t make my feet transform. It’s hard!” She laughed.

No one cracked a smile.

Oh, god.

She scrambled for a serious tone. “Um…I’m sure you’ll all find brides of your own very soon, and we’ll rebuild Atlantis into a great city with Kadir. Thank you.”

They continued to stare. Not aggressive. Just waiting.

She edged to Kadir and whispered, “I’m done.”

He rubbed her back. He seemed…satisfied? Not unhappy, at least. And his casual touch and easy acceptance gave her so much comfort. “Now, form lines and perform the personal introductions common among humans.”

A burly, gray-haired warrior swam forward with a critical eye. “Why personal introductions?”

“Because Elyssa greeted us as is custom for our people. We will now greet Elyssa as is custom for her people.”

“This is highly unusual.”

“You do not have to make my queen feel welcome, Adviser Creo. The All-Council must do what it considers best.” Kadir’s steely gaze settled his warriors, silencing any protests. “We will welcome her to our city.”

Awkward.

The adviser huffed. The extra skin at his throat looked like a turkey’s wattle. Although he was a large, muscular, nude male just like the other warriors, he seemed better fed and more opinionated. Kadir’s pointed remarks ruffled his feathers. “A bride must always feel treasured. What is this human greeting?”

“Stand as you are. Elyssa will lead you in the proper action. This is Adviser Creo of the All-Council,” Kadir said to Elyssa. “He is a neutral observer who guides us so we may be recognized as an official city.”

Right. A VIP. She stuck out her hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

Adviser Creo jerked back and frowned at her hand. “You wish to caress me?”

Oh, no. Mermen didn’t touch. She knew better than to do that!

Elyssa’s heart slammed into her rib cage. She pulled back and curled her hand into a fist. “Sorry. My bad. I just wanted to say hi.” She pressed her fist against her chest.

The burly, gray-haired turkey floated back, staring her up and down, confusion building upon confusion. “What is this? Now she is gesturing at me. Rudely.”

Great. The last person she wanted to piss off was the very first person she met.

Kadir uncurled her fist and smoothed her palm in his larger ones. “Modern brides shake hands, Adviser Creo.”

“Lies.”

Kadir growled. He was, Elyssa was starting to understand, a young king with no experience—and, if Atlantis wasn’t a recognized city yet, maybe even no legitimacy—but it still seemed brave of Adviser Creo to dismiss him outright.

He turned to his warriors. “Ciran?”

Ciran straightened and swam forward. “It is true. All humans shake hands. Brides included.”

“Not mated females.”

“Yes, even those already joined to other males. It is a simple greeting. We observed it many times and partook it ourselves.” He puffed out his scholarly chest. “I, as well as Lotar and Iyen, have already shaken bride Elyssa’s hand.”

The adviser narrowed his eyes.

Kadir lifted his chin, having proved his point. “Surely, as the representative of the All-Council, you knew this?”

“Well. Of course.” Adviser Creo harrumphed. “But it is not done under the water. She is too forward.”

“Shaking hands is allowed in Atlantis. Its meaning is the same as on the land.” Kadir’s powerful resolution echoed across the full courtyard. “Whether above the surface or below, my bride resonates for me alone.”

All eyes returned to her.

Great. Now she’d forced Kadir to rewrite merman law over the first split-second of a handshake. What else would she do wrong?

Kadir gestured for the next male to swim forward. “Faier.”

Faier was older than Kadir but not as old as the adviser, and he kicked using only his left leg. His right dragged in the water. Scars raked his torso and obscured his mauve tattoos. He had a cautious, friendly face, as though he had once been outgoing, but had been beaten down too many times to trust openly.

He stopped in front of her and hesitated.

Okay. She was going to do this one right.

“You don’t have to shake my hand,” she said. “I didn’t mean to be weird. How is the official warrior greeting supposed to go?”

Faier blinked at her. “We do not do this greeting.”

Oh. Right. Jeez. “Sorry.”

Kadir answered. “Do not apologize.”

“No. I mean, I won’t.” That was not very queenly. She shook her head. “Of course. Sorry.”

Kadir rotated to her fully. “You apologized again.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Elyssa.”

Ah! She couldn’t help herself. She was all messed up and everyone was staring. “I’m sorry! That’s the last time I’m apologizing.” She flapped her hands in distress. “Sorry.”

Kadir captured her hands and tugged her into his kiss.

He was calm. He was centering. He was everything she needed, her one anchor in the swirling chaos.

She rested her hands on his broad shoulders. It felt natural fitting herself into the position she had assumed for so long when he carried her safely to the city. His arms slid around her back and tightened. Her thighs wedged against his.

Her gratitude — he wasn’t angry, he was totally supportive, he was safe — swirled into a ball of fire that ignited in her core. Her need of the kiss changed. She pressed against him, squeezing him with her thigh.

He tightened.

The sweet, hot pressure of his lips slid into her like a shot of liquor hitting her vein. Sizzling heat flowed into her center. A tinkling cry, like a distant wind chime, sounded throughout the ocean.

Throbbing need twisted into an ache. She was suddenly all too aware of his nakedness. And hers—

He released her.

She floated back, torn free when she least expected it. Conflict chased across his hard face, and his gaze flicked over her shoulder.

Oh. Right. They were kind of in the middle of something. She rubbed her head. He wasn’t the only tired one.

She turned back to face the warriors.

Everyone was frozen.

Oh, god. What had she done now? She had stunned them all.

Faier, who she was supposed to be greeting, shifted uncomfortably.

“Continue with the greetings,” Kadir ordered gruffly. His erection was hard and obvious, probably like her throbbing flush.

But the other warriors weren’t too bothered. Even though everyone was naked, the arousal connecting her and Kadir was somehow contained. Their faces relaxed. Oh, maybe they weren’t stunned. Maybe they were just waiting.

“Hello, Faier.” She grabbed the mauve warrior’s large hand. His eyes widened. She pumped it once. “This is a human handshake. What do I say?”

The warrior looked helplessly at Kadir.

“Use your usual greetings.” Kadir brushed her shoulder. “Your name and where you are from.”

Okay. Yes. She could do this.

“I’m Elyssa. From, uh, America. I used to work in HR, but…you know, never mind what I used to do. Nice to meet you.”

His mouth dropped open. His voice was pleasant and commanding. “I am Faier. I am from…” He frowned and looked at Kadir as though uncertain of what to call this place.

“You’re from Atlantis,” she said.

“I do not have a Life Tree seed.”

“Nobody does. Right? You can still be from here.”

He blinked and straightened. His shoulders went back and his chest puffed out. “Then, I am from Atlantis.”

Kadir nodded his acknowledgment. The warrior Faier swam away proudly on his left leg, and the next warrior moved forward.

Her head swirled with the names, but everyone else went smoothly. Shy smiles were kind of endearing on the massive tattooed faces of the powerful warriors. Maybe, just maybe, she could get through this after all.

But she had a guess that she’d still be stuffing feet — many, many feet — into her mouth with dinner.