Ovation (Galaxy Circus #9)

Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Lila

“ W hat about the baby?” Melissa holds up the squealing infant.

“Pass her to me,” Brannock offers and takes her from the woman. He looks down at the precious girl with awe. “It’s hard to believe that not twelve months ago, I considered this baby’s father one of my best friends. It’s bittersweet to hold her while his remains are splattered in the other room because of me.”

“Don’t feel guilty. He deserved it,” I assure him, and he shakes his head.

“Oh, I don’t feel guilty. I’m just sad that she will probably suffer because of the kind of man he was,” Brannock remarks, alluding to the fact that Sanshia couldn’t even look at her.

“Don’t worry, there are plenty of us to love her, and it probably isn’t a bad thing if we take her in. You can teach her all she needs to know like you did with Chloe.” I lean in to have a look at the bundle in his arms. “She’s super cute,” I tell him, running a finger over one of the spines sticking out from her shoulder blades, wondering if our baby will be as cute one day.

“Do you think Nikos could feed her as well as the twins?” he asks, jiggling the bundle in his arms when she starts to fuss.

“I’m sure he won’t mind. We’ll ask him.”

“Ask him?” Marcus and Alina join us. “Who are you talking about?” My dad is all kinds of confused, and it’s really not a surprise. He’s been trapped in this basement building for a long time, so he’s probably forgotten about a lot of the species in the galaxy.

“One of my mates is Aquilian,” I tell him, bracing for the blowup. He isn’t coping well with all this news, but Mom’s eyes light up with knowing.

“And he has children?” she asks, obviously familiar with the possibility of Aquilian males having babies.

“Yes. He and I have two, and we have three more with another of my mates.”

My parents exchange a surprised glance.

“You have five children?” Dad stammers, and I can feel Brannock’s sympathy for him, but I’m not so kind.

“Congrats, you’re a grandpa,” I announce, giggling as he turns pale.

“I’m too young to be a grandpa,” he mutters, and Mom just laughs.

“Especially since it seems like they may be the same age as your son. I am also willing to take the little one. I’m still breastfeeding Bastien, and they can grow up together.”

“Thank you for the offer. I’m not sure if your nipples would be able to cope with her teeth,” Brannock tells my mom, using a finger to show us that she has a row of teeth, unlike a gummy human baby, and her eyes widen comically before she winces.

“Ah, yes, I hadn’t considered that.”

“Nikos is used to it. The merbabies have them too,” I tell her, but I know the truth—Brannock is already attached, and if her mother doesn’t want her, I’m pretty sure our family just grew by one more. I definitely need another nanny now, possibly two.

“Okay, I’m done,” Silac declares, standing up. “Tirrian can torch the place now.”

“Xavier, can you do your thing and make sure no one is left behind?” Saxon approaches and pulls me into his arms, giving me a kiss. It’s funny to watch Dad’s eyes bulge out of his head.

“I know you! You’re General Saxon of the Vilaxian army. We met at a diplomatic dinner your aunt hosted for the circus when we were on Vilax one year.”

“I remember. It’s nice to see you again, sir.” Saxon inclines his head politely.

“He’s older than I am!” Dad explodes, stabbing a finger in Saxon’s direction. “And he’s one of your mates?”

“Oh dear…” Mom sighs, and I roll my eyes.

“I think my dad’s brain just exploded. Someone sedate him until we can get on the ship, otherwise this is going to take forever,” I suggest, patting Saxon’s armor for another tranq.

Dad gasps and looks at me with hurt, but I don’t care. If he’s going to be a drama queen, I’ll treat him like one. “Lila, that’s not how you speak about your father,” he scolds.

“It’s not a terrible idea,” Mom muses, and he turns his attention to her, looking hurt.

“Here, sir, can you hold the child? I need to grab Chloe and Ghosie.” I watch with awe as Brannock hands my father the child, effectively distracting him from his man meltdown. I am so giving him a blowjob when we get back to the ship. I blow him a kiss, and Mom gives him a thumbs-up.

