Page 32 of Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part Two

“Tommy and Kitty are why you’re establishing the scholarship,” Elias says, still perfectly steady and apparently perfectly informed about everything I’ve done in the last three days. “Yes? We’ll start with that.”

My stomach sours at the implications. “They deserve to be … normal. Have a normal life.”

Elias grimaces, just a little. “If they’re ours, then they’re already not normal.

Look at the configuration of the bond group already.

You and Armin, awry. Three shifters, all with a little extra mixed in due to an awry-blooded parent or grandparent.

Yes? A dual-specialized fabricator mage, and me with a rare affinity.

Have you ever heard of one bond group containing two awry before? Let alone the rest of us?”

Elias lets that question linger between us. I don’t respond right away because I don’t actually have an answer.

“If you feel a pull toward them, it’s likely that Tommy and Kitty are already not normal,” he finally says gently. “And even if they aren’t ours, we’ll protect them.”

My screen lights up before I can respond. I read the text messages from Greg as they come in, one after another.

No one answering the buzzer at the apartment.

Lock on the exterior front door is busted. Not necessarily related, looks like older issue.

No answer at the door. Need probable cause to enter.

Elias gets up, crosses around the table, and pulls the neighboring chair closer to me. He leans over to read the messages, then gently takes the phone from me and types:

Send them in. I’ll take responsibility. – Elias

They’re in. Used a prior noise complaint as cause.

Elias rests his hand on my knee. I clasp it tightly.

We wait. My screen goes black multiple times, with me lurching forward to wake it. In the end, Elias turns off the automated sleep function.

The time passing aches through me.

Then finally Greg texts again.

I’m on site. Apartment empty. Could be trashed. Could always look like this. No sight of the kids. Beds unmade.

Elias texts back. Have they been taken?

No blood. No overt signs of a struggle. We’re checking local hospitals.

I’ve got the locals going door to door.

The techs are trying to trace the phone again. Any phone.

Feeling as though I’m moving oh so slowly, I take the phone from Elias and text Greg.

I need contact information for Miller Hernandez, please.

Miller, of the California-based Hernandez bond group, is the tech genius who conceived and designed the tech we all use in our everyday lives, including the phone I gave the kids.

And even though I abruptly ended my matchmaking event and didn’t choose the Hernandezes, I already know Miller will help me if they can.

I’ll get you a direct line.

Elias touches my cheek gently.

I smile at him reassuringly. “Don’t worry,” I say, feeling perfectly calm— but also as if I’m not wholly inhabiting my body. “They’re mine. I’ll find them. I’ll protect them.”

He swallows at whatever he sees in my gaze. “We’d better wake Sully and Bolan.”

“And Christoph,” I say, speaking without thinking through the request ahead of time. Without even thinking of the why behind it. Why does it feel like I’m going to need all of them, even if they aren’t yet mine? “He’s in the city, yes?”

Elias nods. “I’ll text the duke as well. He’s staying at the club, though. They have a no-phone policy throughout the common rooms.”

“Thank you,” I murmur, settling my attention back on my phone.

Elias crosses through the great room, heading through the main hall to wake Sully and Bolan, but I linger in that pocket of light over the dining room table, surrounded by the yawning darkness of Armin’s apartments.

No. My apartments now.

Our apartments now?

It’s only been a few days since my conversation with my father, a few days since I walked away from the matchmaking event.

Walked away with what I thought was a firm understanding of the why .

Why I wrote that list of names under the influence of the intersection point.

Why I was drawn to the men who were clearly Armin’s soul-bound mates — because my name wasn’t on the list.

After further revelations about the responsibility of holding and stabilizing the intersection point, I’d come to another understanding — a resolution — that I would have to choose the Merton bond group.

That they, with their strong generational bond, were my only option.

It wouldn’t be a love match, of course. But I have no doubt that I could have formed a solid friendship with Isla and Noah and maybe even Archie.

But that resolution — the idea of accepting the Mertons just because their generational bond group is so well established — seems like … an evasion now. The path of least resistance.

I tug one of Elias’s contracts across the table toward me. It’s open to the final page with his, Bolan’s, and Sully’s signatures set in black ink, plus two empty spots for Christoph and Rian.

