Page 55 of Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part Two

M IRTH

“A plane!” Kitty gushes, grabbing Tommy’s arm and jumping in place at the end of the long kitchen counter. “We’re going on a plane!”

“I know,” her brother grumbles around a mouthful of the pancakes Christoph made us all for breakfast. “I’m right here.”

Kitty turns her dark-blue eyes on me where I’m filling the dishwasher.

Even highlighted in the light streaming through the side windows of my apartments in London, not even a hint of purple hides in the depths of those eyes this morning.

Her hair dances around her neck in perfectly defined curls, courtesy of Sully’s fabricator magic.

“Sully … um, Lord Savoy says we’re going to need snow boots and ski jackets.”

I nod. “The new clothes will be waiting for you at Waterfell Castle. And it’s okay to call us by our names when it’s just the family.”

Kitty stills for a moment, then she nods almost shyly. “Family,” she says, as if testing out the word. Then she looks at Tommy sharply. “I told you.”

“In private,” he says mildly.

Eli, still seated at the dining room table and reading an actual newspaper — he had six delivered earlier by courier — sets his teacup into its saucer. With a noticeable clink.

Both kids glance over at him.

“Have you packed everything you want to take with you?” the earl asks.

“Yes!” Kitty bounces on her heels.

“Yes, sir,” Tommy says.

“Go double-check your bags,” Eli says. “We’ll all meet at the front door.”

Kitty takes off. She wears an adorable skirt-and-sweater combo today, a swirl of light blue and fuchsia pink, with three iridescent rhinestone bracelets on her left wrist.

Tommy, in jeans and a zippered merino top, bumps his shoulder lightly against mine before sauntering off after his sister at a more sedate pace. I touch his back as he passes.

Kitty’s voice emanates from up the hall that leads to the bedrooms, sharp and demanding. “The rest of us are all ready to go!”

“I see that,” Bolan says, sounding still half asleep.

“You don’t even have shoes on!” the young seer says.

“It’s Mirth’s plane,” Bolan says. “It doesn’t take off without the princess.”

Kitty huffs, then stomps away.

Eli is trying to repress a smile as he neatly folds his paper.

He catches me eyeing him and smirks. “You know it’s because you’re perpetually pissed at Bolan, right?

Kitty’s picked that up. Just like it’s going to take Tommy time to relax around Rian.

Though that’s likely due to other male figures letting him down.

The kids are yours, first and foremost. As it should be. ”

Bolan wanders into the kitchen, black hair deliciously mussed, T-shirt untucked over his jeans, and yes, barefoot. Partway through making a beeline for the coffee, he spots me. A breath later, I’m pinned up against the kitchen counter and being thoroughly kissed.

When his mouth falls to my neck, which I helpfully tilt back and to the side for him to ravish, I gasp, “You were getting coffee.”

He hums contentedly, then whispers in my ear, “Did you sleep well, my Mirth?”

With his warm breath across my ear and his voice rumbling through me, my nipples tighten, and I actively suppress a groan.

“Yes, thank you,” I say, just a little breathless.

I spent the late evening with Rian. But wakeful, and after getting up to check on everyone else, I found Sully and Bolan in my bed in the early-morning hours.

Eli steps into the kitchen. His light-blue eyes are sharp yet still warm as he watches Bolan practically maul me good morning. He rinses his teacup and sets it to the side of the sink.

Bolan pulls away from me with a groan, then steps back to pour the last of the coffee into a mug.

I gather myself, then remember to close the door to the dishwasher.

The rock star lounges back against the counter, takes a huge swig of coffee, then nods toward Eli.

“We’re not going to get a better moment,” he says.

Eli pulls a blister pack of pills out of the pocket of his suit jacket, holding it in the palm of his hand.

“I researched this and picked it up yesterday. The side effects, if there are any, should be minimal, and it won’t interact badly with your current birth control. ” He extends his hand toward me.

I flush. “I’m not due for my shot for another month.”

“That’s not entirely effective, Mirth,” Eli says.

Still flushed, I glance over at Bolan.

He shrugs and takes another sip of his coffee. “You know we haven’t been great with the condoms.”

Eli moves a little closer to me, lowering his voice. “Mirth. All of this is your choice, but I know the bond is overwhelming right now. I nearly fucked you on the dining room table without a thought about anything except that you asked for my cock, and I wanted nothing more than to give it to you.”

I lean against the counter for support because my legs are suddenly a little weak … at the earl’s utterance of ‘fuck’ and ‘cock’ … and the remembrance of him pressing me to the —

Bolan crowds against my other side, leaning close enough to pointedly breathe in my scent. “That’s not a helpful train of thought, Princess. Not when we have a plane to catch.”

