Page 47 of Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part Two

“The duke …?” Isla shifts in her seat. “And Bolan and … Sully too?”

“Worried that you’ll never get the chance to fuck the pretty Lord Savoy?” Christoph says mockingly.

Isla reels back.

I slowly remove my sunglasses. The bright light pouring in the windows is seriously uncomfortable, but I set the glasses down next to my water and just look at Christoph. His fingers twitch in my hand.

“Sorry, fuck,” he says, clearing his throat. “I’m just here for support. Just … at least three of the tables behind you are filled with the assholes in attendance last night. Plus …” He jerks his head in Isla’s direction.

Isla’s eyes are wide, her expression wounded now.

Noah leans across the table, lowering his voice and no longer playful. “What is it, Mirth? What’s wrong?”

I’ve been thinking, on repeat really, of how to broach this subject with Isla since before I made the call to have the lunch arranged.

“Is … Sully actually Lord Savoy?” Isla asks meekly, as if she knows she should probably keep quiet but can’t help herself.

That kind of knowledge, and the connections it potentially represents, is powerful in our world.

Christoph huffs.

Noah’s hand comes down on Isla’s knee. Heavily. I can’t see his arm or hand under the table, but she all but leaps out of her chair in response, then looks just a touch chagrined.

“Do you recall an incident that took place at school when you were … thirteen or fourteen, Isla? Noah, you would have been …”

He laughs. “Much older.”

I smile genuinely at the other awry’s attempt to smooth the tense conversation. “That year, Armin and I left school abruptly, about a week before summer break.”

“And you didn’t come back …” Isla says in a rush of remembrance. And just a bit of anticipation. “Not until second semester the next year.”

Again, knowledge is power in our world. Unfortunately, Isla isn’t going to like what I’m about to tell her, for one of two reasons. Either she already knows, or she doesn’t.

“You were younger than me. I wasn’t certain it was even something you’d noticed.”

Isla laughs sharply. “Mirth, we all revolved around you and Armin. We ranked ourselves according to who was in your classes, how closely they sat next to you, who you talked to in the corridors or in the dining hall. Being selected to be your partner in class, or even better, with a joint assignment outside of regular hours? That elevated your partner’s status for the rest of the year! ”

I blink at her.

“And … you had no idea we even existed.”

“Hey,” Christoph interjects.

Flustered, Isla raises a hand. “That’s not … that’s not what I meant.” She takes a breath. “So yes, I noticed. The rumors were rampant. No one knew why you left early.” She glances at Noah for confirmation.

Her awry chosen shakes his head, keeping his now deeply wary gaze fixed on me. “After my time, dou-dou. Way after.”

“When you didn’t come back, we heard that …” Isla glances around, dropping into a whisper, “I mean, of course, these sorts of rumors always follow …”

“The awry?” I interject ever so helpfully.

Noah snorts.

Isla huffs. “I’m just reporting what I heard, not what I thought. Even though it wasn’t in the papers or anything, the rumor was that you were attacked, that Armin was wounded, and maybe even other people died.”

“They did.”

“Goodness … everyone thought maybe Armin killed them, defending you. Was it a kidnapping?” Isla rears back, eyes widening as she covers her mouth in dismay. “Did you … did they succeed?”

I raise my hand to stop her from panicking. “It was an attempted kidnapping. I wasn’t … harmed. Armin didn’t kill anyone.”

Isla smiles, relieved. Then she transitions from concerned to slightly smug at uncovering the truth in almost an instant.

Until I add, “I did.”

Isla’s eyes widen. “But you … you …” She clamps her mouth shut.

I give her a moment more, but she shakes her head, just listening now.

“The timing seemed odd,” I say. “But if I’m honest, I barely gave it any thought in the aftermath.

It’s only after a conversation with Elias and an incident that occurred last night that I’m starting to piece a bit more of it together.

” My gaze drops to my abandoned sunglasses, and I resist the urge to put them back on as I recollect the evening.

To hide my purple eyes as I continue hiding from my past, from what I’m truly capable of. Even from myself.

But I don’t. I don’t put the glasses back on.

“I was out unsupervised with Bolan that night at school. We had a … misunderstanding, and I headed back to the dorm alone. My power manifested, and I was … concerned about controlling it.”

“Happens to all of us,” Noah murmurs quietly.

I nod. “When one of the school security guards approached me outside the dorms, I ran instead of going back to my room. Armin eventually found me. But the guard must have been working with the kidnappers and watching for exactly that opportunity. They made an attempt to grab Armin and me.”

