Of Poseidon

the Gift, Galen.”
    Instead of spiking, Galen’s pulse sputters. “Paca has the Gift of Poseidon? Are you sure?”
    Nodding, Toraf says, “I saw it myself. She can communicate with fish. They do what she says. She demonstrated it to me and Grom and her father. She made a dolphin do tricks for us.”
    “What kind of tricks?”
    Toraf shrugs. “Anything she wants, I guess. After the first few, we were all satisfied. Amazed, actually.”
    Galen crosses his arms. “Where has she been all this time?”
    “Triton territory, staying on the coast of the long land. Said she hid out of the water in case King Antonis sent trackers after her. I only found her after she submerged to hide from some humans who caught sight of her camp on the beach. She seemed happy to see me.”
    The Syrena know it as the long land. Humans know it as Florida. Where we found Emma. Galen is beginning to think Florida has some sort of power to create Poseidon’s Gift. “What does Grom say?”
    “Grom says he hopes you won’t miss his mating ceremony. It would hurt his feelings.”
    “He’s going to mate with Paca? You’re sure?”
    “I wouldn’t have followed you across the world if I wasn’t sure.”
    Galen ignores the twist of excitement in his gut. “She’s not a Royal.”
    “And Emma is?”
    “Good point.” If Grom would be willing to mate with Paca, who’s not a Royal, would he be willing to mate with Emma? It doesn’t matter, stupid. He’s mating with Paca.
    “Anyway, the ceremony will be in two moon cycles. Grom wants to keep it a secret for now while he thinks of a way to present it to everyone else. The only thing he can think of is to have her demonstrate the Gift to an audience. Otherwise, he’ll have blood on his hands.”
    “That’s a good idea.” Grom’s already treading in icy waters by taking a Poseidon mate against Antonis’s wishes. But because of who Grom is—firstborn, third-generation Triton Royal—he’s basically rendering the law obsolete by mating with Paca, who is, by the law’s standards, a Common. Which isn’t fair, since King Antonis’s refusal to produce more offspring forced him to this decision. But would the kingdoms see that? Would they see it as a self-sacrificing effort on Grom’s part to keep the benefit of the Gifts? Or would they view it as a power-hungry move to rule both kingdoms—especially given Jagen’s reputation for treasonous talk?
    “He wants you and Rayna both to stay away until he announces the ceremony. I told him you had plenty to keep you occupied until then.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Are you brainless as a reef, minnow? You can have Emma now. Why you’re wasting your time here in Eggland—Galen? Galen, wait for me!”

25
    I’M NOT sure if all Syrena have bulletproof endurance or if Galen is particularly blessed with it. Even now, as I lock the front dead bolt while Mark holds his car door open for me, Galen is blowing up my cell. I slide into the passenger seat of the pickup truck and try to organize my face into a convincing expression of relaxed, even though my insides are twisting faster than a whirlpool.
    I thought Galen had given up trying to talk to me. I mean, what else is there to say? He played me like an Xbox. A broom and dustpan couldn’t clean up all the pieces of my heart he shattered. I’ve been so stupid. But not anymore.
    Keeping distance between us at school hasn’t been easy, but I’ve managed. And when I sense him in the water in front of my house, I get out. By Wednesday, he stopped calling me. He even skipped school today. So what’s his deal now? Doesn’t he see that I need to get away from him?
    And why can’t I have an ignore button like my phone? As I hit it, his calls disappear from the screen and the ringing stops. But the tingles are still at my fingertips, as if he sent them through the phone to grab me. Shoving it in my purse—the pockets on skinny jeans must just be for show ’cause nothing else is fitting in there—I smile at Mark.
    Ah, Mark. The blue-eyed, blond-haired, all-American quarterback. Who knew he had a crush on me all these years? Not Emma McIntosh, that’s for dang sure. And not Chloe. Which is weird, because Chloe was a collector of this kind of information. Maybe it’s not true. Maybe Mark’s only interested in me because Galen was—who wouldn’t want to date the girl who dated the hottest guy in school? But that’s just fine with me. Mark is … well, Mark isn’t as fantabulous as I