After the attack, Clio had wasted no time getting me settled upstairs in my bedroom. The plush mattress that had once been my sanctuary now felt like a prison. My swollen belly rested like a mountain between me and freedom while everyone else bustled around the house. They were strengthening defenses and preparing for Lyra's inevitable return. I should have been down there helping.
"It's for the babies," Clio had emphasized during the thorough examination that followed the battle. She'd spent hours with her hands hovering over my abdomen. Her healing magic probed gently to assess each baby. "The magical feedback from the temple ritual, combined with the portal destabilization and Lyra's attack, has put you in a dangerous situation. The babies are at risk. I wouldn’t do this unless it was necessary."
Her words still rang in my ears. "Every time you use significant magic, their power responds in kind, creatingcascading reactions that trigger contractions. And these aren't ordinary babies, Phoebe. Their magical signatures are completely unprecedented. The only thing I know with certainty is that they need more time in the womb."
I'd watched as she scribbled a list of restrictions longer than my arm. No spellcasting. No getting up except for bathroom breaks for one full week. And minimal movement after that. No ward repairs. No magical discussions that might trigger emotional responses. No defense planning. And no sex. The last was the hardest. Aidon wouldn’t even fool around with me.
"Your only job," she'd declared with that terrifying healer's authority that managed to make even immortal gods comply, "is to keep these babies inside you for at least another month. Everything else is secondary."
A knock at the bedroom door interrupted my brooding. "Come in," I called, feeling a twinge of hope that it might be someone with interesting news or, at the very least, decent conversation.
Aidon entered, carrying a steaming mug that smelled of Mythia's special herbal tea. Deep shadows under his eyes revealed the toll of the past seventy-two hours. While I'd been confined to bed, he and his father had been working tirelessly on the wards.
"How are you feeling?" he asked as he set the tea on my nightstand and brushed a kiss against my forehead.
"Bored. Frustrated. Useless." I gestured to the pile of baby books and magazines Stella had brought me. "If I read one more article about diaper rash prevention or proper swaddling techniques, I might spontaneously combust. And we both know that would violate Clio's 'no magical outbursts' rule."
The corner of his mouth twitched upward, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "You're far from useless. You'reprotecting our children, which is the most important task of all. And no one else can do it but you."
"How are the wards coming?" I asked, ignoring his attempt at placating me. I needed information more than comfort right now.
Aidon sighed as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. He looked wearier than I'd ever seen him. "It's... complicated. Lyra didn't just breach them. She poisoned them."
"Poisoned?" I shifted to sit up straighter, wincing as my back protested. The triplets reacted immediately to my discomfort with a flutter of magic that zinged through my veins. The teacup on my nightstand levitated briefly before I managed to calm myself.
Aidon helped me adjust my position. How he picked me up like I weighed nothing was a mystery. I was the size of a doublewide trailer. "Easy. Remember what Clio said about staying calm."
I took a deep breath, focusing on regulating my emotions as the babies' magic settled. "Tell me what's happening, Aidon. I can handle it."
He sat on the edge of the bed and chose his words carefully. "The anchor points of our wards—the places where protective magic is bound to physical locations—have been corrupted with a type of dark magic that feeds on our attempts to repair them."
"Like magical antibodies?" I asked. Having spent over two decades as a registered nurse, medical terminology was my default frame of reference. Of course, I had begun melding it with magic.
"Something like that. Each time we try to establish new protections, the corruption adapts, requiring us to cleanse it with a different approach. Hades recognized some of the techniques. As I’m sure you can guess, it’s ancient dark magic that hasn't been usedin millennia."
My hand instinctively moved to my belly. "How long until we're secure again?"
"At least five more days," he admitted. "Maybe longer. We're having to essentially rebuild our entire protection system from the foundation up. We've decided to extend it to include my property, as well." He’d convinced my neighbors to sell him their house so he could be close to me. I had added wards to him, but his property was basically separate from mine. Now they would be one. That felt right.
It was the only thing at the moment. The weight of vulnerability settled over me like a suffocating blanket. Five more days of being exposed, with three magical babies and a homicidal witch gunning for us. The lamp on my bedside table flickered in response to my anxiety.
"I should be helping," I said, frustration edging my voice. "I know those anchor points better than anyone. This is my house, my territory."
"And you are helping by keeping our children safe," Aidon insisted, placing his hand over mine on my belly. "The best thing you can do right now is rest."
A knock interrupted us. Nina poked her head in and had an uncharacteristically serious expression. "Hey, Mom. Dad." The fact that she called Aidon 'Dad' without thinking spoke volumes about her stress level. She admitted to feeling guilty for considering him a father when her real one was in North Carolina. "Sorry to interrupt, but we've found something you both need to know about."
Aidon's posture stiffened. "What is it?"
Nina entered fully, carrying what looked like a collection of random household items. My favorite coffee mug, a small decorative mirror from the guest bathroom, and a paperweight from my office desk. "Remember those gifts that started arriving a few months ago? The ones with no return address that we assumed were from well-wishers after newsabout the pregnancy spread?" She placed the items on the foot of the bed. "They weren't gifts. They were spies."
"What?" I gasped, staring at the innocent-looking objects.
Nina nodded grimly. "Jean-Marc sensed something off about the hand mirror you got. I left it in the bathroom after I plucked my eyebrows this morning. Anyway, he insisted something was off. When we investigated it, we found surveillance charms embedded in it. And dozens more items throughout the house. Some are from recent deliveries, but others have been here for months."
My skin crawled at the thought of Lyra watching us, learning our routines, our defenses, and our private moments. "She's been studying us all along."
"Like a predator stalking its prey," Aidon growled. His shadows briefly swirled around him before he brought them under control.