“Ridiculous,” Isla mutters. “To try to take you at the school. Plus everyone knows, knew, what Armin was capable of. And you, you, Mirth, have always been an unknown. That’s even more disconcerting.”

Christoph tugs his phone out of his suit jacket and slowly raises it, as if filming over my shoulder.

I glance in that direction. The occupants of the table two over and three across from us are in the process of leaving. Their food sits uneaten.

“What are you doing?” Isla hisses at Christoph. Then she cries, “Ouch!” and slaps Noah’s shoulder. Presumably, he’s squeezed her knee a little too firmly.

“Last night?” I ask Christoph.

He nods.

“What have you put together, Mirth?” Noah asks quietly.

“Have you had any dealings with the Mobius Group?”

His lips thin. “No. Thankfully.”

“The Mobius Group?” Isla asks, not moderating her tone at all now. “But they’re —”

Christoph shifts his camera as the diners at the table right behind Isla abruptly get up and leave. Their gazes are firmly fixed on the exit, away from us.

Isla snarls under her breath. “What is going on here?! The Mobius Group is just a modern-day legend, right? Like the Illuminati.”

“Not a legend,” Noah says tersely. “What happened last night?”

I look him in the eye. “Can you guarantee that Archie isn’t involved?”

“What?!” Isla cries.

Another table of diners gets up in unison, all of them hustling out of the dining room.

“A sound shield?” Christoph prompts Noah.

The other awry bristles. “It’s impolite in public. Plus I’m not the only awry here.”

Christoph chuckles, darkly amused. “You really don’t want Mirth casting anything in your vicinity.”

“But that was Tegan and Amanda Bristol,” Isla says. “And I play tennis with Christina Dunworth on Tuesdays. What are you suggesting?”

Noah keeps his gaze fixed on mine. “You’re saying that the Mobius Group was behind your attempted kidnapping at the school.”

“Unconfirmed,” I admit. “I … ah … I wasn’t asking questions at the time. And anyone I left alive was summarily taken care of by my father. And the royal guard, I suppose.”

Isla moans quietly, then slaps her hand over her mouth.

I’m starting to feel as if I’m torturing the both of them.

Noah suddenly looks drained, and Isla is barely hanging onto her composure.

But I continue, “Last night, the Mobius Group kidnapped two children under my protection. The children might have been drawn to the attention of this group by my … interest in them.”

“Unlikely,” Christoph says.

“It’s possible,” I say stiffly.

“You’re not to blame yourself,” he says. “And it will not happen again.”

I turn my attention to Noah. Of the two of them, he’s the only one following the path I’m about to connect.

“Awry children?” he asks.

“Kitty is awry. But her brother, Tommy, is a rare shifter breed.”

He nods, as if all this information lines up perfectly with whatever he already knows about the Mobius Group.

“I took the children back.”

Noah’s jaw clenches. “Archie was with me all night. Besides that, I know him. He’s mine. Bound to me like you two are bound to each other.”

“What?” Isla asks, quietly pained. “You and Archie? But …” She shakes her head, straightening her back. “That’s not … important right now. Please, Mirth. Continue.”

“In the process of finding and retrieving the children, we made certain discoveries last night. Investigations are ongoing.”

“And then you asked us for lunch,” Isla says, chin held stiffly but her voice thin. “You think the Mertons are involved … somehow.”

“I know they are,” I say gently. “I stood face-to-face with your father and allowed him to walk away because the children were hurt, and that was more important in the moment.”

Christoph tilts his head in Noah’s direction. “You could also be complicit. It’s not unusual for an awry to turn on another awry.”

Instead of exploding at the accusation, Noah just looks at me calmly. “Hence, lunch.”

I nod.

“I’m … not really following,” Isla breathes.

“Mirth knows when we’re lying,” Noah says matter-of-factly. “A minor ability among other much more … robust talents, I presume.”

Isla sways slightly, as if she might faint.

“A drink of water, perhaps?” I say.

Noah pushes the glass into Isla’s hand, then helps her sip from it. “What are you proposing, Mirth? Will there be an official investigation?”

“Oh, universe,” Isla mutters, sounding sick.

“The Mobius Group is too powerful for anything quite so mundane,” Christoph says. “The fact that a chapter this robust has operated here, where the awry have ruled for centuries, is … a little unbelievable.”

“Where have you come across them?” Noah asks.

“New York. You?”

Noah shakes his head. “Just … rumors. And that one wrongful death of another awry at school. At least ten years before Mirth’s time there. But … some things make a lot more sense now. About the … structure of the Merton bond group.”

“What do you mean?” Isla asks shakily. “This … you can’t all be serious. What are you saying? Speak plainly.”