"There's more," Thalia continued. "Lyra's laboratory contains dozens of other prisoners. Magical beings she's beenexperimenting on for years. If we can free them during the ritual disruption, they'll help us destroy her."
"Where is this laboratory?" Aidon asked.
"Hidden in a pocket dimension anchored to the old Riverside Mill, about twenty miles north of here," Thalia replied. "But it's heavily defended. The only way in is during the eclipse when the dimensional barriers weaken."
The implications were staggering. Not only did we need to stop Lyra's ritual, but we had an opportunity to free dozens of her victims and potentially eliminate her entire operation.
"We need a coordinated strike," Hades pointed out. "We must have multiple teams hitting different objectives simultaneously, with one protecting Phoebe and the babies."
"I'll go to the laboratory," I said, because apparently pregnancy had turned my brain to mush.
"Absolutely not," Aidon said immediately. "You're not going anywhere near that place. I have overlooked a lot, but that is not going to happen."
"I have to," I insisted. "The parasitic connections are centered on me. I'm the only one who can overload them. It’ll be more efficient from inside her sanctuary."
"She's right," Thalia said reluctantly. "The ritual requires the source to be present for maximum effect. But there might be another way."
She looked around the room, her gaze settling on each family member in turn. "What if we bring the laboratory to us? Force Lyra to conduct the ritual here, where we control the battlefield?"
"How?" Nina asked.
"Bait," Thalia said simply. "Make her believe she's won. Let her think the parasitic connections have overwhelmed your defenses and that you're helpless. She'll come here to claim her prize. And we'll be ready for her."
"Before you jump on that bandwagon, Queenie, I need to know every little detail of this plan," Aidon demanded. "If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right."
CHAPTER 7
Thalia took a deep breath, clearly organizing her thoughts under Aidon's scrutiny. "Like I said, we need to make Lyra believe the parasitic connections have completely overwhelmed Phoebe's defenses. She'd have to think Phoebe is helpless, unable to fight back."
"And how exactly do we fake that?" Hades asked as he prowled closer to the woman while allowing his power to leak out. It stung me across the room. It had to be more uncomfortable for her.
"Phoebe would need to lower her mental shields completely," Thalia explained while holding Hades’s gaze. "Let the connections flood in until they're so strong that Lyra can't resist the pull. She'll come here thinking she's won, ready to complete the ritual in person."
The living room fell silent as the full implications of what Thalia was describing sank in. Nina was the first to break the quiet. "You're talking about letting those things actually take over Mom's mind." Her voice was small and scared.
"Temporarily," Thalia said quickly. "Just long enough to?—"
"No." The word came out harder than I'd intended, surprising everyone, including myself. "I won't do that to myfamily. I won't make them watch me become something else, even for a few minutes."
"There has to be something else we can do," Nina said, her voice cracking like she was twelve again and afraid of the dark. The fear threading through her words hit me square in the chest, making it hard to breathe. "We can't lose you. Or the babies. We just became a real family."
I knew exactly what she meant, and it wasn't the Hallmark card version of family bonding. She hadn't shed a single tear when I'd divorced her father. Hell, she'd probably done a little victory dance when the papers were signed. We'd been playing house for years, going through the motions without any of the actual warmth that was supposed to come with it. But this thing we'd built with Aidon? This messy, chaotic, somehow-it-works bunch of misfits who'd found each other? This was the real deal. The family we'd all been secretly hoping for but never quite believed we deserved.
Jean-Marc nodded so hard I was surprised he didn't give himself whiplash, his jaw set in that stubborn way that was purely his father through and through. The resemblance hurt sometimes. Not because I missed my ex-husband, but because it reminded me of all the years Jean-Marc had spent trying to win approval from a man who barely noticed he existed. "We've survived everything else without turning Mom into monster chow. We'll figure this one out too."
Much like Nina, Jean-Marc had discovered what it felt like to belong somewhere, to have a family that actually gave a damn about him. He had finally found his place in the world and was scared shitless of losing it. The weight of that fear hit me like a freight train made of guilt and determination. It settled deep in my bones, making my chest feel too tight for my lungs.
"You're right," I said, reaching for both of their hands and squeezing tight. "We'll find another way."
Thalia's expression darkened, her frustration palpable. "You don't understand the timeline we're working with. Once the eclipse begins?—"
"We'll be ready," Hades interrupted, his divine authority filling the room like a physical presence. "But we do this intelligently, not desperately."
Clio stepped forward with a thoughtful expression. "Actually, there might be a way to strengthen Phoebe's connection to the babies without making her open herself up. Theoretically, she wouldn’t be putting herself in direct danger. Specialized meditation techniques."
"What kind of techniques?" I asked, intrigued despite growling coming from behind me.
"They’re actually ancient practices that allow pregnant mothers to establish individual communication with their unborn child," Clio explained. "If you can speak directly to each triplet, they can create a barrier that would protect you. We aren’t dealing with normal babies. They’ve shown an incredible amount of power already."
