Page 91 of The Hunted

“I’d like to know more about her.”

“Her?”

“Her. Them. The sea. How they live. Anything about them at all.”

Across from him, Corval’s brow knotted. “Why?”

“Because I asked. Need there be another reason?”

“Right, no,” Corval was quick to say. “My apologies.”

Eryx only nodded.

“What we know has mostly come from other realms—three of the nine kings are mermen. Their people often live in colonies. Families tend to be large and remain together through generations because it’s how they raise their young. A village, and all. Royals tend to live closer to land, for whatever reason. If they mostly stick to the seas, the colonies can be quite spread out.”

“What else?”

“It varies from sea to sea, my lord. Each kingdom is different.”

“So, you really know nothing.”

“I know enough,” Corval replied fast, his stare pointed and sharp, “because it’s what I need to know to hunt them safely and make enough to live happily.”

Eryx hummed under his breath, nodding to himself. “Fair enough.”

“It’s why I learned as much as I could about the mated pairs. They’re often the most dangerous, but especially when separated. It’s why when we’ve caught a male, if we can tell he’s one half of a mated pair, he’s usually bled dry before being killed. They become violent when separated from their mates. Uncontrollable. Unrecognizable. He won’t even be passed on as a slave or sold to another realm. It’s not worth the risk of keeping him.”

Now, that had his attention.

“The what?”

“The mates, Prince. They call it the bond. Not that I know how said bond comes to be, but mated pairs … they’re different from the rest. They live with their colonies, their families, make their young and whatever else, but together, they’re different.”

“How so?”

Why was his heart beating so loudly?

It felt like it was in his throat.

“We know it has something to do with their blood. The magic, you know. We think they can call to each other somehow.”

Eryx’s next breaths came a little harder.

Thicker in his lungs.

“And?” he urged.

“Well, if they can call, my lord, then they can find one another, too. And when a man of the sea can burn down half a village square in a single night while trying to get back to his mate, imagine what several of them might do to this kingdom.”

The story jerked a memory to life for Eryx. He remembered a fire, four seasons before, that had burned down half of a village square. Although, it had been blamed on lamp oil spilling onto a flickering flame. Or that was the story told. It made sense to lie about the fire’s origins. People would be a lot leerier about the hunts—more so than they already were—if they knew how truly dangerous the merpeople could be.

It also didn’t settle well with Eryx for more reasons than he cared to name.

Corval glanced over his way and flicked two fingers at him with a smile that almost chilled Eryx. It was like that smile said I know exactly what you’re thinking.

The man then shrugged, saying, “As I said, not worth the risk, really.”

He swallowed the lump forming in his throat.