Page 13 of Hexy Bear
"Then I continue as I have for the past century," Ruth said with a shrug that was entirely too casual for the circumstances. "I pick you off one by one, starting with the most vulnerable. Tilly's little friends at school, perhaps. Or the other supernatural families in town who depend on my protection. So many people could have such unfortunate accidents if the three of you prove to be uncooperative."
The binding magic suddenly intensified, pressing against them with enough force to make breathing difficult. But instead of panic, Griff felt something rising within him. The same protective fury that had driven him to shield his family from the shadow beings, amplified by the magical connection he now shared with Mara and Tilly.
"You made one mistake," he mentioned, his voice low with the effort of speaking against the magical pressure. "You taught us to work together. You showed us how to combine our abilities. And you gave us something worth fighting for."
Ruth's eyes narrowed as she realized that the binding magic, instead of weakening them, was actually strengthening the connection between the three of them. Their shared resistance was creating resonance, their combined will pushing back against her control.
"Interesting," she murmured, her knitting needles moving faster as she attempted to reinforce her magic. "But ultimately futile. I have had centuries to perfect my abilities, and you have had days to discover yours."
That was when Nico spoke up from behind his desk, his tone tinge with confidence an individual who had spent months preparing for exactly this confrontation.
"Actually," he said, opening one final book that blazed with light bright enough to make Ruth hiss and shield her eyes. "Theyhave had centuries. Every generation of their bloodlines, every ancestor who fought to protect their communities, every founder who gave their life to create the original binding. All of that accumulated power, all of that inherited purpose, it doesn't just disappear when someone dies."
The book in his hands was revealing text that wrote itself in golden letters across its pages, words in languages that predated human civilization. "The original founders didn't just create a prison for ancient entities. They created a legacy, a magical inheritance that would activate when their descendants were threatened by something that sought to corrupt the very foundations of supernatural community."
Ruth's confident expression finally cracked, revealing the alien intelligence beneath. "That's impossible. I destroyed those records. I eliminated every reference to the legacy protocols."
"You eliminated the official records," Nico corrected with satisfaction. "But you forgot about the books themselves. Ancient texts have their own memories, their own loyalty to the truth. And they've been waiting a very long time to tell the real story of what happened to Mordaine Ashglen and what her sacrifice was meant to protect."
The binding magic suddenly snapped, releasing all of them at once as Ruth's concentration faltered. But instead of attacking, she smiled but it held no warmth whatsoever.
"How delightfully educational," she said, rising from her chair with movements that were far too fluid for human anatomy. "But I'm afraid playtime is over. If you won't join me willingly, then I'll simply have take what I need by hook or by crook."
The air in the bookstore began to thicken with malevolent energy as Ruth's human disguise finally started to slip, revealing something ancient and hungry underneath. But ever since the crisis began, Griff felt ready for whatever was coming.
They weren't victims anymore. They were the inheritors of a legacy that had been building for centuries, and they were finally strong enough to claim it.
SEVEN
GRIFF
The confrontation with Ruth had left them all shaken, but it was the escape that truly rattled Griff to his core. One moment the entity wearing Ruth's face had been preparing to strip their magic by force, and the next she had simply... vanished, leaving behind only the scent of ozone and a promise that echoed in the sudden silence of the bookstore.
"This isn't over, children. I'll be seeing you very soon."
Now, three hours later, Griff stood in his kitchen staring at a cup of coffee that had gone cold while his mind raced through everything they'd learned. Nico's revelations about the bloodlines, Ruth's centuries of manipulation, the legacy magic that supposedly ran in their veins, Tilly's role as some kind of magical catalyst for powers that had been dormant for generations.
It was too much. All of it was too much.
"You're going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep pacing like that," Mara said softly from the kitchen doorway.
Griff turned to find her watching him with those green eyes that seemed to see straight through his carefully constructed defenses. She'd changed out of the clothes she'd worn to the bookstore, trading them for one of her vintage floral dresses, thisone in shades of blue that made her look like she'd stepped out of a painting of summer meadows and peaceful afternoons.
The domesticity of the image, the simple normalcy of her presence in his kitchen, hit him like a physical blow. How was he supposed to reconcile this quiet moment with the knowledge that they were all targets of an ancient entity that had been manipulating their families for generations?
"Where's Tilly?" he asked, his voice rougher than he intended.
"Upstairs, drawing pictures of the shadow friends and asking Mr. Gruff very important questions about magical theory." Mara moved into the kitchen with that unconscious grace that always made him want to watch her longer than was strictly appropriate. "She's handling all of this better than either of us, I think."
"She's six years old," Griff said, running his hands through his hair. "She shouldn't have to handle any of this. She should be worried about playground politics and whether she'll get the toy she wants for Christmas, not whether some cosmic horror is going to use her magic to destroy the world."
"But she's not just any six-year-old," Mara pointed out gently. "She's Tilly Cooper, daughter of a bear shifter with wolf heritage who's spent five years learning that protecting the people you love sometimes means facing impossible situations. She's got your courage, Griff, and your instinct for doing what's right even when it's terrifying."
The approval in her tone about his parenting with such confidence, made something warm and dangerous unfurl in his chest. He'd been questioning every decision he'd made regarding Tilly since her magic had first manifested, wondering if he was strong enough or wise enough or simply enough to give her what she needed.
"I don't feel courageous," he admitted, the words emerging before he could stop them. "I feel like I'm drowning. Everything I thought I knew about our lives, about this town, about who we are and where we came from, it's all been lies. And now there's this thing wearing Ruth's face, talking about breeding programs and magical manipulation spanning generations, and I'm supposed to figure out how to protect my daughter from something that's been orchestrating our entire existence?"
Mara set down the mug she'd been holding and moved closer, close enough that he could smell her perfume and see the golden flecks in her green eyes. "Griff, you've been protecting Tilly from impossible things since the day she was born. This is just... a bigger impossible thing."
