Book Seven: Chapter 101

“Why do you call it the land palace?”

“Very wet, lots of water. A merperson could absolutely live there if they chose to, and some have. Think of it like spiritual isolation, if you will. A place to step outside the ocean and ponder bigger things.”

“Will we run into any of your people?” he asked.

She shook her head. “If we do, it’s somebody we long thought dead. My kind doesn’t often choose to exile somebody, but when we do, we chase them into the deepest waters.” Sighing, she stood up straight and fiddled with the tip of her trident. “My father stayed there for a year when he was younger. Meditated on what it meant to be a warrior, to hunt for the colony, and to protect us from harm.”

“That sounds pretty badass,” Mike replied.

Leilani giggled. “When I was young, he confessed to me that he actually did it to get away from a bad situation involving some of your surfer women. He liked to pretend he was a surf instructor and bed them while they were here o