Page 14 of Bedrest Blues & Otherworldly Clues (Mystical Midlife in Maine #17)

L et her watch. Let her think she had the upper hand. We would be ready for her. And when the time came, she would discover just how formidable the united Duedonne family could be—babies and all.

That confidence lasted approximately four hours before all hell broke loose.

I was just finishing lunch—a delicious stew Mythia and Mom had prepared—when the first rumble of thunder shook the house.

My initial thought was that a normal storm was rolling in.

That would have been just fine with me. I loved a good thunderstorm.

Not to mention the rain would wash away some of the magical residue Lyra had left behind.

But the second rumble made my skin prickle with warning.

"That's not natural," I murmured and pushed aside the tray. I struggled to heave my enormous belly toward the edge of the bed.

Mom appeared in the doorway with concern on her face. "Stay put," she ordered, crossing to the window and peering out. "Something's happening with the weather."

"No shit," I replied, ignoring her command and continuing my ungainly shuffle toward freedom. "If I have to witness another supernatural catastrophe, I'm at least doing it with a view."

Before she could object further, a blinding flash of purple lightning split the sky. It struck the north corner of our property. Right where Nana and Nina had placed the strongest ward anchor with Aidon. The thunder that followed rattled the windows and set off car alarms.

"That wasn't aiming for a tree," I said, finally reaching the window beside Mom. "What is she going after?"

“It’s so difficult to get into that creature’s mind. She’s evil, so she might just want to kill our allies,” Mom replied with a shudder.

Outside, churning black clouds gathered from seemingly nowhere. They formed an unnatural spiral directly above our house. It swirled with energy that wasn’t from any weather system I recognized. Veins of purple lightning forked through the clouds, pulsing in a rhythm that seemed almost deliberate.

"Get Aidon," I said, not taking my eyes off the nightmare brewing above us. "And Hades if he's still here."

Mom was already on her phone. "They're coming," she said as she read their response. "Stella reports similar formations over the eastern boundary. Murtagh says the western edge is still clear, but the clouds are moving that way."

Another lightning bolt slammed down. This one struck the protective circle Persephone had created around the garden. The ground where it hit sizzled and smoked as if doused with acid. That was going to piss my mother-in-law off. She gave new meaning to ‘monster-in-law' when mad.

"That lightning is eating through Persephone’s barrier like it’s nothing," Mom noted grimly. “I hope that’s because Persephone didn’t put as much effort into it because she thought it was safe so far inside the wards, and not because Lyra has reached a level of power that is nearly unbeatable.”

Careful to keep my power in check, I sent out a thin tendril to get a feel for the magical landscape.

“This feels a touch chaotic. Almost like she’s throwing everything at us to see what sticks and putting her all into it.

She knows I can’t fight back, and the rest of us are so busy trying to protect me and the babies. ”

The rain began while I was talking. The sky dropped fat, hissing droplets that steamed where they hit our magical shields. Mom flinched away from the window as a droplet splashed against the glass. We gaped when we noted it left a pockmark in its wake.

"Acid rain?" she said incredulously. "Seriously?"

"Not acid," I corrected, watching as more drops fell. Each tried to burn through our outer defenses like they were made of tissue paper. "This is a magical attack."

Aidon and his mother walked in then, looking as grim as I felt. "Lyra is doing this," Persephone confirmed without preamble. "She's woven her magic into the natural weather patterns. And she’s tied it into the ley lines to feed it power."

"That's cover for something else," Aidon added with his gaze fixed on my belly. "The lightning strikes are creating a resonance with the triplets' magic. I can feel it."

As if on cue, a surge of movement rippled across my abdomen. "The storm is feeding off the babies' magic, which is responding defensively, making the storms stronger."

"Precisely," Persephone said. "It’s a clever trap. The more we try to shield ourselves, the more power the triplets exert, and the stronger the storm becomes."

"Okay, so we stop trying to shield. We need to take power from this before it destroys the house. Can we break the connection with the babies?" Mom asked as she sought a solution .

Before anyone could answer, Clio rushed in, medical bag in hand. "I felt the disturbance," she said, making straight for me. "Back to bed. Now."

