"Duck!" Aidon roared as a particularly massive tome swooped overhead like a leather-bound bat out of hell.
The ritual room erupted into chaos. Books zipped through the air like possessed projectiles. The light streaming in through the stained glass windows caused their pages to cast strange shadows. The historical artifacts displayed around the room decided to join the party. They flew into the air and created an obstacle course of floating candlesticks and levitating ritual tools.
"Protect the pregnant lady!" Nana shouted as she brandished her walking stick like a lightsaber. She didn’t need it as much anymore, but she kept it collapsed in her purse just in case. "And somebody stop that ceremonial chalice before it makes a break for the street!"
The ancient chandelier above us began to swing like a pendulum. Its crystals chimed in harmony with the whispers from the books. The sound resonated with the symbol on my belly in a way that made my blood vibrate.
Mom and Nina worked in tandem. Their magic created shields against the literary assault while Selene and Layla tried to corral the flying books. The ones that seemed most active were arranging themselves in a circle around me.
"This is definitely not Lyra," Mom admitted as she deflected a book that looked like it was bound in scales. "She's more 'death by dagger' than 'death by library.'"
The symbol on my belly flared like a supernova. Suddenly, I could understand what the whispers were trying to say. I hadn’t even heard them a moment ago. The words bypassed my ears and went straight to my brain. They carried images of powers so ancient they made the gods look like teenagers at a high school party. The Titans, then?
"Oh, this is not good," I muttered. Unfortunately, it came out as, "Lo, portents most dire do unfold before us, heralding doom with scholarly fury."
"What do you see?" Aidon demanded.
Before I could answer, every book in the room dropped to the floor at once. They landed with a synchronized thud that made the floorboards shake. As the dust settled and the books finally stopped their aerial acrobatics, I couldn't help but notice how the afternoon light streaming through the stainedglass windows highlighted the ancient symbols now scattered across the floor.
"Well," Bridget said, brushing dust from her sleeve, "I haven't seen anything like that since the Yule Disaster of '83."
"Do tell," Stella perked up, momentarily forgetting about the chaos surrounding me.
"Another time," Bridget interrupted, her eyes fixed on the books strewn around us. "Right now, we need to focus on what just happened and what it means for Phoebe and her children."
A heavy thud from above interrupted our conversation. The sound echoed through the house like a drumbeat. “Was that in that lighthouse room?” I asked.
Everyone in the coven nodded at the same time. "We need to find out what that was," Nana declared and then turned to head for the stairs with the kind of determination that usually preceded property damage.
We trooped up after her. Our footsteps were oddly muffled on the normally creaky stairs. Even the portraits were suspiciously quiet. Though I caught several of them nudging each other and pointing upward. I felt like I was stuck in one of the Harry Potter movies.
When we reached the top, Nina eyed the door to the lighthouse room as if it might bite her. As her mom, I moved close and offered support. "Maybe we should have called for backup. Or at least brought our dragon," she suggested, onlyhalf-joking. Tsekani would be there in five minutes if I called him.
I was sidetracked by the faint glow seeping from beneath the door. It matched the rhythm of the symbol pulsing on my stomach. The light had an odd quality to it. It was like sunshine filtered through seawater. Though, given my current predicament, it could have been glowing like a disco ball, and I wouldn't have been surprised.
"I vote we send Aidon in first," Stella suggested. "He's the most durable."
"I planned on going in first. Anything to keep Phoebe from facing whatever perils lie beyond," Aidon replied as he moved around Nina.
The door opened before he could reach for it. It swung inward with a creak that wasn't part of the house's usual repertoire of spooky sound effects. Inside, the circular room was exactly as I'd seen it last. Well, except for the glowing symbols now etched into every available surface. They were all identical to the one marking my belly.
The books from downstairs had somehow beaten us up here and were arranging themselves in a perfect circle in the center of the room. One particularly ancient-looking volume floated up from the circle. Its pages were turning by themselves as if searching for something specific.
Nana squinted at the nearest book. "Well, isn't that interesting," she said.
"What is?" I asked. “What does it say?”
The floating book's pages suddenly stopped turning, and a single piece of parchment slipped free. It drifted down like an autumn leaf to land in my outstretched hands. It hummed with enough power to light up a small town.
"Well," Lilith said, peering over my shoulder at the parchment, "I believe the universe is trying to tell us something."
"It's definitely connected to the babies," Bridget said after studying both the parchment and the symbol on my stomach. "But this isn't any magic I've encountered before."
Lavina nodded, her earlier hostility forgotten in light of the afternoon's events. "The way it's affecting both magical and mundane objects reminds me of old stories. Very old stories." She shared a meaningful look with Lilith. "We'll need to consult some of our more... restricted texts."
"Restricted as in 'don't let the youngsters near them' restricted, or restricted as in 'might eat your face if you open them wrong' restricted?" I asked, earning a snort from Nana.
"Both," Lilith replied. Her usual formality was softened by amusement. "For now, document everything strange that happens. And perhaps..." She hesitated. "Perhaps it would be wise to have someone stay with you who's versed in containing magical outbursts."
