Page 13 of Bedrest Blues & Otherworldly Clues (Mystical Midlife in Maine #17)

But instead of the chaotic display from earlier, the teacup moved with purpose. It drifted to Jean-Marc and hovered before him expectantly. "I think Melaina wants you to take it," I suggested.

Cautiously, he reached out and grasped the cup. The moment his fingers touched it, a golden glow transferred from the porcelain and traveled up his arm. His eyes widened. "Whoa," he breathed. "That's... intense."

"What? What's happening?" I demanded, sitting up straighter.

"She's trying to show me something." His eyes unfocused slightly, like he was looking at something very far away. "I can see connections I missed before."

The glow faded after a few moments, leaving Jean-Marc staring at the teacup in wonder. "I need to check something," he said abruptly, setting down the cup and reaching for his notebook. He began scribbling frantically and muttering under his breath.

I smiled despite everything. Melaina was helping her big brother with his research. These babies were determined to be part of the family's efforts. It fit with our stubborn, determined nature.

Nana opened her mouth to say something and then left when the sound of raised voices grew louder downstairs. Whatever was happening, it was escalating. I focused on the vanity mirror, using my newly discovered ability to see what was unfolding.

The mirror surface rippled and showed our living room. Stella was there in torn and dirty clothing. She looked like she'd been through hell. Murtagh stood beside her. His normally immaculate appearance was similarly disheveled. Both had a haunted look in their eyes.

"—were trapped for days," Stella was saying. Well, screeching really. "The whole thing was a setup from the beginning."

"How is that possible?" Aidon demanded. "You haven’t even been gone for two hours."

Stella laughed bitterly. "Two hours here. Where we were, time moves differently. That thing we were tracking? It was a decoy. It led us straight into a pocket dimension."

"It was a trap all along," Mom mumbled.

"An elaborate one," Murtagh agreed. "It was designed specifically to separate us from the group. Once we were inside, the exit was sealed. We spent what felt like three days trying to find a way out."

"How did you escape?" Hades asked. I hadn't even realized he was there.

"We didn't. Not exactly," Stella said, running a hand through her tangled hair. "The dimension began to collapse around us. At first, we thought we were going to be crushed, but then..."

"Then what?" Aidon pressed when she hesitated.

"Then Lyra appeared," Murtagh said, his voice hardening. "Not physically. She was a projection. She said our 'test run' was complete, and she'd collected all the data she needed."

"Data on what?" Mom asked.

"On how to trap us," Stella replied quietly. "She wasn't trying to kill us. She wanted to see how we'd react to being isolated from our magic. The pocket dimension dampened our powers, made them unstable and unreliable."

The mirror view suddenly distorted and then flickered with static. The shadow creatures must have sensed my observation. I refocused, pushing past the interference with sheer stubbornness.

Nina had joined the group downstairs. She was showing something to Aidon on a tablet. "—found anomalies in the wards," she was explaining. "They're not failing this time. They're changing."

"Changing how?" Hades demanded.

"It's subtle," Nina replied, swiping through diagrams on the screen. "The basic structure remains intact, but the specific magical signatures are being altered. Someone is slowly tuning our radio to pick up their frequency."

"Lyra," Mom guessed. "She's found a way to redirect our protective magic instead of breaking through. We knew it had cost her when she did it the other day."

Nina nodded grimly. "She’s doing it through those shadow seeds we found throughout the house."

"They're not just surveillance then," Aidon concluded.

"No, she wants to let something in," Hades interjected. "Something that can take Phoebe and the babies."

All eyes turned to Hades as he stepped forward. Power radiated from him in waves that made the mirror image waver. "I've been monitoring disturbances across supernatural realms. Lyra's growing power isn't just affecting our world. It's altering the fundamental barriers between planes of existence."

"What are you saying?" Mom asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm saying she's preparing to do something that will affect all magical planes," Hades replied. "The Underworld is experiencing unprecedented shifts. The Eternal Fields are failing. Even Olympus has reported anomalies in their divine spaces."

"She's planning to use the power from the Trifecta Ascension to take over Olympus. And she will want to be the only god," Aidon surmised.

I pulled back from the mirror with my heart racing. This was bigger than any of us had guessed. Lyra was far more power-hungry than I gave her credit for. I didn’t think anyone was insane enough to incur the wrath of the gods.

A sudden pain lanced through my abdomen. It was sharp enough to make me gasp. Jean-Marc looked up from his notes, alarm crossing his face. "Mom? What's wrong?"

"I don't know," I panted as another spasm hit. "Get Clio. Now."

He bolted from the room, shouting for the healer. I clutched my belly, feeling the triplets' magic surge chaotically in response to my pain and fear. The lamp exploded. The mirror cracked down the middle, and I tried to breathe through the discomfort.

"Not now," I pleaded, trying to steady my breathing. "Please, not now."

Footsteps thundered up the stairs, and suddenly the room was full of people. Clio pushed to my side. She immediately began examining me. The magical chaos made it difficult; papers kept slapping against her face, and the remaining intact furniture rattled violently.

