[Teaser Tuesday: better late than never, yes?]

MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW! Sorry!! Second books are difficult to tease without spoilers.

“These people …” Coda’s fingers are flying over their keyboards again, likely trying to gain access to whatever tech is beyond the passageway. “They care more about your purple eyes than your rank or, like, the societal standards or whatever normally keep you relatively safe. You don’t have your entourage to protect you, Mirth. Wait for them, then we’ll all look for the boy.”

“I never actually needed anyone to protect me, Coda.” I squeeze Kitty’s hand. “I’m in disguise, you see. The pearls, the perfect smile, the sweet demeanor. The crown. Underneath, slumbering deep, deep down, I’m the one to be truly feared. And there’s only one way to wake me …”

Kitty squeezes my hand back, not the least bit scared of me.

– Mirth, Part Two – fourth draft

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Are you new to the Conduit World? Content of note can be found on the individual book pages. The suggested reading order is as follows:

• Awry (Conduit 1)
• Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part 1
• Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part 2 – coming March (🤞) 2025
• Snag (Conduit 2) – currently writing

Teaser Tuesday: Mirth, Part 2

Mirth and I were forged from the same pocket of the universe. Everything my mother did to protect me, to care for me, steered me toward the destiny unfolding before me. My path tweaked and prodded according to my mother sight just enough for me to be standing here and now.

The revelation is overwhelming.

Mirth tugs on the bond between us. Just lightly. But it definitely snaps my attention back where it belongs right now. Had she been blocking that connection? Shutting it down along with the immense, intense power that now pours from her?

It doesn’t matter. Because now I know for certain it’s there. Now I know for certain why the burgeoning friendships with my other bond mates are so … unburdened with expectation. Now I know why other relationships were, are, difficult. Why I never really bothered to look for anything more than the most casual of connections.

Why I held Mirth in the garden at Lake Thun.

Why I gave her the peaches.

I can see all the strands of essence between us now, including the power spilling over the edge of the stage, creeping across the floor toward the nearest audience members. I’ve always had a sight for power — a genetic gift from my awry mother — but it’s never been this intense, or exact, before.

The why of that twists through my chest. As if Mirth herself is reaching within to grab hold of my heart. And lungs, because I’m not certain I’m breathing at all.

We strengthen each other, our gifts, just by being in close proximity.

The bond between us thickens, then grows taut.

“Lord Williams,” Mirth pronounces. It’s an outright claim, thrumming with power. “You’re standing on the wrong side of this all.”

Centuries of seeking the missing sections of our souls stretch between us, but only seconds have actually passed.

– Mirth, Part 2, Chapter Ten – fourth draft

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Are you new to the Conduit World? Content of note can be found on the individual book pages. The suggested reading order is as follows:

• Awry (Conduit 1)
• Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part 1
• Grand Romantic Delusions and the Madness of Mirth, Part 2 – coming March (🤞) 2025
• Snag (Conduit 2) – currently writing