Two of the mermaid guards jerked her in response, about as roughly as they could without it counting as a violation of the timahk. “You didn’t answer my question,” the Inuit queen observed.

Luce glared back at her. “I’m not metaskaza.”

“And you haven’t been living on your own since you changed? This isn’t, like, the first time you’ve met other mermaids?”

“No.” Luce tried to think fast. She could call a wave to throw these mermaids out of her path. That kind of singing wasn’t meant to harm humans, and it was just possible that her father would be able to withstand it, but the risk was terrible. And even then this strange tribe would be sure to chase after her, and she definitely wouldn’t be able to outrace them. Not encumbered as she was by the raft.

“Cool.” The queen considered this. “Looks like you’re running out of excuses, doesn’t it?” Luce braced herself, ready to spring, as the queen cocked her head at the raft. “Last question, then. What’s with the human?”

Luce exhaled, trying to calm the impulse to fight. Furious as she felt at being thwarted with land so close, violence wouldn’t help her father. Maybe these mermaids wouldn’t care what Luce had to say, but she needed to try. “He’s my dad.”

Murmurs of surprise came from the other mermaids. Luce watched them look around at one another, and a few swiveled their heads to see the events that had made Luce change. “It wasn’t him, anyway,” one of them whispered. “But still . . .”

“You know that doesn’t matter!” someone yelped behind Luce. Luce turned to look at her, a girl with masses of wavy, honey-colored hair and a face that would have been sweet if it weren’t so bleak and miserable. “No fraternizing with humans. It doesn’t matter who they are!”

Luce glowered at her. “It matters to me. I’m taking him back to shore, and I’m not letting anyone stop me.”

The queen touched her arm sympathetically. “I’m really sorry. Look, I understand it’s your dad; you still love him. But we can’t let you do that. There’s no way.” Luce turned on her with such a dark blaze in her eyes that the queen recoiled a little. This was it, then. Luce had never dreamed she might kill one of her fellow mermaids, but if that was what it took . . .“I’m really sorry about this,” the queen said again. “Everyone hold her. Get her tail. Jessie?” She cocked her head at the honeyhaired girl. “Want to do the honors?”