Saving Her Destiny by Candice Gilmer Page B

asked.
    Duncan swallowed his bite before answering. “I’ve been thinking about that. You mentioned another merrow before?”
    â€œNorton, yeah,” Keefe said.
    â€œOur cousin,” Kealan added.
    Duncan blinked. “He’s your cousin?” Of course he was. Were they related to all the merrow down here?
    â€œIf anyone’s got a grudge against the royal family, he’d be the most likely suspect.” Keefe ran his hand over his hair.
    â€œOh he does,” Kealan said. “His mum is the one who tried to retake the throne a while back.”
    â€œAnd you’re just now mentioning this?”
    â€œWhat, we brought him up before,” Keefe said.
    â€œBut you didn’t mention that he had that kind of grudge,” Duncan spat.
    â€œNorton’s a pissed off merrow, I grant you, but he wouldn’t actually kill anyone,” Kealan said.
    â€œYes, you’re assuming an awful lot.” Keefe added.
    â€œWhat choice do I have? I can’t think of any other reason someone would take a banshee, unless to use her as a weapon.” The thought made him want to vomit the food he just ate.
    â€œI know Norton’s an ass, but he’d never hurt anyone on purpose. He couldn’t,” Keefe said.
    â€œWhy not?” Duncan asked.
    Both brothers glanced at each other. Then back at him. It was obvious they must be questioning their own family loyalty.
    â€œYou can’t assume he’s hurting Cara,” Keefe said. “Or going to hurt her.”
    â€œI can’t assume anything else at this point. There’s no other reason to kidnap a banshee who’s about to scream than to use her as a weapon.” And Duncan had gone over the reasons for kidnapping a banshee—specifically Cara—for hours while they searched.
    Duncan picked up his cup and finished his drink, the two brothers sitting there, silently, and both looking like impending doom was coming.
    Unfortunately, Duncan knew exactly how they felt.
    He glanced at the meter on his arm. Time was growing short.
    â€œSo how bad is it, when they explode?” Kealan asked, tugging at the patch of hair at the base of his head.
    â€œIt’s bad.”
    â€œAre we talking human torpedo bad?” Kealan asked. “Or underwater mine bad?”
    â€œBoth probably. I’ve never actually seen a banshee explode, but from the records in the Realm, it’s really bad. Like leveling a city bad.”
    Both merrow stared at him.
    â€œI don’t know if it would level this place, but it sure would take out a lot of merrow and probably do a great deal of damage.” Duncan shifted in his stone chair.
    Keefe shook his head. “I can’t… The why . Why would someone do this? I mean, Norton Lynch has a grudge—”
    â€œWhat would Norton gain if, say, your whole family died?” Duncan asked. He hated asking this, but he had to.
    Keefe shrugged. “He’d be crown prince right now, I think.” He glanced at Kealan. “That sound right?”
    Kealan nodded. “Yeah, I think so. He’s the oldest.”
    Duncan raised his eyebrow. “You all better beef up security around here.”
    â€œIt’s been done. Dad put out a security alert when the word came down that a banshee was missing,” Kealan replied. “As far as Norton’s concerned, no one’s even seen him around here recently. He’s not a resident. He splits his time topside, being a mixed breed.”
    â€œDo you have a lot of mixed bred merrow?”
    â€œNot that many, really. We don’t encourage cross-breeding.”
    Duncan snorted. “You all don’t exactly encourage visitors of any kind.”
    â€œWe have our reasons. The mixing of the breeds is the biggest one,” Kealan said.
    â€œWhy is that a big deal?”
    â€œBecause there’s only so many of us. It’s not like there’s a colony of merrow in every ocean. This is it.