“A date?” Kadir repeated. Had he understood correctly?

“We can get coffee down at the promenade.” Elyssa reached up a hand to Aya, who hauled her out of the water, relief obvious on both their faces. “Wasn’t there ice cream? Maybe a movie.”

“No movie.” Aya studied her phone. “We missed the matinee.”

The females retreated into their own world as they walked down the dock. If anything, they resonated with each other the strongest. Elyssa toweled off and tugged her sea kelp dress on over her bikini. She sucked in great gulps of air as though she could not get enough.

He rose from the water and dressed more slowly, fastening the button on his jeans as his warriors bobbed to the surface.

“My king?” Lotar’s quiet question asked why they had left the water when every muscle screamed at them to finish this and return to Atlantis.

“We are going on a date,” he replied.

Iyen and Ciran struggled to mask their concern. Lotar’s expression was unreadable.

Soren’s was not. “Better return to Atlantis now, grow another blossom, and claim a more resonant bride.”

Kadir cut short his snap. Returning to Atlantis immediately was the responsible choice. But if he could increase Elyssa’s resonance and force the transformation now, he had to try.

“Soren.” Ciran cleared his throat pedantically. “We do not know if it is possible to grow a second blossom. Most Life Trees cannot grow a first blossom until they are in the presence of a bride.”

And there was also that.

Everyone had been shocked when Kadir’s little sapling put forth a blossom. It resolved the logistical problem of how to transport a bride across the ocean without a convenient sacred church or ancient pool of Sea Opal-infused elixir. Somehow sensing their predicament, his Life Tree had responded to the call of his heart.

Expecting a second miracle seemed more than presumptuous. It was disrespectful.

“I know that,” Soren snarled. “But if raiders do not destroy the city, our own hard-headed warriors may tear it apart. Spending more hours here, with females who cannot transform, wastes our time.”

Aya returned. “Excuse me. King Kadir.” Her soul light was still bright, but her tone turned cold and imperious. “Elyssa is ready for your date. She will contact me when you two are ready to return. Your warriors will remain here.”

Soren surged out of the water. Standing naked before Aya, he growled. “We guard Kadir.”

She stared up at his face coldly. “If you all go, then it’s not a date.”

He towered over her. “We go.”

Unimpressed, her hard eyes flicked down his bulky, seething, black-tattooed body and up again. “I don’t think your presence will increase their resonance. In fact, it might cause us to waste even more of ‘the mermen’s valuable time.’”

Soren gritted his teeth. Surprise? Soren was not frequently taken aback.

Aya turned on her heel.

“Wait.” Kadir shoved his feet into the flip-flops their company had provided. “I will go.”

Soren stiffened. “Kadir—”

“How long will this ‘date’ take?”

Aya froze and narrowed her gaze on Kadir. “That all depends on you. Don’t you think?”

He did not take her meaning. So, he skipped to the point. “We have a long journey ahead. If my warriors are stuck here waiting, they cannot hunt.”

“Of course. You are still our honored guests.” Her words were clipped. “Food will be provided.”

She stalked off the dock. Every ounce of former friendliness was stripped from her stiff spine. She reached the car where Elyssa was already waiting, climbed in, and slammed the door.

Soren stared after her.

The others bobbed in the waves. Uncertainty filled all of their faces. It was clear that Soren had made a new enemy, and her fury rivaled even his. Perhaps now they were grateful Kadir had chosen a gentler bride.

“Eat well,” Kadir told his warriors. “Rest. I will not be gone long.”

“What should we do if we meet brides in your absence?” Iyen asked.

He was requesting guidance on a question they had wondered on and off through the entire journey. Although there was no more nectar, they could meet a bride and make an arrangement to return for her. If Elyssa did not transform now and they had to return to collect her, perhaps they could also collect two brides — or more— on their next journey. Iyen asked whether Kadir wanted him to make this his mission in Kadir’s absence.

Soren snapped. “End your dream. They would not become ours. All the mating jewels are gone and we have nothing to offer them.”

Iyen tightened.

He was from Rusalka originally; a strict city with a clear hierarchy. He did not like Soren answering for Kadir. He didn’t realize it was evidence of a deep wound in Soren’s soul.

Soren used to respect rank more strictly than any other warrior. While Kadir had been imprisoned, something terrible had happened — something which even now, Soren refused to tell him — and which had shattered his honor, destroyed his loyalty to Dragao Azul, and led him to challenge the All-Council itself. He stayed with Kadir now because they were old friends and because Kadir begged him.

