They drove all the way back to San Diego in relative silence. Zen asked questions about mermaids here and there, but for the most part she could sense her Father was preoccupied with figuring out a plan, lost in his own thoughts. From what little he explained, there are ways for humans to fight a mermaid’s influence on the mind, but it takes years of practice and serious mental discipline.
The enchantment that Zen had placed on him protected him from being controlled by another mermaid, but it didn’t block them from looking into his mind and searching his memories. It was widely believed amongst the mermaids that their ability to control humans largely came from the innate way they communicated.
They learned from a young age to see into each other’s minds, while the human brain has alway
