Page 14 of Bedrest Blues & Otherworldly Clues
She nodded, quickly explaining her own encounter. As she spoke, I noticed Aidon's shadows behaving strangely and extending toward me. One moment they thickened defensively around us, the next they thinned almost to transparency.
"Your powers," I murmured, touching his arm. His shadows had never come out like this before. "They're unstable."
He looked away, jaw tight with frustration. "I can't seem to control them properly. Not since we discovered what Lyra plans to do with the triplets."
"It's the conflict within you," Persephone said, her voice carrying the wisdom of millennia. "The discord betweenyour protective nature as a father and your desire to hunt her down. When such fundamental aspects of divinity clash, the power itself becomes chaotic."
"I should be able to master this," he growled. His shadows deepened with his self-recrimination.
In response, a different kind of darkness stirred within me. Nyssa shifted position, and suddenly the shadows around Aidon steadied. "Nyssa's helping you," I whispered in wonder. "She’s stabilizing your shadows."
Aidon's eyes widened as his energy reached out. I felt their connection form. Father and daughter. Their similar powers recognized and supported each other. The chaotic fluctuations in his shadows calmed, settling into more controlled movements.
"Remarkable," Persephone breathed, watching the interaction with pride. "Even unborn, she understands the nature of your shared gift."
The moment was broken by another ripple of movement inside me. A subtle distortion in the air around us accompanied this one. Pages of the book on my nightstand fluttered, and time seemed to slow around them. "Thaniel," I identified with a smile.
"He's been doing that more frequently," Aidon noted, a hint of a smile finally breaking through his grim expression. "Especially around anything related to Jean-Marc's research. I think he's trying to help find solutions."
As if to complete the trio, Melaina made her presence known by filling me with golden warmth and kicking my kidney. I gasped from the sudden pain and chuckled. “Melaina wants to make sure she isn’t forgotten,” I said to Aidon’s concerned expression.
I looked over to see Nina standing in the doorway. "I felt Melaina calling," she explained, enteringthe room. "She amplifies my magic when she's active. I can see everything more clearly. Including this."
She pointed to the monitoring symbols on the ceiling. "These aren't just passive recorders. They're interactive. Lyra can see through them in real-time if we let down the shield around Mom and the babies."
"Which means she might be watching us right now," I realized.
"Let her watch," Aidon said as he wrapped an arm around Nina’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "Let her see exactly what she's up against. Our children are already powerful enough to influence the magic around them. She will never be able to control them."
"We need to coordinate all our information," I said, wanting to make sure we never had to find out. "Stella's observations of Lyra's allies, Persephone's reports from the Underworld, Nina's tracking of magical signatures, and whatever Aidon and Hades discovered at the sanctuary. There could be something in there that will give us the clue we need."
Aidon nodded, his composure regained now that the kids had given him their version of a hug from the womb. "My father is securing the sanctuary we found. It contained artifacts and texts that might reveal more about the ritual. And potentially how to counter it."
"And I'll work with Nina to manipulate the monitoring symbols," Stella offered. "We need to start feeding Lyra false information about the babies' development and our defensive preparations."
"I must return to the Underworld," Persephone said. "The disturbances require my attention. And Hades will need to return to ensure the more violent prisoners remain contained. But I'll be back as soon as possible with whatever information we can gather from the anciently bound."
Lyra might have ancient allies and forbidden rituals at her disposal, but she had overlooked one crucial factor in her calculations. The bonds between our family members were strengthened now by the unique connections forming with the triplets. Each child was already finding their place in our magical ecosystem. They weren't just passive vessels of power waiting to be born. They were already unique beings and integral to our family.
CHAPTER 5
Sleep finally claimed me after everyone left my bedroom. The excitement of the afternoon had pulled me into a slumber I didn’t think I would find. I dreamed of shadows that writhed and whispered. Of ancient beings clawing their way through thinning barriers between worlds. And of Lyra standing over three tiny cradles with hunger in her eyes.
I jerked awake with a gasp. My heart was hammering against my ribs. The room was dark except for slivers of moonlight peeking through the curtains. The clock on my nightstand said it was after three in the morning. Everyone else was presumably asleep. Or on patrol duty along the property perimeter.
A flutter of movement in my belly reminded me I wasn't truly alone. Nyssa seemed to be responding to my anxiety if the shadows suddenly deepening in the corner of the room were anything to go by. "It's okay," I whispered, stroking my swollen belly. "Just a nightmare."
But was it? The dream had felt too real, too vivid. It felt like a warning. I couldn't shake the feeling that there wassomething important there if only I could grasp it. I reached for the glass of water beside my bed, but my hand knocked against it instead. It toppled over the edge and I braced for the crash. It never came. Instead, the glass froze midair. It remained suspended by a blue-tinted shimmer.
"Thanks, Thaniel," I murmured, recognizing my son's power. Carefully, I plucked the glass from its frozen state and set it safely back on the nightstand.
Restlessness gnawed at me. I hated being confined to this bed, regardless of anything else going on around me. It was even worse while everyone else was working to protect us. There had to be some way I could contribute without endangering the pregnancy.
My gaze drifted to the vanity mirror across the room. Something about its reflective surface caught my attention. There was a subtle shimmer that didn't match the moonlight. On impulse, I focused my awareness toward it and reached out with my Pleiades magic in the gentlest way possible.
The surface of the mirror rippled like disturbed water before it cleared to show the kitchen downstairs. Mom was there, surrounded by open books and scrolls. There was a cup of either blood or mint tea cooling at her elbow as she pored over a massive leather-bound tome. It was the family grimoire Nina had started for us after I got my magic. She’d added countless spells, rituals, and potions in the thing so it was fairly full for being so new. Her brow was furrowed in concentration, and she was taking notes on a yellow legal pad.
This unexpected window was startling. I had no idea how it happened and wanted to open my mouth and ask if she had any idea. Mom looked up as if sensing she was being watched. Her eyes narrowed, and she scanned the kitchen before returning to her research.