“Atlantis needs a great warrior,” Kadir had urged Soren shortly after their prison break. “If denying your honor is so important, remember that Atlantis is anathema and I am a ruler in exile. My first lieutenant will surely be regarded as a disgrace.”

Only when Kadir promised not call him by his title of first lieutenant would Soren agree to remain. Uncontrollable flares of temper was a small price to pay for his loyalty.

The other warriors in Atlantis had equally unusual backgrounds, and uniting to make a new city did not come easy. Soren had selected Ciran, originally from the proper city of Undine, and Lotar, originally from the independent city of Syrenka, to join Iyen as guards for this journey because they were least likely to harbor resentment for the small offenses that were inevitable while working together.

Now, after the long morning of carefully not snapping at each other, Iyen’s idealism was inspired. Kadir delivered his ruling. “If any of you meet a potential bride, talk with civility. You could use the practice.”

Iyen looked up to check whether he was serious. Ciran retreated into deep thoughts, as though he were reviewing his entire catalog of memorized civil phrases. A small smile curved Lotar’s lips.

Soren shook his head.

Kadir tugged on the white T-shirt and crossed the shoreline to join the women.

The car ride was short and quiet. Elyssa navigated and Aya drove. They stopped in front of a dark store with a green female on the sign. Aya’s parting comment to Elyssa was quiet and not meant for Kadir’s ears.

“I’ll call as soon as I hear from Lucy. Have fun.”

“I’ll try.” Elyssa pressed her phone to her chest. “I really am trying. I promise. I’m trying so hard.”

“Of course you are. It takes two people to forge a connection.” Aya’s gaze lifted over Elyssa’s shoulder and settled hard on Kadir. “Remember, even a Sea Opal can’t resonate in an empty room.”

Kadir returned her gaze evenly.

She hardened and drove off.

“Have fun, she says,” Elyssa muttered. She took a deep breath, let it out, and turned to him. “So, have you ever had a coffee?”

Brilliance glowed in her chest like the sun.

It speared him like a blade.

How dare she resonate now? Here? So far from the ocean, when it was least important to do so?

He barely heard his answer. She led him inside the building, pointed out artwork and tables and chairs, and took him to a counter. Some noises—music?—played.

“Here.” Elyssa handed him a frothy brown drink with clinking ice. “This is an iced white mocha. I hope you like it.”

He gripped the cool plastic. She turned back to the counter.

Anger sliced him again. How dare she glow so brilliantly inside a building? Kadir’s gut instinct had been wrong. He should have followed his head over his…what was it? What had assaulted his senses so thoroughly at the auditorium?

An impulse? Lust?

Elyssa had not drunk the nectar. She could not transform into a mermaid. He had traded all his city’s Sea Opals for a female who could not transform.

And now they were standing in a building drinking coffee.

He drank the cool liquid in one gulp.

Elyssa turned from the counter with a tray of cookies. She blinked at his empty cup. “Oh! You’re supposed to drink it slowly.”

He nearly crushed the cup. “How slowly?”

“As slow as you can.” She grinned. Her light flared again. Pretty, golden, intoxicating and useless. “It’s so you have an excuse to hang out.”

He swallowed his impatience. Barely.

“Find a seat. I’ll get you another one.” She gave him the tray. “This is something I can handle.”

He forced himself into a seat at a small corner table and sprawled his human legs. After the first curious glances, the humans did not seem to notice him. A tall male in jeans and flip flops, with silver tattoos poking out beneath a tight, white T-shirt, did not rate much attention.

Elyssa took a prim seat across from him and handed him a second drink.

He held it without drinking. She chatted about meaningless things. He counted every second.

His warriors would at least be fed. They’d take the fastest current back to Atlantis. Without sleeping, it was possible to traverse the distance in less than two weeks, and—

“Do you think the logo makers knew the truth about mermaids?” Elyssa asked.

Her question jolted him from his calculations. He focused on the green logo. A smiling female with two scaly legs.

“It’s funny.” She sighed. “To think of all the hours I wasted practicing to be a mermaid with a monofin swim tail when I should have been practicing with scuba fins all along.”

Through his anger, he found himself curious about her answer. “You practiced being a mermaid?”

“Aya and I both.” She sipped her drink. The ice jingled. “When we were kids, it was this dream. Then, to think it was real…Well.” She set the drink down and stabbed the ice with her straw. “Real for some people, I guess.”