For once, I didn't argue. The magical resonance had already triggered a cramping sensation low in my belly. It wasn't a contraction—not yet—but it was heading in that direction.

"The lightning," Clio announced after a quick examination, "is vibrating at a frequency designed to trigger labor. Each strike increases the pressure on your uterus." She looked up with a grave expression. "She wants to force early delivery."

"So she can perform her ritual," I finished.

"She’s doing a frighteningly effective job of it," Clio confirmed, her hands working frantically to counteract the magical pressure. "My healing spells are being disrupted by the storm's energy. I can't stabilize you."

Another bolt struck, this one close enough to make the house shudder. The magical backlash sent a wave of pain through my abdomen that had me gasping. "Do something!" Mom demanded in a voice that was sharp with fear.

Aidon and Persephone exchanged a look. "We can create a dome," he said. "Our combined power might be enough to block the worst of it."

"It won't hold for long," Persephone cautioned. "Not with her magic woven into natural patterns. Attempting to fully suppress it could trigger wider instability."

"We don't need long," I managed through gritted teeth. "Just long enough to break this connection she's establishing with the babies."

They nodded in unison and moved to opposite sides of the room.

Aidon's shadows expanded outward. The dense black energy radiated from his core.

The darkness stretched toward the walls, then seeped through every crack and crevice like liquid night, flowing around the house's perimeter.

It found every forgotten gap where light never touched.

Persephone closed her eyes and began tracing intricate patterns in the air as she wove invisible threads.

Divine, golden light rippled from her fingertips.

It crackled with ancient power that was far more potent than anything Lyra could ever conjure.

The light chased Aidon's shadows and intertwined with his darkness to form a protective lattice that hummed with the opposing energies working in harmony.

The effect was immediate. The pressure eased, and the cramping subsided enough for me to breathe normally again. Outside, the lightning continued to strike, but the newly formed barrier muted its magical resonance.

"That's bought us some time," Aidon said, though the strain in his voice was evident. "But not much. The storm is already adapting. It won’t be long before it begins seeking weak points in this defense."

As if to underscore his words, a particularly vicious bolt hammered against the dome. The protective lattice held. I didn’t miss how Aidon and Persephone staggered from the impact.

"We need a more permanent solution," I said, mind racing. "If we can't suppress the storm without risking wider instability..." A sudden thought struck me. "We need to turn its own energy against it. Fight fire with fire."

"How?" Mom asked, already reaching for her phone to summon help.

Before I could answer, Nina rushed into my room. Her clothes were dripping wet. Despite the angry red welts on her exposed skin, her eyes were bright with excitement. "We did it!" she exclaimed. "Nana and I found a way to kill the shadow creatures! "

Despite the chaos unfolding around us, a surge of hope bloomed in my chest. "How?"

"It was Nana's idea—" Nina began, but was immediately cut off.

"Damn right it was my idea," Nana announced, sauntering in with a jar of viscous green liquid. She waved it proudly like a trophy. "These little bastards didn't know what hit 'em." She winked at Nina. "Go on, tell them how brilliant we were."

Nina winced as Clio began treating her burns. "We used magical binding salts to make a potion. I used my detection abilities to see their specific signatures, and she made the concoction to target only those patterns."

"They're like magical antibiotics," Nana added with a dramatic flourish of her hand. "Highly specific and effective at killing the nasty infection."

"Are they all gone?" Aidon asked, not breaking his concentration on maintaining the protective dome.

"Every last shadow we could find," Nana confirmed with a smug grin, patting her silver hair. "Watched 'em shrivel up like slugs on salt. It was very satisfying, but next time I'll bring popcorn for the show."

"The seeds they planted are still there," Nina admitted. "But without the shadows to activate them, they're just dormant potential. We're working on a way to get rid of those next."

A triumphant gleam lit Nana's eyes. "The best part?

" she crowed, tossing her silver hair with a flick of her wrist. "I added a little something extra to that potion.

My own special magical boomerang effect.

When the last shadow died, it triggered a psychic backlash that went straight to the source. Lyra got a taste of her own medicine."

"Did it hurt?" I couldn't help the grin spreading across my face.