I look down at the blister pack in Eli’s palm.

“Just an extra precaution,” the earl says.

I meet his gaze, then Bolan’s, as a tiny sliver of sadness slashes through me. “You … you don’t want kids? With me?”

“I’ll fuck as many kids into you as you want,” Bolan says, quietly fierce. “We all will.”

“Not me,” Eli says gently. “Not with the possibility of passing on the wasting sickness. But I will very happily raise all of our children.”

I glance between them both again. “But … not now.”

“It’s your choice, Mirth,” Bolan says. “But Eli’s research says that even on regular birth control, the intensity of the bond clicking in for all of us at once might, like … override it.” He glances at the earl.

“Yes. Perhaps nullify it,” Eli says.

I understand why Eli is sensitive to this subject, watching a parent waste away from an illness he might pass on genetically … so I take the blister pack from the earl, popping the first pill out and into my hand.

“Do you have our timeline all worked out in among your plans and paperwork, Earl?” I ask, trying for teasing but still feeling oddly sad. Or maybe disheartened.

“You don’t have to take it, Mirth,” Eli says a little stiffly. “But yes, I was thinking … five years.”

“Five years?”

He nods. “That will let the soul bond settle between us, and it will allow you to focus on Kitty and Tommy.”

My eyes snap up from the pill in my hand to meet the intensity of Eli’s gaze. “What have you uncovered?” I ask him, heart suddenly in my throat. “Their mother …?”

“Packed,” Bolan practically spits, dumping the rest of his coffee in the sink, then putting the mug in the dishwasher.

“Packed?” I echo, confused.

Eli sighs. “There is evidence that Gail Walsh received a large sum of money the afternoon before the kids were taken. She then transferred that sum into an account that she immediately drained and closed. She bought train tickets. With cash.”

“Two,” Bolan adds. “One adult, one kid. Coda caught Gail on camera at the bank and the train station while initially trying to track the kids.”

“According to Greg, who was at the apartment during that first search for the kids, Gail Walsh appears to have emptied her closet, plus packed a bag for Tommy,” Eli says. “The bag for Tommy was still there.”

I feel a little light-headed. “Kitty did say that Tommy wasn’t supposed to have been taken. But I still hoped … I hoped … maybe in the panic of it all, that the kids might have been mistaken about …” I shake my head, swallowing the rest of my useless words.

“I don’t think the payout was for Tommy,” Eli says, his cool tone only a thin veneer for the anger I can feel simmering underneath.

“I think he got in the way. And whatever sniffer they sent to verify that Kitty was awry got a whiff of Tommy when he tried to get Kitty away from them. He was a late addition to the auction. Maybe the cage was set up for Kitty. Or maybe, as Christoph assessed, the plan was to … let her mature into her power before selling her.”

My stomach churns hopelessly even as I remind myself that we got to the kids …

“And their mother?”

“Used one of the tickets,” Bolan says caustically.

“Then at one of the stations way before the destination, she got on a different train, then another without a ticket. Maybe she got her hands on other ID, or maybe she disguised herself so well that even Coda couldn’t keep track of her.

But the trail is cold. For now. She’s gone. For now.”

I look at Eli. “Or … or someone already went after her …”

Eli frowns. “Why would they …” Then he puts it together. “First-generation awry blooded …”

“She passed it on to Kitty. Plus the cath palug shifter gene to Tommy. That makes her too valuable to just walk away.”

“Coda will keep looking,” Elias says.

Bolan rubs his brow. “The kids …”

“We should tell them,” I say quietly. “But … maybe we give it a little time?” I glance at Eli, then at Bolan.

They both nod. “Let’s get settled at Lake Thun, but …

before they head off to school. We should have more information by then.

Or more clarity, at least. And if the elder Mertons are deeply involved in the Mobius Group, then having Isla dismantle it all from within might … give Coda more leads?”

Eli and Bolan both nod, then fall thoughtfully silent. I look down at the contraception pill in my palm. Eli is right. This is not the time to add more complications — however welcome they might be — to our lives.

I take the pill.

Eli steps back to pour me a glass of water. I drink it.

Bolan kisses my temple, flashing me a grin. “Apparently, I need shoes.” Then he saunters out of the kitchen.

Eli takes the still half-full glass from me, sets it on the counter, then pulls me into his arms. I tilt my head up, face pressed into his neck.

“We’ll take care of them,” he murmurs.