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The friendly mer drifted back to his position.

A minute later, she was pretty sure her two captors had changed direction. She had the sensation of going up, not just forward. Though she might not have trusted her senses, had they not, after another minute, surfaced.

Surfaced! One second she was in the water, the next the two mer had hoisted her up to a seat on a wet, rocky ledge. One of them tugged at something at the base of her neck, and then a second later the glass bubble vanished and fresh air filled her lungs.

Well. Fresh didn’t quite suit it. Not that it was rank, but it smelled unfamiliar and was heavier with moisture than even the wettest days on land.

Because they weren’t. She saw that at a glance. They’d come up a rocky well, but they hadn’t emerged at the surface. They’d emerged into an underwater enclosure.

The Sunken Cities. Jade sucked in a long breath as she took in the distant outlines of buildings with the iridescent, glowing dome keeping them dry.

She’d studied this kingdom. Read all the writings about it.

Brought up the images in every crystal she could find and turned them this way and that to try to see every angle of each city.

But neither images nor words could do them justice. This view before her now was like…it was like nothing she’d ever seen. Or even imagined.

While she gawked, the mer woman who had been none too patient with her in the water grabbed her by the arm and tugged her to the side. “Clear the way,” she snapped. “The others still need to come up.”

“Sorry.” The response was automatic, even though in the next second she mentally smacked herself for it. “Actually, I’m not. You kidnapped me. I’m not sorry for being an inconvenience.”

The woman turned to face her, and Jade got her first real look at the mermaid’s face.

She was stunning—hair black as the shimmering tail, skin the color of Arden’s creamy coffee, but with eyes of a silver so clear and light they looked like starlight.

She couldn’t be much older than Jade’s nineteen years, if at all, but her arms and torso looked like they’d been shaped with a chisel.

She made some small movement with her legs, and the tail divided into two, creating pants that hugged her legs and allowed the girl to surge to standing and plant her feet shoulder-width apart.

The better to cross her arms over her chest and glower at her.

Or…was it a glower? Could Jade trust her own reading of this woman’s irritation? She’d never had to doubt her instincts on such things before, but all those stories of misinterpreting visual cues clouded her mind again.

She scooted out of the way of the well, and three more mer emerged in quick succession.

Jade only recognized the one who’d pressed his palm to her bubble.

The other two were male, but she didn’t have much of a chance to catalogue their features.

They all quickly performed that same motion to turn their tails into pants, and the two whose faces she hadn’t seen before turned to face the woman.

They saluted her, the taller saying, “Is there anything else, princess?”

Princess? Jade frowned. She’d studied the mer royal family, the House of Sael, extensively. The ruling queen, Ralia, had been wed to the same king-consort for a hundred and fifty years. She ruled with a fist of iron, but not with unkindness. Not exactly.

Jade knew too that the royal, powerful couple—both with the mixed blood of land-and-sea dwellers necessary to make magic—had produced five children.

Five! That was unheard of among the magical.

No king or queen of Daryatla had ever produced more than one child.

Nor had any mer royal until these two. But somehow, this couple had.

The eldest was Mariana, the Crown Princess. Then came her four younger siblings: Shell, Reg, Coral, and Finn.

None of those princesses looked like the woman before her. And she was definitely scowling as she looked at the two mermen. “It’s General .”

That didn’t clarify anything in Jade’s mind. Granted, she hadn’t been able to study the mer military so thoroughly, given the lack of data on them. But how could a mermaid so young possibly be…

Oh. If she were Awakened, she could be far older than she looked.

The man who’d made the blunder straightened. “Forgive me. General.”

The woman continued to glare then jerked her head toward the chamber’s exit. “Dismissed. And don’t forget to switch your colors.”

Jade had no idea what that meant, but she soon learned. As they strode away, the two…soldiers?…both pressed something at their waists, and the black scales flipped, revealing the expected teal.

Jade stared after them. She’d always known, of course, that the mer weren’t really half-fish like the old fairy tales claimed.

They were people, from the tips of their heads to the soles of their very-human feet.