“He’s a keeper,” she murmurs to me as she jiggles my brother in her arms. Holy shit, a brother. I still can’t believe it. He’s uncle to my kids, and he’s the same age as them.

“What about us?” a voice behind us asks, and we find the four human staff members who are still alive waiting. The guard and the female scientist are not around, but I’m assuming they are either not breathing or are in cells back on the ship, waiting for us to question them.

“You are free to go, or you can come with us, and we can relocate you.” Xavier returns from doing his mist check of the facility. “Apart from us, there are no life-forms in the building, though I did find an interesting room filled with more cyborg sex warriors.”

“We all want to go, even if it’s just so we can see what a spaceship looks like,” Matthew replies, speaking for the four of them. He sounds giddy, and I can’t blame them.

“Okay, well, get moving. Head in the direction they went with the gurney. Is there anything you can’t live without? It isn’t going to survive the next half hour,” I tell them, and they shake their heads and move in that direction. They all have backpacks, so they must have packed their own stuff earlier when the kids did.”

“Guys, can you show Mom and Dad the way?” I frown at Ghosie, who’s still unconscious in the corner. “Do you think he will wake up if I heal him? He’s too big for us to move.” Chloe is sitting on his lap, singing to him and braiding his fur. It’s so cute, but I don’t want him to scare her if he wakes up.

“Nonsense, I’ve got this.” Xavier waves a hand, and purple magic wraps around them, and Ghosie levitates in the air. Chloe startles and looks around, but then she giggles and claps her hands as Ghosie turns into a flying carpet.

“Look at me, Daddy!” she cries.

“Let’s go. We will see you back at the ship, love.” Saxon gives me a kiss and steps away, and I nod. Silac, Brannock, and Xavier also give me kisses as Tirrian steps up next to me and grabs my hand.

“One, two, three, four, five?” my father mutters.

“Don’t forget the bear. He hulked out on us earlier and needed a nap,” Xavier tells him, and I’m just about ready to hulk out on him myself.

“Why aren’t you coming?” Mom asks, ignoring her husband.

“I’m going to give Tirrian a hand in burning this place to the ground,” I tell her, excited to let my dragon out of my skin.

“How are you going to do that? C4?” Dad asks, and Tirrian and I exchange a glance.

“Nope, dragon,” I tell him, and he gapes at the two of us.

“Dragon shifter?” He looks at my mate who started wearing his human form around the kids because they wanted to touch his wings.

“Yeah.” Tirrian drops the glamour, and wings burst out of his back through the slits in his armor. I don’t know why I didn’t get a pair that has wing slit holes. It would have made things a lot easier than stripping every time. It was poor planning on everyone’s behalf, but then I still needed to strip for my carevasta form anyway. Le sigh.

“We met the dragon royal couple one year when they came to the circus. Lovely people,” my mom muses, and Tirrian smiles.

“I’m sure Mom and Dad will be happy to hear that.”

“More royalty!” she exclaims, looking at me, and I wince.

“You have no idea,” I mutter, and Saxon and Xavier distract my parents, telling them they need to go. They disappear, and only Brannock remains.

“Give us fifteen minutes, and then you can torch the place. Radio the ship when you are ready to return and hit the locator beacon.”

He points to the button on Tirrian’s armor. “Yes, Dad,” Tirrian teases. “Now go give your daughter more cuddles if you can tear her away from the teddy.”

Brannock gives me another kiss and leaves, and suddenly, the room is silent and blissfully peaceful. I rub my temples, my head throbbing with the combination of stress and emotions. I wonder if I can heal myself. I try to activate my powers, but they don’t work, damn it.

“How are you doing?” Tirrian asks, scrutinizing me carefully.

“It’s been a lot,” I reply wearily, and he scoffs.

“That is a slight understatement.”

