Page 38 of Bedrest Blues & Otherworldly Clues (Mystical Midlife in Maine #17)

She didn't finish, but she didn't have to. Everyone knew we were totally screwed if that happened. She met my gaze and dipped her chin. I took it as her way of saying they wouldn’t give up.

Meanwhile, in my magical prison bubble, I was playing the world's most dangerous game of ‘distract the crazy lady’.

Every time Lyra turned to deal with the chaos outside, I'd mess with her ritual setup.

I nudged crystals out of alignment and scuffed her perfect circle. I did any little thing to buy time.

"Stop that," she snapped, catching me toe- poking a vial. "Your interference changes nothing except perhaps making the process more painful for you and your children."

Right on cue, another contraction hit me like a freight train. I couldn't hold back the scream or the surge of magic that went with it. The triplets responded with their own power burst, creating a swirling mess that threw Lyra off her game.

She snarled, looking seriously pissed off. "Enough! Time to end this."

Before I could say anything, she sent a pulse of Dark magic straight into my belly.

The pain was instant and overwhelming. It wasn’t a natural contraction.

It was forced and didn’t feel as if it moved labor along.

Sure, the torture was awful, but I could put up with it if it didn’t put me closer to having these babies too early and in Lyra’s lair.

"Stop!" I gasped. "You'll hurt them!" I prayed this would make her do that again. It was better than her putting her efforts into finishing her ritual.

"They're stronger than you realize," Lyra replied with ice in her voice. "Their magical cores can withstand far more trauma than a typical infant's. It's what makes them so perfect for my purpose."

She put her freaky transformed hands on my stomach. Her magic seeped into me like poisoned honey. It sought out the triplets' magical signatures. I cast a hasty protective shield around them. Lyra’s energy wrapped around them like spectral octopus tentacles, but didn’t sink in.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, trying to pull away. Panic threatened to make me freak out when I found myself suddenly paralyzed.

"Creating the necessary connections," she explained. She sounded disturbingly chill about the whole thing. "When they're born, their magic will flow along these pathways directly to me. It's a more elegant solution than physical proximity."

Horror washed through me as I felt something take root inside the magical bonds I shared with my babies. Were the parasitic tendrils establishing permanent channels between them and Lyra? The triplets fought back instinctively along with my protective shield.

A massive explosion rocked the chamber. It was powerful enough to crack Lyra's barrier. She lifted her hands and scowled at me. Looking past her, I saw Aidon, Hades, and Persephone through the opening. Their powers were combined into one badass attack that was slowly breaking through.

Lyra cursed as her concentration split. She had to divert more energy to keep us isolated. "Stubborn insects," she muttered. "They aren't going to stop me." Was that doubt I heard?

She abandoned subtlety and just poured more Dark power into me.

She was speeding up both the labor and her magical connections.

I increased the energy in my protective shield.

The pain was beyond words and made it difficult to stay focused.

It was like being ripped apart from the inside while having my soul invaded.

The triplets' distress sent their magic into overdrive. Objects around us started floating and exploding. The air warped as Thaniel's magic created pockets where time moved differently. Nyssa's shadows darkened everything until only Melaina's golden light kept us from total darkness.

Lyra didn't seem bothered by their magical temper tantrum. If anything, she looked hungrier. "Yes," she breathed. "Show me what you can do, little ones. Every demonstration only confirms your value."

Another strike from outside widened the cracks across the barrier. This time, I clearly heard Aidon. "Phoebe! We're coming! Hold on!"

His voice gave me strength I didn't know I had left. While Lyra was busy multitasking between her ritual and the failing barrier, I reached deep inside for my Pleiades magic. It responded sluggishly at first, then picked up as the triplets added their own juice to mine.

Together, we pushed back against Lyra's parasitic connections. We couldn't break them completely—they were already too deep—but we could weaken them enough to slow her down. Lyra noticed immediately. Her expression changed from hungry to murderous.

"You think you can fight me? Here, in a dimension of my own creation, surrounded by my allies?" She waved at the barrier, where countless creatures were eager to join the monster mosh pit outside. "I am becoming a goddess, Phoebe! And your children will be my stepping stones!"

