Page 25 of Bedrest Blues & Otherworldly Clues (Mystical Midlife in Maine #17)

T he world outside our windows had become a chaotic battlefield of magic and monsters.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from the horrific scene unfolding beyond our protection barriers.

The dark mass Lyra had sent crashed against our defenses like a tsunami of corrupted energy.

It broke into smaller pockets of concentrated evil that attacked from all sides.

"They're breaching the southeastern corner!" Nana shouted, pressing her face against the glass. Her weathered hands gripped her shotgun with practiced familiarity.

Rising to my knees on the bed, my gaze sought those I loved. My breath caught as I spotted Stella in the thick of the fighting. She stood in the gap where our wards were weakening. She was casting spells to strengthen the failing barrier. Magical energy crackled around her in vibrant arcs of power.

"She's exposed," I whispered, panic clawing at my throat as three shadow creatures converged on her position.

Aidon was too far away and engaged in his own battle on the opposite side of the property.

As I watched, one of the creatures darted through her defenses.

Its claws raked across her back, tearing through fabric and flesh.

Her scream carried across the battlefield.

Blood blossomed through her shirt as she staggered forward, barely maintaining her footing.

"No!" The word exploded from me with such force that the windows rattled in their frames. Heat surged through my veins as once again my magic responded to my rage and fear. The triplets joined me. Their magic was making mine grow even more.

Clio rushed toward me. "Phoebe, you can't?—"

I didn't hear the rest. I knew what she was going to say, and I tried to dial it back. Power roared through me like a wildfire anyway. It obliterated every restriction Clio had carefully constructed to keep me and the babies safe. It was like a dam breaking after days of pressure. The magic poured out of me in a torrent that I couldn't have stopped if I wanted to. I did try, and that was the only reason shit didn’t go completely sideways at that moment. Well, that and Clio’s healing energy flowing into me.

My vision tunneled until all I could see was Stella fighting for her life.

My best friend. My sister in all but blood.

The woman who'd stood by me through everything.

The bedroom windows shattered outward as my power escaped its confines.

Without conscious thought, I channeled a protective shield directly around Stella.

It materialized around her like crystallized light.

It pushed the shadow creatures back long enough for her to regain her footing.

"Holy shit, Phoebe!" Nana exclaimed. "That's not supposed to be possible!"

"Tell that to your great-grandkids," I gasped, feeling the triplets amplifying my magic. They were drawing on my reserves. They were turning my protective instinct into a raw, destructive force.

"Goddamn," Nana breathed, watching with something like reverence. "I knew these kids would be special, but this is some next-level shit."

The strain was immense. Sweat poured down my face as I maintained the connection. Through our bond, I could feel Aidon feeding me his energy. His mother and father’s joined his. It eased the pressure on me and thus Clio.

"Phoebe, stop!" Aidon shouted across the yard. "You'll hurt yourself and the babies!"

"They're helping me," I gritted out as another wave of power surged through our connection. "We're stronger together."

Outside, the pattern of attack suddenly shifted. Lyra's forces began targeting other points along our protective barrier with frightening precision. The creatures struck at exact locations where our wards connected.

"They know," I realized with dawning horror. "They discovered exactly where our weak points are."

"That's impossible," Clio argued. "We redesigned everything after the last attack."

"It shouldn't be possible," I agreed, "unless?—"

"Unless someone told her," Nana finished grimly, her finger tightening on the trigger of her shotgun as her eyes narrowed dangerously. “There was no way they discovered them that fast. Even a god wouldn’t have been able to.”

The implications hit me like a physical blow. Someone had betrayed us. Someone with intimate knowledge of our defenses was working with Lyra. The thought was so devastating that my concentration wavered, which made my magical protection flicker.

Aidon felt it immediately. "Focus, Phoebe," he shouted. "We'll deal with traitors later. Right now, we need to survive this attack, and I don’t want the backlash to hurt you while you're thinking of something else."

He was right. I pulled my scattered emotions back under control and tried to regain my composure. That wasn’t easy. The babies were insistent, and my magic wanted to be out there.

