Duncan grimaced. "Not good." He looked her over again, that critical eye seemed to see into her soul. After a moment, though, he let out a sigh. "I had hoped when I got you out of the water, your voice would come back."

"So what now?" Cara asked.

"I am waiting for-"

Two more fairies appeared. One looked like a healer, and the other had on a uniform like Duncan's.

"Nice spot," the one in the same uniform said.

"Shove it, Reese," Duncan said.

The guy with dusty blond hair-wet, blond hair-smirked and ran his fingers through the soaked locks. "At least get some shade." He waved his wand and a little orange and white cabana appeared with striped tent flaps down on two sides. "Shall we?"

Duncan escorted Cara toward the shady cabana. The heat, mixed with her already weak state, made it hard for her to walk, so she clung to Duncan. He scooped her into his arms like she weighed nothing and carried her inside. A big bed of pillows lay on the covered floor, and Duncan eased her into them.

The other man, dressed in different robes, pushed past Reese and came to Cara's other side. "Let's see what's going on." He gestured for Cara to lie back.

She stretched her legs and savored the warmth of the sand underneath the fabric floor. The scorching sun was blocked, the little cabana was dim, save for a couple of small lanterns in the corners. However the heat still wafted through the walls.

The other man ran his wand over her, like it was a medical scanner from a sci-fi television show. Cara wiped her brow, feeling a sheen of sweat starting already.

She tensed as the man examined her.

Duncan squeezed her fingers. "He's a healer."

She wasn't sure if it was Duncan's calming presence, or just knowing this wasn't some nut job running his wand up and down her that made her feel a little better. But she began to relax.

"I see. Uh huh. Yes," the other man said.

"So you can fix it, Tobin?" Duncan asked as he ran his thumb over her hand.

The healer shook his head. "This isn't magic. I've never seen anything like it. It's more than just a spell. It's like her voice has been taken out."

"So put it back," Duncan said.

"I can't if I don't have it," Tobin replied. He leaned back and straightened his shoulders. "This isn't a matter of finding it and putting it back."

"Then what is it?" Reese asked. He gestured to Duncan's arm, where a glowing orange thermometer thing hung near his wrist. "His meter is showing just under an hour before she erupts. We don't have time to screw around if we're going to save her."

Tobin waved his wand in the air. "There was something, once. I swear I saw it..." A huge book appeared, and he started thumbing through it, muttering to himself.

"Here." He held up the book, pointing to a page.

"What?" Duncan leaned in. Cara couldn't read it due to the angle, but from the strange expression on Duncan and Reese's faces, she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Tobin began to read. "aA banshee, upon entering a life-threatening situation, can shut down her voice to protect her existence. While extremely rare, it can happen, if said banshee is truly in dire straits.'"

"Let me see that." Reese pulled the book away from Tobin. His eyebrows went up as he read. "So she shut her voice down?"

"No, I didn't," Cara said. "I have no idea how to do that. I've never even heard of that!" And she hadn't. Not once had her mother ever mentioned that kind of power. Even in school, when she'd gotten a little bit of banshee history, she'd never heard of such a thing.

"Banshees release screams. That's what they do. They can't shut them down... That goes against their very nature!"

Tobin glanced at her. "It is very rare, but yes, it can happen."

"You're sure," Duncan whispered.

"It's in the book. Of course it can happen," Tobin said.

"Just because it's in this damn mandate doesn't mean-" Reese snapped.

Duncan cut him off. "Can she get it back?"

"It doesn't say," Tobin said. He glanced at Cara, and the dark look on his face seemed a bit too much like a doctor delivering a death sentence. "I'm sorry."

"So I will no longer be able to speak?" Cara asked, the idea strangling her thoughts.

Tobin closed the book. "It doesn't look like you will be able to again. Unless you find some way to release the hold on your voice."

She'd never be able to speak again. Never be able to talk. To release a cry? A powerful grief flooded her, rivaling the pain of the scream that begged to get out of her.

"So she's just going to die? Explode?" Duncan asked, his face stony white. His fingers held hers, tense and hard. Or maybe that was her squeezing his fingers.

"I don't think there's any way to reverse this. Not that we can do, in any case," Tobin said.

Reese glanced at her, then at Duncan. "Maybe she just needs to relax, and it'll come back."

"How the bloody hell am I supposed to relax?" Cara answered. The very thing they wanted her to do she had no control over, because she couldn't speak. She couldn't calm down...

The cry remained in her chest, rolling around, and she winced, the pain aching, and she started to see spots before her eyes.

"So this is it. This is what dying feels like," she thought.

Duncan's gaze snapped to hers. "Do not think like that."

"What else is there to think? I am going to die."

He shook his head, and glanced at the other two fairies, his expression still stony. "Is the danger squared away?"

"The Brothers had apprehended the suspect after you left with her. Whether they figured out what was going on, I don't know," Reese said. "We came with you to help for now."

"There is no suspect," Cara fired off. "My cousin Norton did this. He's crazy. Wanted to take over the human world, reveal mythical existence."

Regardless of what Norton thought, revealing the existence of mythical creatures to the humans was not a good idea. Everyone knew this. Any other day, she'd probably shudder at the idea. Though today, that whole scream-begging-to-burst-out-thing prevented that.