My name isn’t on it because they all think I’m their crux.

They think they’re meant to revolve around me. Just as I had always wanted to revolve around Armin. Had needed to revolve around Armin. He grounded me, made me feel safe within my own skin.

Because the other choice? Accepting what I was capable of? That was too much, too hard. Too scary.

Even before my primary power exerted itself, I was always happy in Armin’s shadow.

Happiest when I was tucked right behind him.

And after my mind-destroying ability manifested, it was easier to subvert it when I was within Armin’s powerful sphere.

Easier to let him be the heir and to shoulder all the expectations that came with that role as well.

That too was the path of least resistance.

I didn’t want to be a murderer. To wield an ability that gave nothing back to the world. It was easier to tuck it away, to hide it, creating a bubble around myself that just grew thicker through the years.

The screen of my phone flashes with the switchboard number, and I know that when I accept the call, Miller Hernandez will be on the other end of the line. When I accept the call, I’ll be accepting whatever happens next. Whatever it takes to protect those who belong to me.

I’m a princess of the realm. The heir to one of the seven intersection points. So the list of people I owe my protection to is actually staggeringly long.

I’ll think about that later. Much, much later.

I tap the screen, accepting the connected call and putting it on speaker at the same time. Even with his shifter hearing, I doubt Bolan can pick up much of the conversation all the way through both apartments. But I’m not hiding any of it from my … my suitors.

“Mx. Hernandez,” I say, my tone perfectly smooth, “I do apologize for disturbing you.” I’m actually not certain if the Hernandezes are back in California or still in Europe. I’m either waking Miller or interrupting them at work.

Their voice is as steady as mine, though, and warmer than I expected. “It’s wonderful to hear from you, Mirth.”

I smile, happily surprised at the tech shifter’s use of my nickname. “I have an issue that I’m hoping you can help me with.”

“A phone you’re trying to track.”

“Yes. It’s an older model of yours, I believe.

” I rest my gaze on the phone. Miller’s personal contact photo is displayed on the screen.

A sunset across a sandy beach with two figures in the background holding hands.

I don’t have to lean closer to know it’s a shot of Miller and their chosen, the model-actress Taylor.

“I’m not certain what you can do that the royal guard techs haven’t already done … ”

“Your techs have sent me what data they have. Their tracking software is very advanced. Even if the phone was simply powered off, or just broken, they should still be able to pick up a final location. My understanding is that they’re getting nothing at all from it?”

“I don’t know the particulars. Simply that I’ve been concerned about the children I gave the phone to, and one of the techs noticed it was offline. For lack of a better way to put it. They’ve done an on-site visit, and the children aren’t at home.”

“Some evidence that the house might have been broken into,” Miller murmurs, as if they’re talking while only half listening. “Or at least not all that secure.”

“Yes.”

“I’m running everything through my software and our satellites as well, but …”

“You see exactly what the royal guard techs see.” I sigh. “I just … this is perhaps an overreaction … but is it possible for you to track the children in other ways?”

Miller laughs quietly. “Not legally. And likely not any better than your royal guard techs, who have more jurisdiction than I do. I assume they’re currently looking for the children’s guardians as well?”

“I’m sorry for even asking. I’m … I was hoping you’d have … a backdoor, to the phone tech, at least.”

“Also highly illegal.”

I sigh again. “I’m not sure why I’m bothering you. I just … you came to mind.”

“I’m glad I did.” There’s a pause. Then Miller speaks almost hesitantly. “Are … are the children like you? Is that why you think they’ve been taken? Are they awry?”

“I’m not certain. I think … they might be. As far as I know, they haven’t manifested yet.”

Silence stretches between us before Miller speaks again. “There is … someone else.”

All the hair on my arms stands up, as if the energy of the universe has just ever-so-lightly brushed up against me.

It’s a tiny touch of the intensity I felt before writing that list of names — my possible soul-bound mates — under the influence of the intersection point.

I don’t know how it’s possible to feel it now at my apartments in London.

“Maybe I shouldn’t even mention it,” Miller murmurs. “I stay out of that world now. Unless there’s something I can do from the sidelines without jeopardizing my bond group …”