I head toward one of the open doors and peer into the cell the breeders were in. It’s better than I expected. It’s set up like a studio apartment. There is a bed and a small living space with a food preparation area and a door on the back wall, which I’m assuming leads to a bathroom.

“Wow, they really were encouraging them to play happy family.”

“Matthew said they would rotate people if they ended up not being compatible or attracted to the person they were with,” he tells me, leaning against the doorframe.

“Well, some of them must have been. There are twenty-five kids who prove they had some success.”

“Talking of success, how do you feel about your little brother?” he asks cautiously as I continue to poke around, grimacing when I notice cameras in the corners of the rooms.

“I wonder if they got to be themselves. You know, let their inner alien out occasionally, or if they were completely trapped. I’m surprised none of them didn’t go mad.”

“We don’t know that they didn’t, that’s why the Celestians are assessing them before letting them out in the wild. We don’t want to release unstable predators into the galaxy.”

I put the books I had been using to distract myself down and turn to face my mate.

“I’m happy, of course, but also pretty devastated that he came into the world in these kinds of circumstances.”

“Your parents look fairly attached to him,” he says as I move out of the room, brushing past him on the way. I guess he must be thinking of Sanshia’s reaction to her baby.

“Yeah, they did, but they obviously had a solid relationship before they got stuck in here. Thank goodness that stayed strong and didn’t break.”

“Your dad seems to be struggling to adjust to having an adult daughter.” Tirrian follows behind me as I move through the facility, heading toward the children’s quarters again.

“Yeah, it must be a bit of a shock. I was about four when they died. They only have memories of me at that age. It’s going to be a big adjustment for us, but I can’t wait.” I gasp and whirl to face my dragon.

“My grandparents! They are going to be so happy. Not only did they get their wife back, but now they will have their long-lost son and daughter-in-law with a bonus grandson. Oh, and Bubby. He’s going to be pissed he missed this.”

We didn’t tell Bubby of our suspicions about Lester. He’s probably sitting pretty in the circus pod, thinking everything is normal.

“Okay, how about we get these fireworks on the road? I don’t know about you, but a nice flight through the dark Nevada desert might be just what we need to distract us from all this.” Tirrian waves his hand around, and I sigh.

“Sounds freaking perfect.” I throw my arms around his waist and give him a hug. “Let’s hope they don’t pick us up on the Area 51 radar.”

He laughs and gives me a kiss. “That’s just keeping them on their toes. I’m sure there hasn’t been a credible UFO sighting in years.”

“They are called UAP now, thank you very much, and lord knows we are pretty damn phenomenal.”

I remove the dress Xavier conjured, and Tirrian’s eyes narrow with lust, and he takes a step closer.

“Easy, tiger, we have a hidden facility to destroy. If you keep it in your pants now, maybe before we hit the handy-dandy button, we can fool around a little.” I pluck the button off his armor. I left mine in my armor in the other room and won’t be able to grab it once I’m in dragon form, but at least we have one. Now how am I going to carry it? I remember one of the tricks Xavier taught me with warlock power.

I wave my hand, making a couple of gestures, and when I feel the interdimensional pocket form, I tuck the button into it, ready for when we finish flying. Tirrian’s eyebrows jump.

“That’s pretty damn handy,” he tells me, sounding impressed. “Can you put these in there too? They are my favorite.” He hands me two swords that he pulls from the scabbards on his back. I saw him wielding them before, and he was fierce. He then proceeds to strip off the rest of his weapons—knives, guns, and grenades—handing them to me. I roll my eyes but put them all in the hiding space, ready to retrieve at a later time.

Finally, he’s done, and he pulls off his armor and stands naked in front of me. “Well, I mean, I guess we have a few moments,” I say and step closer, running my hands over his body.

“Yes, absolutely. We can be quick,” he assures me and pulls me against him, his rapidly hardening cock pushing against my front as he takes my mouth with his.

It’s been a stressful day, so sue me for wanting to take a little stress relief.