Page 20 of Pregnancy Pains & Mystic Chains
Aidon let out a low whistle. "That wasn't easy, either. Mrs. Stavros was no amateur."
We followed Todd upstairs to what had clearly been a magical workspace. The metallic smell of blood hit me first. Mrs. Stavros lay crumpled near her desk. Her body was positioned with an unnatural precision that made it worse somehow. Deep cuts formed symbols across her skin. Her face was untouched and frozen in an expression of surprise rather than fear. Like she'd known her attacker. Like she hadn't expected...
I swallowed hard and forced myself to look away. Books and artifacts lined floor-to-ceiling shelves. Dried herbs hung from the ceiling like potpourri, and a ritual circle was permanently etched into the hardwood floor. On every wall, glowing faintly in the dim light, were the same symbols carved into her flesh.
"They were still glowing when I got here," Todd said quietly. "I cleared the scene and called you right away. Regular forensics would probably blame it on some new-age gang tags, but I wasn't about to chance it."
I moved closer to one wall, drawn by the familiar energy despite my churning stomach. The symbols had been carved with precise, deliberate strokes. This wasn't the frantic slashing you'd expect from someone who had torn through her wards. "This wasn't rage," I murmured. "This was purposeful."
Aidon nodded, keeping himself between me and Mrs. Stavros's body. "Like they were copying text from a book."
"What is the message?" Stella asked as she examined another section, her voice steady despite the paleness of her face.
"Or a warning." I pressed my hand against the nearest symbol. Power surged through me like static electricity. The mark on my belly flared in response. Images flashed through my mind. They began with Mrs. Stavros at her desk, surrounded by books.
"Phoebe, look at this," Stella called from the desk, carefully avoiding looking at the body of our friend. She held up a receipt. "Madame Rosewood's Antiques on Cedar Street. Dated two hours ago."
"That place has been closed for years," Todd frowned.
"To mundies, yeah," I explained, grateful for any reason to look away from the scene before us. "But for those with magic, it's been open for business ever since. Mrs. Stavros must have found something there."
Stella nodded and said, "We should check it out."
"Be careful," Todd warned as we headed for the door. "Whatever did this..." He gestured to the symbols and then to the body. "It's still out there."
"We always are," Stella assured him with a quick kiss. I didn’t miss how her hand trembled slightly. "Tseki and Murtagh will pick her up and take her to Bridget. We'll call if we find anything."
The drive to Cedar Street was tense. None of us spoke until we pulled up outside what appeared to be a dilapidated storefront. Faded letters spelled out ‘Madame Rosewood's Antiques’ above windows so grimy they probably hadn't seen Windex since the Carter administration. "Ready?" Stella asked from the backseat.
I turned my head and noted she was clutching her bag to her like a life jacket. Given that there were emergency magic supplies in there, it very well might. "As I'll ever be." I got out and waddled toward the door. Aidon joined me and placed an arm around my shoulders. One of my hands went to my belly where the triplets were unusually still. Either they were sleeping. Or they had more sense than their mother about walking into potentially dangerous situations.
A bell chimed as we entered. It wasn’t your typical brass shop bell. It sounded like crystal wind chimes in a hurricane. The glamour fell away, revealing shelves packed with magical artifacts and ingredients. Ancient texts sat in glass cases, and crystals hummed with contained power.
"Can I help you?" A voice like autumn leaves called out. We turned to the side in unison. The woman behind the counter looked maybe thirty. Her eyes said she remembered when the continents split.
"We're here about Mrs. Stavros," I said carefully. "We were hoping you might have information about what she bought here earelier.”
Aidon took up a position behind me and kept his hands on my shoulders. “Perhaps she was researching some symbols."
The woman's expression didn't change, but the temperature in the shop dropped faster than a skinny-dipper in a Maine winter. "I'm afraid I can't help you."
"She's dead," Stella said bluntly. "She was murdered. And she had symbols carved into her flesh and walls."
Now the woman's mask cracked. Fear flickered in those ancient eyes. "You shouldn't be here," she whispered. "Especially not you." She looked pointedly at my belly. "The old magic is stirring. The children must be protected."
"Protected from what?" I demanded. I was sick and tired of cryptic warnings. "What do you know about our babies?"
Instead of answering, she began muttering in a foreign language. Objects throughout the shop pulsed. Wind that shouldn't exist indoors whipped through the aisles, smelling of ozone and possibility.
"Time to go," Aidon grabbed my arm and then Stella’s and pulled us toward the door.
We burst out onto the sidewalk just as every window in the shop imploded. Instead of glass, shadows poured from the broken panes. They writhed like smoke before splitting into two groups. One set dissipated into the night air. The other coalesced into something with teeth and claws that lunged straight for us.
I threw up a protection shield at the same time Aidon snarled, "Get back!" Aidon shouted as he stepped between us and the shadows. Darkness rolled off him in waves as he called on his Underworld powers. His eyes blazed with hellfire, and the temperature plummeted as he reached out with both hands. The attacking shadows recoiled as if burned by his touch. They recognized a higher power when they saw one.
"You dare?" His voice echoed with otherworldly authority as he began to pull the shadows apart. Their screams soundedlike nails on a chalkboard. My gaze was torn between watching him and scanning for the other shadows to attack from behind. I’d never seen Aidon force anything back into their base components. "This is my family you're messing with."
Stella and I pressed together. My shield flickered as more shadow-creatures tried to flank us. But Aidon wasn't having it. He moved like a dancer. Each gesture was precise and deadly as he systematically destroyed the attacking shadows. Only the smell of grave dirt and frost was left behind.
