“Where are you keeping him?” Nalia says. “Somewhere secure, I hope.”

“We only have one holding cell in our jail,” Reder says. “That’s where he is.”

That they have a jail at all impresses Galen. What with a town whose inhabitants appear so in harmony with one another. “Has the NOAA arrived yet?” According to Dr. Milligan, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association had been notified—not good.

Reder shakes his head. “Turns out the NOAA sent one man out to investigate Kennedy’s claims, and that gentleman was, unfortunately, given wrong directions to Neptune when he called Sylvia’s inn from the interstate. Your Dr. Milligan will get a good half hour alone with Kennedy.”

Grom leans on the table, folding his hands in front of him. “Emma has told us the story of how your town came to exist. Are there others like it?”

Reder nods. “How many, I’m not sure. Some of Poseidon’s descendants remained behind in Europe rather than sail with Columbus. I assume they procreated. I hear that others traveled to Asia. Smaller groups started breaking off. I have no reason to doubt that they’re all over the world. But again, if you want to talk numbers, I have no idea.”

“Why haven’t we heard from them before now? Why is this the first extension of peace from Poseidon’s descendants?”

Reder shrugs. “It could be that they don’t have the same inclinations we do in Neptune.”

“Inclinations?”

“The same desire to explore the oceans,” Reed explains. “As far as we can figure, they’re content with sticking to freshwater or assimilating as humans.”

“Do you communicate with these other communities?” Nalia says.

Reder shakes his head. “Not really. Every now and then we get a visitor—whom we welcome, of course—but they are few and far between. The most recent was about thirty years back. From Italy. Had a nephew competing as an Olympic swimmer.” Reder can’t hide his small smile.

Grom wastes no time getting back to business, unimpressed. “Tyrden was recently involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the Triton kingdom. We would like to take him back to the ocean with us.”

Reder crosses his arms. “What proof do you have of that?”

“He told Emma what he did while he held her hostage. That was after he injured your guard—what was his name, Frank? He also kept Galen in captivity and used methods of torture on him in order to secure more information about the kingdoms.”

“Frank says he remembers waking up long enough for Tyrden to kick him. He thought maybe he was dreaming.” Reder scowls. “Even so, Tyrden is a citizen of Neptune. We have procedures in place for wrongdoing. He won’t go unpunished.”

“This isn’t just wrongdoing we’re talking about,” Nalia interjects. “His crimes are against the kingdoms. He abducted two Royals, conspired to overthrow Triton territory, and used fraud to simulate one of the sacred Gifts of the generals. We cannot leave him behind. He simply must return with us.”

“You may have noticed that we don’t abide by the laws of the kingdoms.”

“If your true pursuit is peace with them, you’d do well to at least respect the laws they hold dear,” Nalia says.

Reder considers. “You want me to turn over Tyrden. What am I getting in return? You’ve made me no promises.”

“And as we’ve said,” Grom says, “we are in no position to do so. But as king of the Triton territory, I can agree to an exchange.”

“An exchange for what?”

“Your son,” Grom says.

This evokes disturbed grunts from the other two Neptune officials sitting on either side of Reed and Reder. To Galen, these Syrena appear to be there for show. He wonders why the mayor bothered to bring them at all. It occurs to Galen that they could be bodyguards. Reder is, after all, outnumbered, no matter how public a restaurant this is.

“My son is sitting next to me,” Reder says, raising his voice. “He’s no longer in your custody. And you have the gall to offer him as an exchange? You’ll take him back over my dead body.” This makes the two “officials” tense up. Definitely bodyguards.

“You misunderstand me,” Grom says calmly. “I mean for Reed to accompany us back to the kingdoms as our guest.”

“For what purpose?” Reder says, alarm rattling in his voice.

Grom nods in understanding. “You must look at it from our perspective. You’ll agree that Antonis and I have a fantastic story to tell the Archives when we return. A town on the big land called Neptune that harbors long-lost descendants of Poseidon as well as Half-Breeds who have chosen to dispatch the laws of the generals. And then you want us to petition for peace and unity with them?” Grom shakes his head. “These things take time. We’ve just experienced upheaval in the kingdoms as it is. The Royals are being watched for even a small misstep.”

“What I’m hearing is that you can’t protect Reed if he goes with you,” Reder says.

“I’ll protect him,” Galen says through gritted teeth. For Emma’s sake. She wants this so badly.

“I appreciate the valiance, Galen, but you are one person. And you,” Reder says, focusing his attention on Grom again, “you haven’t explained how putting my son’s life in danger will unite us. I’m not connecting the dots here.”

“We can’t promise that it will unite us,” Antonis says. “But it will give us a better chance. I will go back and report that I, as well as all the generations of Poseidon kings before me, have known of your existence. That you have not pursued anything but peace with us, albeit from a distance. That you are not our enemies.”