Swallowing hard, I have to stop for a moment to fend off tears. Moving past the simple stuff, I push through all the barriers with the help of the boys and settle in to work on the single most important part of this—optic nerves.
If I fail here, it is all for naught. I pull from the well as I approach it, hoping that using everything we have will make this work.
It has to, or I might lose my marbles right here in the middle of the room, and no one will be able to stop it.
The Cat Concedes Defeat
DELILAH
It begins as a single spark in the viscous dark.
The new life, still unformed and shy in its powers, shudders and then, suddenly, my entire system is alive with light and charge. I feel it everywhere at once—in the crowns of my teeth, in the cartilage of my nose, in the tectonic plates of my pelvis, in the hummingbird flutter of the baby’s spine. Something wakes, and then the current surges, not just through my blood but through the entire room. My heart cedes control and for a moment, I am a passenger in my own nervous system, watching as Maeve’s will unfurls in an invisible net.
My girl is going to be so very powerful one day.
I sense myself as if I were her, still swimming in the warm, red-lantern world, but reaching up toward the sea of possibility. The magickal pulse thickens, forming words or intentions or something close to a demand. The world tilts briefly, as if the laws of physics are being rewritten nanosecond by nanosecond, and then something within Talia pops—her resistance shatters and her barriers fall. I watch as the neural tapestry in her headgets rewoven, every strand of self-preservation laced with a hair-thin thread of hope, hope that she can survive this.
The echo of laughter—a synesthetic giggle, familiar from dreams I had as a child—fizzles in my mind.
Then the light, the pressure, the sensation of being more than one being, recedes. Maeve, our impossible daughter, has saved the day again, for reasons I can’t yet understand, by means I can’t yet explain. The room is changed by the miracle, though no one except me knows it. I wonder if the others saw the color drain from my face or the way my fists clenched the covers as the baby did her work. I wonder how many times she has done this in secret already, and how many more she will do before the world learns her name.
Probably more than I’d prefer, to be honest.
I feel a maternal pride that is already half terror. This force growing inside me is not the life-force of a normal child, but something wilder than mere human biology. The world is not ready for her, not ready for a baby who can bend minds and rewrite destinies, not ready for a future where she might rule or ruin us all. But I am her mother, and I love her. I promise her silently that I will protect her, even if it means protecting the world from her. I promise her, too, that I will never let her be lonely, even if she is the only one of her kind.
Sliding out of my head, I check my work as I go. I let reality seep in and the bonds tying me to my mates go. I seal up the walls for myself and my primary, keeping our darkness in the dark until we are ready to deal with it and then seal my door up again. I move away, leaning back on the pillows to rest for a moment. I watch the boys wait, eyes on her, and I feel her fear as she sits.
Talia’s expression gets stubborn, and her eyes pop open, looking defiant. She looks at her husband first, a smile splitting her face. “Well, well, long hair. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”
His face brightens, and he squeezes her. “Thank bloody hell.”
I close my own eyes, letting everything inside me re-focus and re-energize from within. I always need a little downtime after large magickal endeavors, and since this is the biggest I’ve completed yet, I suppose I should try to regenerate.
“Hell no, buster. That’s not enough!” Talia leaps forward, knocking Rafe back and kissing all over his face, her joy apparent.
Taurus wraps around me, offering his strength as I re-coup.~Nice job, love. Very nice job. I love you.~
I nod, letting him hold on to me and give me warmth and love as I watch them. I worry about many things as I watch, but now is not the time to deal with any of it.
She pulls away from him, looking at me with a soft grin. “You, I think I’ll thank you later.”
I nod, not wanting to spoil the mood by saying anything.
Turning towards Taurus, Talia leans in and kisses him, forehead against his. “I love you, you old reprobate.”
Taurus is still holding Talia in the circle of his arms, his hands gently cupping the back of her skull like he’s afraid she’ll shatter if he lets go. She’s still perched on his lap, legs curled under her, one arm knotted around his massive shoulder. They rock together, two tectonic plates shifting under the pressure of a thousand histories—shared, secret, silent. Rafe is a statue on the edge of the bed; he hasn’t moved except for his eyes, which arewild and roving as if the world might shift its axis if he looks away for a microsecond.
I don’t blame him; he’s readying for the pain we will both suffer soon enough.
I watch Talia’s expression as she studies Taurus. Her face is soft, almost childlike in this light, but the set of her jaw says she’s not backing down. There’s something happening between them—some invisible conversation that rides on the current of their joined hands, their locked gaze. I feel a pinprick behind my left eye. There’s a magickal frequency here, a low thrum as she pushes her will out and he matches her, joust for joust. I strain to eavesdrop, but it’s not a dialogue meant for me; I only catch the aftershocks in the surface tension of the air.
Taurus’s mouth twitches like he’s about to speak, but he tightens his lips, nostrils flaring, and holds her closer. Then, without warning, he relaxes his grip and leans away, squinting at her like he’s reading a stubborn cipher. For a full thirty seconds, neither of them blinks. I’m used to their games of dominance, but this time something is off—it’s not about who wins, but about who will break the silence first, who will risk being the one to say it out loud and make it real.
I try to look casual as I inch closer to the headboard, putting deliberate space between myself and whatever is happening in the crossfire. The mattress dips and sighs under my retreat. I focus on the pattern of the sheets, tracing the paisley with my finger, pretending not to notice the thunderstorm brewing across the room. I am not a part of this; I tell myself, not really, not now. But even when you’re not the target, you still get caught in the blast radius.
Rafe and I arealwaysin the blast radius, unfortunately.
Behind my eyelids, the bright metallic colors of magick gone wild swirl. I let my breathing slow, regulate, and court the rhythm that always puts my mind back together after heavy work. But the energy in the room is a living thing, and it keeps finding seams in my shields. My heartbeat is a metronome, ticking away the seconds as Talia and Taurus continue their silent war.
