Page 72 of First Light
Duncan looked up. “I suspect Cadell wants you safe more than he wants to know who killed Seren.”
I want both.
“He wants both.”
I am on the roof above you and will burn down the castle, grab you, and fly you to our horde if need be, Nêrys.
“Yeah, he’s got me covered.” She patted the journal. “And I have you, even though we don’t really… get along.”
“It’s not my job to be your friend—it’s my job to get you back to Scotland in one piece.” He looked at the door. “Where is Fiona? You need food.”
“Not Fiona,” Carys whispered. “Bonnie.”
Duncan growled and muttered something in Gaelic.
“Cadell says I can trust you,” Carys said. “He calls you the cross human, which is…”
“Accurate,” Duncan growled.
“Fairly accurate, yeah.” Could Lachlan and his twin be more opposite? “But I respect that grumpiness and I appreciate the honesty, okay? Cadell trusts you. That’s good enough for me. I think between the two of us, we can figure out my sister’s murder.”
“What?” Duncan stopped pacing, walked back to the table, and sat, propping his elbows on the table and staring at her. “Why do you think we could possibly?—”
“Because we’re both smart, and all English language speakers have been subjected to more true-crime entertainment than most of us ever wanted or needed,” Carys said. “We probably know more about solving crimes than the police here.”
“There are no police here.”
“See?” She spread her arms. “We’re already the best candidates to do this.”
“Why?” His expression and his elbows hadn’t moved. “Why should we?”
“Because she deserves justice.”
He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. “Why, Carys?”
“Because…” Carys’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I love Lachlan. I do. But?—”
“Part of you wonders if he killed his wife?”
“No!” She bit her lip. “Yes?”
Duncan raised an eyebrow.
“A very tiny, teeny-tiny part.” She held her fingers together. “Like…microscopic.”
“I’m not going to tell him you think that because it wouldcrushhim. Why do you think Lachlan could have?—”
“I don’t think that!” That tiny,tinypart of her wondered, but only because Cadell didn’t seem to trust Lachlan and Lachlan hadn’t told her his wife had been murdered. He didn’t even seem sure that shehadbeen murdered.
But what husband wouldn’t wonder if his previously healthy wife suddenly keeled over? Didn’t police always suspect the husband first? Or was Carys watching way too much TV?
“I suspecteveryoneright now,” she said. “If you hadn’t been in a completely different dimension when Seren was killed, Cadell and I would suspect you too.”
“You should.I’ma bastard.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “But Lachlan is nice and charming and not me at all. And he loved Seren madly.”
It stung even though Carys already knew it.
A muscle in Duncan’s jaw twitched, and she could feel the irritation rolling off him, but he let out a small sigh and the determined set of his mouth softened just a little.