She had practiced swimming as a mermaid just as the mer secretly practiced walking on land. “How else did you prepare?”

“Prepare to be a mermaid? Well, last night I wrote out my last will and testament.”

He did not know those things. “What is it?”

She straightened nobly. “If anything happens to me, I will all of my savings and everything I own to Lucy’s Mer-Human Alliance for constructing a merman dating website.” Her shoulders rounded. “I stayed up way too late. This coffee is exactly what I needed.”

It was a planned gift. That was the last will and testament. “If anything happens to you?”

“When I’m underwater, in case I meet an untimely end. It’s probably why my family freaked out and had to see me off today.”

He didn’t understand.

“You still look confused,” she said.

He nodded.

“If I die,” she said. “I want my parents to sell my stuff and give away the money.”

Die? If she should die underwater with him?

He felt…he felt…

He didn’t know how to feel. Shocked. Hardened. Jumpy inside, like his bones wanted out of his skin. Like the water he swam in was so cold he could barely think.

She sipped her drink.

“I swore a vow,” he finally said. “To protect you.”

Her brows lifted. “Oh. I know. But Atlantis is a rebel city and I’m ‘anathema’ to your All-Council.”

A streak of fire blazed across his chest. The entire building heated under the focused rays of the sun. “No mer would dare attack a bride.”

“Maybe not a bride, no.” She was strangely upbeat. Despite insulting his honor, his loyalty, his city, his ability to protect her, and forecasting her own death, her smile was gentle and warm. “But I’m supposed to be your queen. Right? So the old rules might not apply.”

For a moment, the world stopped turning.

Could that possibly be true? Was she right? Kadir had ended many traditions already and planned to end many more. Could the rule about not harming brides ever be broken?

No.

Even in the heat of battle or the jaws of a megalodon, a warrior would give his life to save a female. She might carry a young fry. And a young fry could grow up to become a warrior of any city, not only the city under siege.

But Elyssa didn’t know that.

A new shock slashed through him. She had stayed up all night worrying she might be going to her death. No wonder her father had asked for Kadir’s vow. No wonder her stepmother weighed all his answers. No wonder Elyssa fumbled the nectar and could not transform.

She feared deeply for her life and chose to come with him anyway.

Few warriors were so brave. Her determination stunned him. How petty his own doubts and fears looked in the face of this small human’s dedication.

“They are not different,” he said firmly. “Any warrior would give his life to protect yours. Even my worst enemy would ensure you remained well.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” She smiled cheerfully. “Try the cookie. It’s my favorite.”

He bit the soft, chocolate-filled dough. Sweet, like her. She watched carefully for his reaction. “Do you like it?”

He liked sitting here with her. “I do.”

Her soul glowed like a nova. “I’m so glad we got to do this.”

“A date?”

“Yes. And.” She jerked her chin at his crumbs. “I understand that this is my one chance to share my favorite food with you. Underwater, I’ll be fully reliant on everyone else.”

His stomach lurched again. “You will never go hungry.”

“Ha! I could stand to go a little hungry. But that’s not what I meant.”

“I will provide for your every need.”

“No, no. I know. That’s—”

“If you fear I will fail you, my warriors will—”

“Kadir!” She reached across the table and grabbed his hands in both of hers. “I trust you will take care of me. Completely. That’s why I’m glad right now I can do this little thing to take care of you.”

It was such a strange way of thinking. Mermen always took care of their brides. Brides were helpless beneath the water. To believe differently was to dishonor the warrior. “It is different from the air world.”

“Sure. Although I’m not fully independent in the air world. I’m still living with my dad and stepmom. I just meant it’s nice to do something for you.”

Hmm. It was the deepest fulfillment of a male to solely provide for his bride. Was that a problem? By taking over everything, were mermen preventing their brides from the same satisfaction?

He would have to think upon it more.

Elyssa studied him carefully. Her brows, wrinkled from worrying, smoothed. She squeezed his hands and let go. “Sorry. We’re supposed to be increasing our resonance but I feel like I’m just putting my foot in my mouth. I hope it’s not stressing you.”

Her light dipped. She picked up her half-empty mocha and sipped.

If he were honest with himself, her light hadn’t increased because they were inside a building or on solid land. It increased because Elyssa focused on him. She focused on his words, his actions, his thoughts.

Resonance cannot increase in an empty room.

Finally, he began to see what that truly meant. Now, when it might already be too late.