But it was common knowledge-humans would not do well if they knew that mythicals walked among them. Any time humans had an inkling of the mythical world, it led to all sorts of issues. Salem witch hunts, anyone? Spanish Inquisition? All mythicals kept their differences as private as possible, and it was an unwritten, respected rule among anyone who wasn't human.

Well, except for her kooky cousin, who tried to use her as a bomb. But that put everything about him in perspective, now didn't it?

Duncan glanced at her. "I figured Norton was responsible, but I wasn't sure about his motivation."

"He thought he could rule the humans. Rebuild an empire and all of that." Cara ran her hand through her hair and pulled it over her shoulder. She rooted around in the pillows to get a more comfortable position and hoped that sitting up would make the pain ebb.

Didn't they always say that fetal position was better for internal cramps and stuff? She pulled her knees to her chest.

Reese burst out laughing, jarring her from her internal debate.

Cara wondered what had made him laugh. Was there a starfish stuck to her butt or something? "What?"

Reese's laughter was getting heavier, and even Tobin joined in. Reese had to take a breath before glanced at Cara.

Gah, was he on something? Cara wondered.

"He wanted to rule the humans?" Reese snorted, his hand over his stomach. Evidently this was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "That's hysterical. Because humans will be so cooperative. They hate each other. That's like a goldfish trying to rule a zoo."

While Cara had considered Norton's plan absurd, she'd never actually thought it was funny. Especially since her explosive death was pinnacle to his success.

Nonetheless, Reese's analogy did amuse her a bit-she smiled.

Duncan, however, didn't find it funny. His gaze met hers, and it was dark. Angry dark. Like he could rip Norton's face off. Or maybe punch Reese for laughing. But his gaze remained pointedly on her. "You were the catalyst in his plan."

Cara nodded and clenched her stomach as the scream rocked around inside her. It felt like it tried to rip through her internal organs to find its way out. Sweat broke out in earnest on her brow and she hugged her knees even tighter.

She must have winced, because Duncan stroked her hair again. Cara could see the frustration painted on his face. So upset, Duncan's thoughts were barely shielded-she could practically hear his anger at her pain, and the little he could do to stop it.

And it wasn't Duncan's usual controlled thoughts-this was something else, deeper, more primal.

A side she'd never seen-or felt, for that matter-from her dear friend.

Duncan leaned down and kissed her brow, and wiped away the sheen of sweat. The soft touch of the kiss bloomed under her skin, a sweet sensation contrasting against the scream inside her.

The pain in his eyes, along with the worry, marred Duncan's usually handsome expression.

And more than his soothing gesture, something stirred inside her that wasn't the cry begging to get out-though how she registered it, she wasn't sure. Only that whatever it was, it connected to Duncan.

A cleared throat broke the moment between Cara and Duncan, and she blushed when she realized that the other two fairies were staring at them as they stared at one another.

But as soon as she made eye contact with Reese and Tobin, they glanced away, then at each other.

"We better go back, see if The Brothers have everything under control," Reese said.

"Right," Duncan replied and stood.

Cara stretched back out, since the curled up position wasn't helping. The three men walked out, and she tried to center herself. She took a few calming breaths-and it didn't have anything to do with the way Duncan had been staring at her. Nope, not a bit.

Okay, maybe a little.

It was just so odd to see such a play of emotions on his face, directed at her. They'd been friends for years. He helped her practice her telepathy, he even taught her about the Fairy Realm-things that weren't in the classroom texts.

They were friends.

Even that one time when he'd kissed her. That was all friendship.

Nothing else.

And nope, she wouldn't admit she remembered every bit of the sensation of his lips on hers, even fantasizing about it after for weeks. Okay, months.

Heck, she could probably draw the memory up now, if she wanted to.

But it wasn't that big of a deal. It was just...well...it was one of those things that had happened.

Inside those protective wings.

Right?

Yeah, right.

So why did she have such rumblies in her tummy-that weren't from the scream begging to get out-as she watched him and the others outside discussing the merrow?

It's the exhaustion. That whole "he saved me, my hero" thing, Cara chided herself. It had to be that. Nothing more.

It couldn't have anything to do with any feelings she had for Duncan for as long as she knew him.

Nope.

The other two fairies disappeared and Duncan came back inside the tent. Silhouetted in the dark, his shoulders were broad and tapered into his hips. In his navy blue wetsuit, he looked quite dashing. Flickers of light danced over the small knives and other pieces of metal he had strapped to himself.

He started removing the weapons and laid them on a low table in the corner of the little cabana. She watched him move, mesmerized by the way his simple actions were so graceful and purposeful.

And surprisingly erotic.

She blushed at the thought.

Whether he noticed, she didn't know, but he didn't acknowledge her probably red-as-an-apple cheeks.

"They're going to keep us informed about what's happening in the kingdom," Duncan said as he took a seat next to her.

"And what are you doing?" Cara asked. Shouldn't he be making himself scarce? This cry could erupt at any time.

If she could figure out how to release it, anyway.

And if it didn't, then, well, there would be this big boom, and he'd be caught up in it. He'd be one more casualty in Norton's sick plan. It was bad enough that she was a victim. Not Duncan too. If she had to die, then so be it.

If this was her destiny, then she'd live with that, but she couldn't allow her friend to be a part of it too. It was weird-she didn't understand why or how, but at some point, in the last few moments, she'd accepted the fact that she was going to...

Well, die.

Okay, so maybe she didn't completely accept it yet, because it made a big lump in her throat. But maybe more that she'd resigned herself to the inevitable?