When she finished, even Daios looked a little impressed.

“Their leaders will not speak with us,” Daios said, his voice a grinding, guttural noise. “If you think we can make a deal with them, you will be sorely disappointed.”

“I don’t think they want to make a deal with us. So we have to change the want, and turn it into a need.” Mira picked up two seashells. “Alpha is run by the General. No one gets close to him. No one except...” She gestured with the other seashell. “His daughter.”

A few of the pod members swam a little farther away, almost as though they were expecting this to end in an explosion.

Even Arges looked at her with a furrowed brow. “What are you suggesting?”

“I’m saying that I can survive underneath the water just fine. My eyes were opened the moment you brought me down into the depths and I realized there was so much more to your people. To our history. If we can get the most important person in his life on our side, then we have a fighting chance at convincing him that he doesn’t actually have a choice.”

Daios flicked his tail through the sand. “You are suggesting we kill her?”

“I’m suggesting we kidnap her. Just like you did to me.”

The silence in the ocean was heavier than usual after that statement.

“Right, you don’t want to do that,” she muttered.

“It’s not that easy,” Arges said, smoothing a hand down her back. “Alpha is a city that is completely under guard. We couldn’t get into it if we tried. It’s also not built like Beta. The whole city is under a massive dome. It’s more like the bubble you live in than the singular structure that Beta was.”

“I know what Alpha looks like. I have seen the drawings.” She gestured with the smaller seashell that was supposed to be the General’s daughter. “But I also know the rumors about her. She’s always close to the glass. People say she’s obsessed with sea creatures, and that includes the undines. Just a couple years ago I heard gossip that her father was keeping her under lock and key because she got way too close to the glass when there was an undine on the other side. I don’t think it would be hard to convince her to get a little closer. Or to take a risk.”

The entire pod looked at each other, then back at her.

Finally it was Melete, the lovely and massive female undine, who replied, “I think it is a good plan.”

A few others grumbled as well that it wasn’t a half bad plan, and if they could convince this other achromo to help them, then maybe this would all start to work in their favor.

Mira beamed up at Arges. “See? I told you it was a good idea.”

But his eyes were all for his brother. “Do you think you can do this, Daios? Mitéra will not be angry if you decide the next mission is the one you wish to take.”

Daios had yet to take his eyes off the tiny seashell in her hand. As she watched, he extended his blackened fingertips and waited for her to place the tiny shell in his grasp. He closed his webbed fingers around it gently.

“I will find this daughter,” he growled. “And she will be mine.”

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Acknowledgments

As always, this book wouldn’t be the same without my incredible beta readers. Nic, you’re a legend and I swear none of my books would be anywhere near as good as they are without you. You’re the best person I’ve met on the internet!

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About the Author

Emma Hamm is a small town girl on a blueberry field in Maine. She writes stories that remind her of home, of fairytales, and of myths and legends that make her mind wander.

She can be found by the fireplace with a cup of tea and her three Maine Coon cats dipping their paws into the water without her knowing.

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www.emmahamm.com

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