"They're fighting in pairs," Clio observed, watching the coordinated defense. "The magic is more effective, but it's draining them twice as fast."

She was right. I could feel their energy signatures flickering like candles in a strong wind. Each coordinated attack was devastating to Lyra's forces but cost our defenders dearly. I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"They're trying to exhaust us," I said. "They have shifted gears. Now, it's attrition warfare."

A searing pain suddenly lanced through my abdomen. It was sharp enough to double me over. The magical connection wavered as I gasped for breath.

"That's it," Clio declared as her hands moved to another spot. "No more heroics. You're putting too much strain on your body."

"I can't just watch them die!" I protested as she began weaving healing magic around me.

"And they can't watch you and these babies die," she countered firmly. "Trust them to handle this. They're stronger than you think."

As if to prove her point, Aidon roared with fury on the battlefield. His shadows erupted into a maelstrom of dark energy that tore through a dozen corrupted creatures. The display would have been awe-inspiring if I couldn't feel how much it cost him. He was pushing himself to the breaking point.

Another contraction seized me, and I bit my lip to keep from screaming. This wasn't good. The babies' magic was surging chaotically within me. But instead of directing it outward as I'd been doing, they turned it inward. They created a protective cocoon around themselves .

"Something's happening," I gasped, placing my hands on my belly. "The triplets—they're doing something new."

A golden luminescence spread from my abdomen, flowing outward until it covered my entire body. It pulsed in time with my heartbeat, growing brighter with each beat. The light began spreading across the floor in a pattern that looked oddly familiar.

"Those are Hattie's sigils," Nana exclaimed as she recognized them before I did. "I’ve seen them in her grimoire!"

She was right. The magical light was tracing protection symbols that I'd seen in Hattie's grimoire. They were ancient runes designed to safeguard Pleiades witches and their bloodline. But I'd never activated these. I didn't even know how.

"The house," Clio whispered, her eyes widening in understanding. "The foundation spells are responding to the triplets."

Nana laughed, a sound of pure delight that seemed bizarrely out of place amid the chaos. "Hattie, you clever old witch! You built in a failsafe!"

The golden light reached the walls and began climbing upward.

It illuminated hidden sigils and protection runes that had been carved into the very bones of our home.

They'd been dormant for years, perhaps decades.

The shielding spells were woven into the house's foundation by Hattie long before I'd met her, let alone inherited her power.

The magic spread outward from our home in expanding rings of golden light, reinforcing our faltering wards with ancient power that felt older and more primal than anything I'd wielded before.

It carried the essence of the original Pleiades sisters.

The daughters born to the Titan Atlas and the sea nymph Pleione.

Their power was as raw as the divine seven who had been created in a time when the boundaries between gods and mortals were thinner.

Zeus and the other Olympians feared the sisters' combined strength might one day rival their own, and they sent them to Earth.

They became the first witches. Their energy now surged through our protection spells.

It was ancient, celestial, and untamed. Where this power touched Lyra's forces, they recoiled as if burned.

"Holy crap, what is that?" Jean-Marc's voice came through the shattered window. He stood in the yard, gaping at the golden light emanating from our house.

"Hattie's last gift," I replied, though I knew he couldn't hear me. "Her final protection."

The corrupted creatures screamed as the golden light engulfed them. They withered like plants touched by frost. Their stolen power dissipated back into the natural world. Within minutes, what had been a desperate battle turned into a decisive victory.

As the last of Lyra's forces retreated or fell, the golden light began to recede. It pulled back toward the house, sinking into the walls and floor until only faint traces remained. I collapsed against my pillows, utterly spent.

"Did we win?" I asked weakly.

"For now," Aidon replied from the doorway. He was leaning heavily against the frame. His clothing was torn and spotted with something that looked like black ichor. Despite his exhaustion, his eyes burned with fierce pride as they met mine. "That was some display of power, little queen."

"Not mine," I corrected, patting my belly. "Theirs. And Hattie's."

He crossed to the bed and sat beside me, taking my hand in his. "Hattie's protections were impressive, but they wouldn't have activated without the triplets' power triggering them. And the triplets wouldn't have been able to channel that much energy without you guiding them."