“I think it’s safe to say they’re risking their discovery, not ours. Can’t we agree on the fact that they’ve stayed hidden—even from us—for long enough to prove they mean us no harm?”

“You’re a Half-Breed, angelfish. If they’re discovered, you’re discovered.”

“How so? No one’s going to point me out of a crowd and start shouting.”

“You don’t know that. And I don’t want to find out.”

Emma sighs. He can tell he’s aggravating her, but what does she expect? For him to embrace all of the strangers like long-lost cousins? It just doesn’t work that way. Especially not under the circumstances.

“You don’t want to be here.” She says it as if he’s betrayed her somehow.

“I want to be wherever you are.”

“That’s a generic answer.”

He pinches the bridge of his nose. “No. I don’t want to be here.” He rolls over again, looking down on the glory that is her face. Tracing the back of his hand along her cheek, he says, “Truth be told, my first instinct is to run. To get as far away from here as possible.”

She doesn’t like the honesty in that answer. He can’t help it. “Why?”

“Because they’re breaking the law.”

“But you said yourself the law is a bunch of superstition. Have you forgotten? I’m an exception to the law. Couldn’t they be?” It’s true, he’s back and forth about the law. But right now, the law seems to have reinvented itself into good common sense.

“Well they’re not exactly asking to be pardoned, are they? Besides, what I think about the law doesn’t matter. It’s what the kingdoms think about the law—and they still have a law against the existence of Half-Breeds.” He winces when a glint of pain flashes across her face. “Of more than one Half-Breed,” he corrects. “Right now, I think we should concentrate on keeping the peace between the kingdoms and not throwing another Royal scandal in their faces.” Every time he opens his mouth, Grom comes out.

“It doesn’t feel like a scandal to me, Galen. Besides, my grandfather knew about this place. He’s been here. And obviously he doesn’t think it’s such a scandal.”

“Actually, I’m quite certain he does,” Galen says dryly. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have kept it a secret.” And Galen’s first instinct is to be furious about it. What was Antonis thinking? “Why was he here, anyway?”

“He said he was looking for Mom.”

“On land?”

She shrugs. “Turns out, Mom had a fascination with all things human. Kind of like Rayna.”

Galen doesn’t appreciate the comparison. Rayna only collects human things. She would never abandon the Syrena way of life to actually live on land. Still, he doesn’t feel confident enough to say that out loud. Rayna is unpredictable, after all. Just like Nalia, Emma’s mother.

And just like Emma.

Galen is tired of everything being unpredictable; he’s ready for things to settle down. But the human world seems too tainted with complications for that to happen. Look where it got Nalia. She lived among the humans, all the while missing out on Grom’s devotion and love. Look at Emma. She’s willing to shorten her life span, to deprive him of what could add up to years of her company, just to spend time on land. To go to human school. To do human things.

And look at Rachel. She belonged on land. But even one of the world’s most resilient people proved too perishable—too human—in the end.

I was right all along to be wary of humans. And now I’m in too deep.

He’s startled to find that Emma is watching him. He wonders what she sees. Can she tell how bitter he is? How desperate he is to tell her how he feels? And how terrified he is of her rejecting him?

But Emma seems to have some concerns of her own. Her whole face gives way to pleading—and Galen already knows he has very little power to resist whatever she’s about to request of him. He wonders—and doubts—if he’ll ever develop an immunity to that face of hers.

“I know you don’t feel comfortable here,” she says softly. “But the thing is, I do, Galen. In fact … In fact, it feels like I belong here. I’m not some weirdo outcast in Neptune. The only weirdo outcast here is Mr. Kennedy—and he’s human.”

You belong with me, is what he wants to say, which is a little more possessive than he cares to admit. But he can’t help it. She’s acting as if this place is the answer to her dreams. And deep down, he knows it’s no use arguing. Emma has it in her mind to explore this place.

“You’re not an outcast,” is all he can say. He hates himself for hiding his true feelings, but he senses that now is not the time to argue. Emma wants to stay for a while, so they will.

But what will I do if she decides she permanently belongs here?

He puts his arm around her waist and pulls her closer against him, and she snuggles into the crook of his arm, relaxing. But no matter how close his body is to hers, there seems to be a new space between them. And Galen tightens his hold.

11

REED’S FAMILY is just as easygoing as he is. In fact, the dinner table is like a sort of center stage, and each of them takes turns occupying the spotlight.

His father, Reder Conway, is full-blooded Syrena, with a muscular build showing through his flannel shirt and olive skin glowing attractively in the relaxed lighting in the dining room. He has the same icy blue eyes as my mother—just more proof of how Syrena eye color changes after so much time spent on land. I wonder how long it will take for Galen’s eyes to fade to blue. And if I’ll be able to bear it when they do.