But they were humans who had adapted to life under the pressure of the ocean, who could hold their breaths for an hour, and who had learned to swim far faster than any land-dweller with the help of specially engineered tails.

But none of the crystals had ever shown her how they could switch the tails into pants with a flick. And they certainly hadn’t ever shown any tails in black, much less black that could become colorful again with a button press.

“You could give them a bit of leniency, Electra,” the friendly man said, switching his own tail. “You’ve only been a general for a few weeks—a princess for decades.”

Electra sent the man a look that Jade wanted to call exasperated. “And how am I to do my duties as general, Librus, if my men keep thinking of me as a pampered cousin of the queen?”

Cousin. That would explain the hole in Jade’s knowledge. She’d never been able to learn much about the more extended family of the ruling mer. They kept far too much information under wraps.

Librus tilted his head. He too had dark hair and skin of a light copper.

“You’ll figure it out. Now.” He turned to face Jade, and though his face was still what she’d call friendly, she was unwilling to trust that.

“Allow me to make introductions and welcome you to Demergi Urbes. We know that you are Lady Jade Bleu, daughter of the High Guardian of the Barrier Banks and the artist Sapphire Bleu.”

She made no response, even as a dozen questions and thoughts sprang to life in her sluggish mind.

She was not Lady Jade Bleu. She was just Jade Calimore.

Sure, everyone called her “one of the Bleus” and referred to her and Arden as “the Bleu girls,” but Jericho had never adopted her after he married her mother when Jade was four.

Out of respect for her father, he’d always said.

He and Liam had been good friends, and he hadn’t wanted to usurp that legacy.

But these mer didn’t seem to know that. Did they think she was actually his daughter? Was that why they’d kidnapped her, to try to coerce him into something or blackmail him? If so, they should have taken Arden.

Though that made her heart thud painfully. No . Arden would go mad, trapped under the sea, with no sky visible above her, no fresh air to gust around her. She was so horribly claustrophobic. It was better they’d taken Jade.

Librus motioned to himself. “I am Librus, of the House of Bruell, First Order Priest of the One.” He executed a graceful bow.

Jade found her tongue. “What happened to my friends? My sister? Did you hurt them? I remember blood.”

His face didn’t so much as shift. “Your friends and sister were all unharmed, last we saw. Though our priority was to get you away as quickly as possible.”

Electra let out a sound that was definitely exasperated. “Save the explanations for later, Librus. Finn is expecting us.”

The priest didn’t so much as glance at the general but rather held out an arm toward Jade. “You will be unsteady yet from the black serum. Allow me to support you as we walk.”

The last thing she wanted to do was go along with them—but a glance toward the well offered no other option.

She could jump in and swim a few feet, but they’d catch her.

Even if she evaded them, she’d run out of air long before she could get away, or die from the bends if she tried to go straight for the surface.

For now, the only thing she could think to do was try to sort out what they wanted, regain her strength and clarity, and make a plan of escape, though skies only knew what it could be. With a resigned sigh, she put her hand on his forearm.

Librus cast a glance toward the well too then led her out of the enclosed chamber and into the wider street before them.

“I am sorry for how this must seem, my lady. And it is with sympathy and concern for your welfare that I must inform you there is no escape from Demergi Urbes, not for a land-walker. Not without a guide. Even if you were to steal a helmet and air, you would not make it far before we found you. And if you could swim quickly enough to evade us, that too would spell your doom. Rising so quickly would kill you.”

She had to clench her teeth together until the wave of despair ebbed. “I know. I’ve studied your cities and culture.”

His brows lifted in a manner that reminded her of any land-dweller’s reaction of surprise. “You have?”

He sounded impressed. Pleased. Which made her want to recall the words. “Well, as much as was possible before university. I haven’t had my Awakening Ceremony yet—”

“Oh, I am well aware. But I had not realized you had such an interest in our kingdom.”

Electra, who was striding a few steps ahead of them, turned to cast a dark look at her. “Probably in the same way sanders always study what they hate. So they can find weaknesses to exploit.”