Page 41 of Bedrest Blues & Otherworldly Clues (Mystical Midlife in Maine #17)

T he universe had a sick sense of humor.

I was tucked safely in my own bed, surrounded by the people I loved most. And yet I'd never felt more violated in my life.

Lyra's parasitic magical tethers pulsed beneath my skin like venomous serpents.

Every movement made me acutely aware of their presence.

Her essence slithered through the connections I shared with my unborn children.

I opened my eyes to find Aidon's shadows circling our bed.

They were weaker than I'd ever seen them, but still fiercely protective.

The magical strain from Hades' emergency dimensional transport had taken its toll on everyone.

My mate's normally vibrant energy signature was dimmed to a whisper of its usual roar.

One moment, I had been in Lyra's hellish ritual chamber with contractions threatening to bring my babies into a world where she waited to claim them. The next, I was at home. The immediate danger had passed, but her hooks were still lodged deep in our magical cores.

"How long was I out?" I croaked. My throat was dry. I scanned the bedside table for my water .

Aidon's head snapped up from where he'd been resting it against the bed.

The relief that flooded his face was almost enough to break me.

"Four hours," he said in a voice rough with exhaustion. "Clio put you under to give your body time to rest. She repaired the damage done during Lyra’s forced labor, but the contractions haven’t stopped. "

"The babies?" I whispered, my hands flying protectively to my swollen belly.

"Safe. Still inside you where they belong," he assured me, though the strain of our ordeal showed in the tight lines around his eyes.

Clio appeared from the bathroom. She was carrying a basin of water that steamed with herbs. "Good morning," she said with professional calm that did nothing to mask the worry in her eyes. "How's your pain level?"

"I feel as if I've been trampled by a herd of elephants," I admitted. "The contractions?"

"Stopped for now," she confirmed as she set the basin down and began checking my vitals.

"You were progressing rapidly when we got you back.

It took everything I had to reverse it." Her gaze dropped to my belly, where the faintest shimmer of Lyra's corrupted magic was visible beneath my skin.

"We have continued to try and find a way to sever the connections, but haven’t found anything yet. "

"Fucking Lyra," I muttered as I attempted to sit up.

Aidon gently pressed me back down with a soft smile. "Easy," he cautioned. "You need to rest."

"What I need is to figure out how to cut these parasitic tethers before that psychotic witch can use our children as her personal magical battery.

" The anger that surged through me made the triplets stir restlessly.

I immediately tried to calm myself. The last thing we needed was another round of magical chaos that could restart labor.

The bedroom door opened then, and Mom and Nana entered.

Their arms were laden with ancient grimoires.

Mom looked like she'd aged a decade in the past day, but her eyes burned with fierce determination.

Nana, by contrast, seemed more energized than ever.

Her silver hair was wild around her face.

She was also clutching her shotgun in one hand while balancing a stack of books in the other.

“You know you’re going to have to lock that thing up when the babies come,” I told Nana as I gestured to the weapon.

She made a face at me but ignored my comment. "She's awake!" She called out unnecessarily. "About damn time. We've got work to do."

"Nana, she just—" Aidon began.

"Can handle the truth," I finished for him. "What have you found?"

Mom set her books on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed.

Her hand found mine. She squeezed it with a strength that silently promised we'd get through this.

"These connections are old magic. Older than anything in Hattie's grimoire.

We're piecing together references from multiple sources. "

"And?" I prompted, desperate for any shred of hope.

"And it's complicated," Nana replied as she set her shotgun against the wall before plopping into the nearby chair. "Don’t even think about taking that from me. I need it close to use when Lyra makes her appearance,” she told Aidon and me.

“Anyway, these tethers are designed to be permanent.

The ritual traditionally creates bonds that can't be broken without killing the recipient. "

"That's not an option," Aidon growled, his shadows darkening despite their weakened state.

"Obviously not," Nana snorted. "Which is why we're looking for loopholes. Magical fine print. The witch believes she's created unbreakable bonds, but every spell has a weakness."

“That reminds me that I cast a spell to keep the connection from being permanent. I have no idea if it worked, but I gave it my all,” I replied before I tried pushing myself to a sitting position. Aidon lifted me like I weighed nothing when I grunted and groaned, but didn’t move an inch.

Jean-Marc's tall frame nearly filled the doorway at that moment.

He looked utterly exhausted, but his sharp mind was clearly still working overtime.

"Mom, you're awake," he said as he straightened, and a smile spread across his face.

His gaze shifted to Clio and he told her, "Stella's condition is concerning.

The corruption from the Forgotten One she came in contact with is spreading up her arm. "

"My heart clenched, and my eyes flew open. "That wound isn't healed? How bad is she?" I was the worst best friend ever. I hadn't even asked how she was doing. "How is everyone else?"

"Bad enough that Selene's trying a purification ritual Dad brought from the Underworld," Jean-Marc answered, crossing to stand beside the bed.

The way he called Aidon ‘Dad’ reflected his comfort with the divine being who'd taken a fatherly role in his life since we mated.

"Tseki's burns are healing, but slower than they should.

Murtagh hasn't left his side. The others sustained injuries, but nothing life-threatening. "

"We need to help them," I insisted as I threw one leg over the side of the bed despite the protests of my aching body.

"You need to focus on staying pregnant," Clio countered firmly as she moved closer to the bed.

Dark circles shadowed her eyes from the constant healing she'd been performing.

"Those babies need more time to develop, and every surge of magical energy risks triggering labor again.

I've already tried everything I could for Stella and Tseki, but something in those Forgotten Ones' attacks resists conventional healing.

I can't deplete myself further when you might need every ounce of my power at any moment. "

“We’re doing everything we can for them,” Aidon promised me.

I was about to argue when a strange sensation rippled through me. It wasn't a contraction. It was a warm, protective pulse that emanated from my core. The triplets responded in unison. Their unique energies merged for the first time in a coordinated defense.

The magical shield they created pulsed beneath my skin and momentarily revealed what had been hidden.

Angry red threads appeared. They stretched from within my belly and out into nothingness.

They were Lyra's parasitic connections made visible by my children's power.

The threads writhed like disturbed snakes when they encountered the barrier my family had cast. They were unable to penetrate through to the core of the triplets.

"What the hell?" Nana breathed as she leaned forward.

Clio's hands paused their movement and hovered over my belly. Her healing magic probed gently. "The triplets are adding to the defensive barrier. They’ve been working on a way to get in on the action since you fell asleep."

"It's happening because Lyra's trying to access their power," Aidon realized. His face lit with the first genuine hope I'd seen since our escape. "They're blocking her. They might be able to beat her."

"Is that even possible?" I asked, staring down at my belly in wonder. "She cast magic no one has seen or heard about for thousands of years."

Jean-Marc's expression shifted to one of intense focus as he watched the magical display.

The analytical mind he'd inherited from his biological father, combined with the magical instincts he'd developed under Aidon's guidance, made him uniquely qualified to assess what was happening.

"It might be. The tethers are designed to siphon power, but if the triplets can move around the foreign magic, they might be able to weave a barrier that can actively defend against it. "

"They’ve done it. They found a way inside her magic.

We have our loophole," Mom concluded. Her eyes were shining with victory.

"These bonds were created with the assumption that the unborn children are passive magical vessels.

But our triplets are anything but. They are powerful magical beings who are developing unique personalities with the ability to adapt and protect themselves. "

I placed my hands over the shield my babies had created. Their combined power thrummed beneath my palms. For the first time since Lyra had forced those connections on us, I felt a flicker of true hope. "They're fighting back," I whispered. "And they're coordinating with each other to do it."