Page 43 of Bedrest Blues & Otherworldly Clues
I nodded, squeezing his hand. "She doesn't understand what she's up against. Not really."
"And what's that?" he asked.
"A family that's more than the sum of its parts," I answered, feeling the truth of the words as I spoke them. "Individual magic is powerful, but what we did today—fighting together, supporting each other—that's something Lyra can never replicate with her stolen power and corrupted minions."
Aidon leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to my forehead. "Rest now," he murmured. "Build your strength. We're going to need every ounce of it before this is over."
As he pulled away, I caught a glimpse of something through the shattered window—a faint shimmer in the air just beyond our property line. It was gone so quickly I might have imagined it, but the chill that ran down my spine suggested otherwise. Lyra was still watching. And next time, she wouldn't underestimate us.
CHAPTER 14
I'd been staring at that shimmer beyond our property line for hours after Aidon left. Sleep refused to come despite my exhaustion. The triplets' earlier magical exertion had finally taken its toll, leaving them unnaturally quiet within me. I hated those moments most. If not for the occasional flutters, I would be calling Clio in every three seconds to check on them. Logically, I knew they were recharging their batteries after helping activate Hattie's dormant protection spells, but the mother in me worried.
Dawn broke reluctantly through the lingering magical fog that clung to our property. Since Aidon purchased the property next door, we weren’t close enough for any of the neighbors to notice. Something had fundamentally changed in our magical environment after yesterday's battle. I could feel it in the air. There was a persistent vibration that hummed just below the threshold of normal perception.
"You look like you've been awake for days," Clio observed as she entered, carrying her ever-present medical bag. Dark circles shadowed her eyes.
“I'm the only one who isn't sleeping,” I replied, strugglingto sit up against the mountain of pillows behind me. "Did anyone find more of those monitoring devices?"
She nodded as she began her examination. "They discovered three more. They were all strategically placed around the perimeter. Nana destroyed them."
"And the traitor?" I asked. “Do you have any thoughts on who it is? Cause I keep coming up empty.”
"Nothing conclusive yet." Her hands hovered over my belly, and her healing magic probed gently. "But Jean-Marc is cross-referencing everyone's movements for the past two weeks. Even those who haven’t been here the past few days."
I was about to ask more when a familiar energy signature brushed against my consciousness. Aidon was returning from patrol. Seconds later, I heard hurried footsteps on the stairs. "Hello, Queenie. Tseki's back," he announced, and then bent and pressed a kiss to my lips. "It's bad, Phoebe."
My heart plummeted. Tseki had gone to the ritual site. "What happened? Did everyone make it back?"
His shadows darkened and coiled tightly around him in agitation. "He's the only one who made it back."
That hit me like a physical blow. Tseki had taken five of our strongest fighters to scout Lyra's ritual site. If he alone returned... "Help me up," I demanded as I swung my legs over the side of the bed.
"Absolutely not," Clio objected, planting herself firmly in my path. "You're still recovering from last night's magical overexertion."
"My people died trying to stop Lyra," I snapped. My anger flared hot and bright. "I'm not going to deal with it while lying in bed like an invalid."
Aidon and Clio exchanged a look I couldn't quite interpret. "Fine," Aidon relented, offering his arm. "But if Clio says you need to come back up, you don't argue."
"Deal," I agreed, allowing him to support most of my weight as we made our slow, ungainly progress downstairs.
The living room had been transformed into a makeshift hospital ward. Tseki was on the couch. His normally olive-toned skin was ashen beneath hastily applied bandages. The dragon shifter's wounds were extensive. There were deep slashes across his chest and arms. Burns had blackened one entire side of his body. And what looked disturbingly like acid damage was eating through his left leg.
Murtagh knelt beside him, his expression a mask of carefully controlled fury as he held his boyfriend's hand. Nina worked frantically alongside Stella. Both looked relieved when Clio rushed over and began healing the worst wounds.
"What happened?" I asked as Aidon lowered me into an armchair close enough to see but not interfere with the healing efforts.
Tseki's eyes fluttered open at the sound of my voice. "Couldn't... reach it," he managed. Each word clearly cost him, but he continued speaking. "The ritual site. It's protected by... something ancient. Not Lyra's magic."
"Easy," Murtagh murmured, squeezing his hand. "Don't strain yourself."
But Tseki shook his head weakly. "Have to tell them. The others... they were consumed. Completely." His voice broke on the last word. Anguish etched deeper lines into his pain-ravaged face.
"Consumed?" Aidon repeated sharply. "By what?"
"Guardians," Tseki whispered. "They spoke... in ancient Greek." He coughed, a wet, ragged sound that sent flecks of blood spattering across his chin. "The site isn't just warded. It's like... a pocket dimension. You were right about that."
Jean-Marc entered with several ancient tomes balanced precariously in his arms. "I might have found something relevant," he announced, setting the books downon the coffee table. "The celestial alignment Lyra's waiting for specifically amplifies magic tied to bloodlines and inheritance."
