The Flame Game (Magical Romantic Comedies #12) - R.J. Blain Page 0,61

Morrison. Hautlin’s mother had, a year after his birth, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving Morrison as the sole caretaker of the boy. Rather than raise his son, Morrison had sent him to boarding school, where he’d spent the entirety of his childhood.

I wondered about Hautlin’s last name. Had his mother wanted to erase Morrison from her son’s life? Had Morrison known about his son before her disappearance?

“What’s the matter, Bailey?”

“The guy I recognized is Morrison’s son. According to the NYPD’s file, Morrison had him sent away to boarding school. I don’t know why I recognized him, though.” I wouldn’t blame Haultin for having looked annoyed.

I’d probably made a mess out of his life.

“I bet you I know who knows,” my husband muttered, his tone dark. “My grandfather would have removed any memories surrounding Morrison he felt would disturb you.”

“More than I’m already disturbed?”

He scowled at me. “Bailey.”

I grinned. “Yes, Sam?”

“You’re a wicked woman. Please marry me.”

I giggled. “Considering I already told my father I’d probably make you marry me every year until we worked our way through every family tradition in our confused family lines, I suppose I must.”

“You suppose?”

Smirking at him, I closed my laptop lid and headed for the bathroom. “You have thirty minutes in the shower to present your argument.”

“As you wish, my beautiful.”

Ten

Do you think my tendency to be excessive comes from my father?

As promised, my father appeared, and he had all three of our pets with him. I took Avalanche from his arms, and the ocelot kitten purred and tried to nurse off one of my knuckles. “I’ll give you some milk soon, little baby,” I promised, setting her on the front seat and closing the door to keep her from escaping.

Sunny and Blizzard greeted me, washing my face with their cold, wet tongues.

“I took the liberty of teaching Sunny how to detect the rabies infection by scent. She will sit and bark twice if she detects the scent. Should she detect gorgon dust or bile, she will sit and bark three times.” My father handed me the leashes, claiming two of the cindercorn stuffed animals from the SUV and tucking them under his arm. “I will return shortly.”

He disappeared.

“Do you think my tendency to be excessive comes from my father?” I asked.

“There is no thinking involved on this one, my beautiful. I know it comes from your father. Your mother is the one who blurts embarrassing things, too. It seems you somehow managed to inherit many of their mannerisms.”

“Parasite!” I sang out, and I rewarded my puppies with kisses on their noses.

“Symbiont.”

“I’m definitely a parasite. I’m the best parasite. I managed to steal from the good parents, too.”

“Symbiont.”

We argued over which type of thieving organism I was until my father returned. Ra listened to our debate, which mostly consisted of reciting our opinion at each other while our pets watched in bemusement.

“You are both parasite and symbiont,” my father announced, gathering up the bags of goodies we’d purchased at the gift shop and filling his arms before he disappeared again. It took him three trips to gather everything we didn’t need so the puppies and kitten could fit in the SUV with their supplies. “You have made a good choice leaving your children in the care of a strong hive. They will be safest there. Should you contract rabies—”

I stared into my father’s bright eyes. “You mean when, right?”

He sighed. “When,” he agreed. “When you ultimately manage to contract rabies again, seek out alternative treatment methods. You do not wish to switch off your children’s immune systems so early in their development. Make use of that archangel or his brother. Both can handle that situation without testing them so early in their lives. I recommend the highest grades of transformatives for your general transformations, as that will ease the way for your children and adapt them to shapeshifting while in the womb. By the time their nervous system develops, the process will no longer be painful for them, should you indulge several times a week for the next few weeks.”

Score. “We’re going to need to hit up the CDC for more pills, Quinn. I’m out of the good ones.”

“Okay. Anything else we should know about her diet moving forward? How about my snakes?”

“A wise man does not interfere with a pregnant woman’s desire for conquest. This is an ancient truth. Their venom will not hurt your children, and it will help them develop their immune systems. Variety, however, is encouraged. As my daughter enjoys