Mom and Nana exchanged worried glances before redoubling their efforts on the protection circle. Nina closed her eyes and put her head on the wall. She was getting the rest she needed to gather strength. She wanted to be prepared to defend against further intrusions.
I placed both hands on my belly. The triplets stirred beneath my touch. Their magic pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat. They were tired but resilient. We'd survived another crisis. "Get stronger, little ones," I whispered. "We're all going to need every ounce of power we canmuster when Lyra makes her final move." And as if in answer, three distinct magical signatures flared briefly beneath my hands. It was a promise from unborn children who already understood far too much about the dangers threatening their family.
CHAPTER 10
The late afternoon sunlight slashed through my bedroom window like golden daggers. It cast shadows that stretched like grasping fingers across the worn floorboards. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest from hours of enforced stillness. The triplets had finally settled after their magical explosion—the one where Nyssa had somehow channeled her power through our connection to Aidon and Stella. Thank all the gods above and below for small mercies.
I couldn't shake the image of that shadow creature attacking Stella—the way it had moved like oil over water, unnaturally fluid and utterly wrong. If Nyssa hadn't found a way to channel her freaky baby magic through our connection to Aidon, my best friend would be worm food. The thought made my stomach heave.
Nina had passed out in the armchair by the window, her mouth slightly open, one arm dangling toward the floor. Her face looked weirdly peaceful despite the shitstorm we were living through. I envied her ability to sleep through the apocalypse like it was a boring Tuesday.
A soft knock jerked me from my thoughts. The door creaked open—seriously, no one in this house had heard of WD-40?—and Jean-Marc shuffled in. He carried a leather-bound tome that looked older than dirt. The book probably contained at least three curses and the recipe for eternal youth. His eyes had the haunted, bloodshot look of someone who'd been mainlining caffeine for days. The dark circles underneath resembled bruises.
"You look like hell froze over, defrosted, then froze again," I greeted him.
He attempted a smile that faltered before it reached his eyes. "You should see the other guy." His voice was sandpaper rough.
"The other guy being ancient books and endless research?"
"They're barely holding it together." He dragged a chair beside the bed, the legs screeching against the floor. "I found something." The weight in his voice made my heart stutter.
I shifted against my pillows, wincing as the babies stirred inside me. They rolled and stretched like they were doing underwater aerobics. "Hit me with it before I die of suspense."
Jean-Marc carefully opened the tome, revealing cryptic text in a script that looked like drunken spiders had danced across the page. The yellowed parchment crackled ominously. "This text mentions a 'willing sacrifice' requirement to complete the ritual." His finger traced lines I couldn't begin to decipher.
"What kind of sacrifice?" My mind raced with possibilities, none of them good. "Please tell me it's something easy like 'sacrifice your favorite chocolate bar' and not 'sacrifice your firstborn’."
"It's not specific but suggests someone intimatelyconnected to a Pleiades witch must serve as a conduit." His expression darkened. "Someone like me, Mom, or Nina."
The information churned my already sensitive stomach. It wasn't surprising that Lyra needed one of my family members—the bitch had always been predictable in her evil schemes. It was the methods she would use to force the "willing" part that turned my blood to ice water.
A violent crash from downstairs interrupted our conversation, sounding like someone had taken a wrecking ball to the living room. Jean-Marc sprang up instantly, magic crackling around his fingers like electric blue lightning as Nina jolted awake with a snort. "What the actual hell was that?" she asked, disoriented, hair sticking up on one side.
Another crash answered her, followed by shouting that sounded distinctly like Selene cursing in three different languages. My heart hammered against my ribs as I struggled to heave myself up. The triplets protested immediately, sending a wave of nausea through me.
"Stay here," Jean-Marc commanded, moving toward the door, magic pulsing visibly around him. "I'll investigate."
Before he reached it, the door flew open with enough force to dent the wall behind it. Stella stumbled in looking like she'd gone ten rounds with a meat grinder and lost spectacularly. Her shoulder was bandaged with what looked suspiciously like a torn t-shirt, blood seeping through the makeshift dressing. Her clothes were shredded and splattered with something black and viscous that smelled like rotten eggs. Aidon followed right behind her, his normally perfect appearance marred by a nasty gash across his cheek that leaked golden ichor.
"They tracked us," Stella gasped, slamming the door and leaning against it like she expected something to burst through any second. "Corrupted nature spiritsfollowed us from town! There are dozens of them waiting out there, and they're pissed."
"What? How?" I demanded, fear sharpening my voice to a blade.
"We stopped for supplies," Stella explained, wincing as Nina helped her to a chair. A fresh bloom of red spread across the makeshift bandage. "Everything seemed normal at first. Boring small-town America at its finest. Then we noticed something off about the trees in the park. They were... watching us." Her voice dropped. "Trees aren't supposed to have eyes, Phoebe."
"Before we could react, they transformed," Aidon continued, his voice the calm eye in our hurricane of panic. "Dryads, sylphs, even water spirits from the fountain. All corrupted, their natural forms twisted into nightmares. They attacked as one, like they shared a hive mind."
"We barely got away," Stella added, grimacing as Nina prodded at her wound. "Ow! Watch it, would you? Selene, Tseki, and Murtagh are handling them with the shifters. But there are so many... and they keep coming."
Another explosion rocked the house, this one so powerful the windows rattled in their frames and dust rained from the ceiling. The babies stirred restlessly, their magic pulsing uncomfortably against my organs like someone was playing kickball with my insides.
"The corrupted spirits said others are turning," Stella continued, voice breaking. "Lyra's infection is spreading through supernatural communities everywhere. Beings once peaceful are becoming violent. It's like a magical zombie apocalypse out there."
The bedroom door crashed open again, and Nana rushed in, silver hair wild around her face like a storm cloud, clutching her shotgun lovingly against her chest. The barrel gleamed with runes that definitely weren't factory standard. "We've got company," she announced cheerfully, looking far too excited for a woman her age. "And they're not the friendly kind."
"How many?" Aidon asked, shadows gathering around him like loyal pets.
"Enough that I'm using the good ammunition," Nana replied, patting her shotgun affectionately. "The stuff with blessed silver and phoenix ash." Her eyes glittered with unholy glee. "Hades just arrived with news. And honey, it ain't pretty."