"Someone control this!" she shouted over the din.

Aidon's power expanded, and I felt him trying to contain the magical outburst. The triplets fought against his restraint.

Nina joined him, her hands glowing as she attempted to channel the wild energy.

Mom began a stabilizing chant while Nana barked orders at everyone else to clear out and give us space.

Amid the chaos, I caught a glimpse of something in the broken mirror. There was a shadow darker than the others, watching with hungry anticipation. Lyra's spy was witnessing my moment of vulnerability.

"She's watching," I gasped through the pain. "She knows something's happening."

Hades moved to the mirror, waving a hand over its surface.

The shadow shrank back, but not before I saw its malevolent satisfaction.

It thought it was winning. The pains began to subside under Clio's healing touch, but the magical chaos continued.

The entire room was now defying gravity.

Everything not bolted down—including all of us—floated six inches above the floor.

"This is new," Clio muttered as she tried to maintain her position beside me without drifting away.

"It's happened before," I told her. "But not this intensely."

She nodded grimly. "The babies are responding to your distress. The good news is, you're not in labor. The bad news is, their magic thinks you are, and it's preparing to protect you during delivery."

"How do we calm them down?" Aidon asked.

"We don't," Clio said simply. “That will only make it worse.”

"I told you to work with them," Nana interjected from across the room as she swam toward me.

“That might just work,” Clio replied as she guided my hands to my belly. "Focus on connecting with them, not controlling them. They're trying to help, but they don't understand what's happening."

I closed my eyes, reaching out to the three distinct magical signatures within me.

They were all flaring wildly and responding to perceived danger.

"I'm okay," I told them, pushing all the conviction I could muster into the thought.

"We're safe right now. I need you to calm down. We can’t focus on stopping her if we’re caught up in this. "

To my surprise, I felt their magic respond. The chaotic outbursts began to organize themselves. The floating objects arranged themselves in neat formations. And the paper tornado consolidated into a protective sphere around my bed.

"They're listening," Jean-Marc said in wonder.

"No," I corrected, opening my eyes. "They're helping."

As if to confirm my words, three distinct magical signatures manifested visibly around the room.

Nyssa' s shadows formed a protective barrier at the windows and door.

Thaniel's blue-tinted magic created pockets that stabilized the objects in midair.

Melaina's golden glow suffused everything.

She connected the different magical effects into a harmonious whole.

"This is unprecedented," Hades murmured, watching the display with something approaching reverence. "Very few can manage this much coordination even after practicing their magic for centuries."

"They're protecting their mother," Persephone said from the doorway. I hadn't even noticed her arrive. "And in doing so, they're protecting themselves."

Gradually, the room returned to normal—or as normal as it could be with three unborn magical powerhouses deciding which laws of physics applied.

Objects settled back in their places. The paper shreds from the books reassembled themselves.

Even the cracked mirror was mended. Though a faint line remained where the break had been.

The pain was completely gone now. I was exhausted but strangely exhilarated. I'd connected with my children on a level I hadn't before. It made me all the more protective. I loved them with everything I was.

"Well," Nana said into the stunned silence that followed, "I'd say bedrest just got a lot more interesting."

I laughed despite everything. Because she was right. I was still confined to this bed, still unable to join the fight directly. But I was far from powerless. Neither were my children.

"We need to talk about what this means for our defense strategies," Aidon said, sitting beside me on the bed. "If the triplets' magic is growing this powerful this quickly..."

"Then Lyra will be even more determined to get her hands on them," I finished. "We need to step up our game."

"I think I have something," Jean-Marc said, returning to his notes. "When Melaina connected with me earlier, she showed me things I hadn't seen before. The historical cases I've been studying all mention a specific vulnerability in the Trifecta Ascension ritual."

"What vulnerability?" Hades asked sharply.

"The ritual requires all three babies to be separated from their mother at the exact same moment," Jean-Marc explained. "If even one remains connected to the maternal magical source, the entire ritual fails."

"Worst case scenario, we need to keep one baby with Mom," Nina said, hope lighting her face. "That doesn't sound impossible."

"It's not that simple," Jean-Marc cautioned. "The babies would still be in danger, and Lyra would still try to take them. But knowing this gives us a strategic advantage. We can prepare for it."

I nodded, my mind already racing with possibilities. "We need to create a failsafe with this in mind. Something that ensures at least one baby maintains a magical connection to me, no matter what happens."

"We need to create a magical tether," Mom suggested. "One that is unbreakable by outside forces."

"And we need to counter those shadows and the seeds she's planted throughout the house," I added. "They're her access points, her eyes and ears. If we can neutralize them without triggering whatever trap they're part of..."

"I might have a way," Nina said thoughtfully. "Now that I can see the specific magical signatures, I can potentially isolate them. We could create a containment field that prevents them from connecting to Lyra."

"It's a start," Aidon agreed. "But we also need to address the corrupted wards. If Lyra has found a way to gradually alter them..."

"We create new wards with built-in resistance to corruption," Persephone suggested.