Stolen Dream

Chapter Three

Keenan entered the private chamber of the Sovereign with a casual air that few would dare to exhibit in the presence of the ruler of the entire ocean's population of merfolk.

He winked at the Sovereign's attractive attendant and faced his friend and leader. "What's up?"

Sanyo looked troubled. "I've been told there's been a strange sighting near the Andros Barrier Reef. Something not quite mer and not quite human has been spotted in the area, far too close to shore for one of us to safely go. I'm sending you to investigate."

Keenan nodded. He was the Sovereign's top investigator, tasked with looking into disappearances and oddities whenever they happened or were discovered, no matter what part of the world they occurred on. It would be nice to investigate so close to home for a change. "Just a sighting, no other intel?"

Sanyo shook his head. "That's it."

"I'll look into it."

"It could simply be a human wearing one of those horrifying fake tails again, so be careful," Sanyo cautioned, not wanting his friend to get into trouble.

Keenan flashed a cocky grin. "I've got it. I'll report as soon as I know anything."

Sanyo nodded. "Thank you."

Keenan appreciated that the Sovereign was always polite. It was a nice trait. Even after years in his position of power, Sanyo was still the same sweet kid Keenan had grown up with.

They had once been best friends and competitors—that was, until Sanyo had discovered that the father he hadn't known about was the Sovereign right before him.

It was a complicated story with his brother, Keyvon, the Sovereign's legitimate son, wanting out of his birthright so he could live in exile with his mate, who had an execution order hanging over her head for speaking to a human. Sanyo's brother had fought their father to remove him from power. He'd won, barely, before passing his right to the Sovereignty on to Sanyo.

That had all come to pass over twenty years earlier.

Sanyo had reconnected with Keenan shortly after he'd taken over the reins as Sovereign and  had given Keenan the option of nearly any position working for him that he could ever dream of.

Keenan had wanted to be an investigator. The work was important to him and their species, the power he wielded to uphold the Sovereign's laws second only to the Sovereign himself, and he got to meet new and interesting merpeople on an almost daily basis.

It was a rewarding job, all in all, and Keenan couldn't imagine doing anything else with his life, though he still, admittedly, collected human relics, just for himself.

It was an old hobby that died hard and he was proud of the size and diversity of his collection. He was sure it rivaled even the most dedicated collector's since he had the benefit of traveling far and wide to add to his.

Some of the places he'd seen in the line of duty would boggle the minds of most. Investigating disappearances often meant he was tasked with finding remains and destroying them before they could be discovered by humans.

He'd been in some very unusual places, places he wouldn't have ever considered going if he wasn't duty-bound to explore every possible avenue before reporting that his mission was complete.

He'd found some awesome stuff. He kept a satchel with him on his missions so he could bag and bring home anything that appealed to him.

Seems he wouldn't need to bother bringing it with him this time around, though. Not when he was only going to be a hop, skip, and a quick swim away from his home.