"They will never be yours," I managed through the pain. I was happy to note I sounded way more badass than I felt. "And neither will I."

Wrong thing to say. With a scream that would've made a banshee cover its ears, Lyra channeled a massive surge of Dark magic directly at me. It wasn’t enough to hurt the triplets.

They were too valuable. She wanted to break me.

The attack smashed through my magical shield and burned through me like acid.

I screamed as her foreign power invaded me. For a heartbeat, everything froze—the battle outside, Lyra's ritual, even my labor—as the magic around us itself tried to handle my sudden burst of unrestrained power. Then, like a cosmic rubber band snapping back, everything resumed with added intensity.

The barrier between us and my family shattered completely. It was total chaos. Creatures of every description fought against my friends and family. They formed a wedge and drove toward us. Aidon, Hades, and Persephone led the charge. Their combined power cleared a path.

Lyra howled in frustration. Her ritual was now toast. With a vicious gesture, she summoned the largest of the Forgotten Ones. "Defend me!" she commanded. "I must reestablish the connection before it’s too late!"

The entities moved between us and my approaching family. Their void-faces absorbed all magic directed against them. They were then able to use it to fuel their own attacks.

"Mom!" Nina's voice cut through the chaos, strained but determined. "Lyra's scouts are regrouping at the southern barrier!"

I gripped the edge of the altar. My knuckles were white against the black stone. "Her wards won't hold much longer," I called back. "Tell Aidon the eastern flank is vulnerable!"

Lyra seized the momentary distraction to resume her ritual.

Her hands pressed against my belly again.

Her magic pushed deeper. She was trying to establish permanent connections to the triplets.

Their power responded chaotically. It neither fully accepted nor rejected the invasive bond.

If they did either, it would fuel Lyra’s efforts.

"Stop fighting me," she hissed. "The more you resist, the more painful this becomes. Accept the inevitable."

"Never,” I snarled and tried to push her off me.

She backhanded me, making my head snap to the side.

My vision wavered for a second, but I was able to see that the battle had intensified.

Aidon finally broke through the front line of defenders.

His shadows had become the living void and were consuming anything they touched.

His eyes burned with divine fury as he fought to reach me.

"Lyra!" he roared in a voice that carried the weight of the Underworld. "Release her now!"

Lyra spared him a contemptuous glance. "You' re too late, son of Hades. The connections are already established. Even if you reach us now, you cannot undo what I've begun."

To prove her point, she twisted her magic deeper into me.

She tried to infiltrate my bond with the triplets.

I felt something fundamental shift. My heart skipped several beats as magical pathways were established.

They were fragile and would direct a portion of their power to Lyra from the moment of their birth.

"It is done," she announced. Her lips curled into a smile that didn't reach her ice-cold eyes.

"When these little magical batteries draw their first breath, their raw power will flow straight to me. Like cosmic Wi-Fi, but better. I’ll have an unlimited data plan with no throttling.

Every milestone, every magical growth spurt?

That'll be my account balance getting fatter.

" She ran a finger down the binding sigil etched into her forearm, making it glow an angry red.

"And honey, there isn't a spell, potion, or divine intervention in three realms that can sever this connection. "

"We'll see about that," Aidon snarled, his shadows lashing out like sentient weapons. They sliced through three more of her twisted constructs. The creatures dissolved into puddles of oily darkness. Their death shrieks echoed against the chamber walls.

Lyra's laughter bubbled up. It was genuine amusement mixed with the kind of confidence that comes from holding all the cards in a rigged game.

"Look at you—still fighting when you've already lost. It's adorable, really.

" She gestured to the pulsing barrier she had erected again.

It was keeping them from me. The surface rippled with ancient symbols this time.

"But the clock's run out. These babies are mine on cosmic layaway, and you can't break through my final ward before I drain every last spark of power from those precious little bundles of joy.

So by all means," she added with a mocking bow, "keep trying. I could use the entertainment."