CHAPTER 11
DANIELLE
W e were knee-deep in setting up an elaborate trap, and party prep at the plantation when Marie called. I'd just finished arranging my third set of crystals for the premating party. They were pretty but useless chunks of quartz that Kaitlyn had helped us enchant to sparkle like we’d capture starlight. I couldn’t stop the grimace when my phone lit up with her number.
"If this is about not telling you we found Viktor slithering around the council archives like a snake in a library, I'd like to point out that technically, we were a little busy trying not to get scattered across multiple timelines," I said by way of greeting.
"This is about what I found after you left my house," Marie replied. Her voice was tight with an urgency I'd never heard from her before. More often than not, throughout our relationship, she was threatening and trying to kill us. "Get your sisters and come to my house. Now."
I looked around our barn, where Operation Magical Mousetrap was in full swing. Lia was chugging yet another energy drink while Lucas helped her finish up the custom glasses and pretended not to notice. Phi had transformed one corner into what looked like a mad scientist's Pinterest board. Kota was sorting through enough spelled herbs to stock a supernatural pharmacy. Dre and Dea were arguing about the best placement for Kaitlyn's increasingly concerning collection of magical lures.
"We're kind of in the middle of—" I started.
"Now," Marie repeated. "Unless you don't want to know about the prophecy that specifically mentions six sisters and a crystal."
Well, shit. “We will be right there,” I sighed and hung up.
My sisters jumped into action when I told them what Marie wanted. Twenty minutes later, we were piling out of my vehicle in front of Marie's latest house. Lucas and Noah had insisted on coming along. Our history with Marie was difficult to ignore. I didn’t blame them for not trusting the Voodoo Queen. Her history wasn’t good.
"Your worry is adorable," I told my mate as we walked up the path, "but unnecessary."
"Says the woman who got kidnapped the last time she underestimated Marie," Noah replied. His dimples showed despite his concern.
"That was different. She blindsided Lia and I when we were leaving the store. We had no idea she was going to attack then."
"And we're sure she’s not going to now?"
I couldn't argue with that. Especially when Marie opened the door before we could knock. She looked like she hadn't slept in days. That was highly unusual for her. Her usually immaculate appearance was slightly disheveled, and she had ink stains on her fingers.
"Inside," she commanded. "And someone text Cyran. He needs to hear this too."
Great. Adding the Light Fae leader to this mix made my stomach lurch. My flight instincts kick into overdrive. Dre’s fingers flew over the screen of her phone while Lia called Xinar. If we were about to dive into prophecies and ancient history, having a UIS agent's perspective couldn't hurt. Plus, he was good to have in a fight.
Marie led us into her study, which looked like a librarian's fever dream had exploded. Books and papers covered every surface in organized chaos that probably made sense to someone who'd lived through several centuries. Ancient scrolls perched on MacBooks like they were staging a timeline rebellion.
"Tea?" she offered as she gestured to an ornate silver service that definitely predated the Louisiana Purchase. The liquid inside shimmered with more than just heat.
"I'm good," I said at the same time my sisters did.
If that bothered Marie, she didn't show it. "After you left," she began without preamble. "I kept digging. I scoured my family's books for anything about the Lost Legends or the Larmes du Bayou. The timing of their awakening fits with Samedi's storm. However, that felt like too much of a coincidence."
"In New Orleans?" I snorted. "Coincidences are about as rare as a sober tourist on Bourbon Street."
Marie nodded as she frantically looked through what she'd gathered. "Found it," she announced as she flipped pages until she reached what looked like a hand-drawn illustration. It had six female figures standing in a circle around a crystal that could only be the Larmes du Bayou. "This prophecy dates back to before the first binding of the crystal. It speaks of a time when 'six daughters of two lines shall rise, bearing both the determination of guards and the intuition of seekers.'"
"That's oddly specific for a prophecy," Phi noted, which meant something coming from our resident oracle. Usually, her prophecies were about as clear as gumbo. All bits and pieces that only made sense after shit had already hit the fan. She snapped pictures with her phone like she was documenting evidence.
"It gets better," Marie said grimly. "They shall come in a time of temporal storms. When the past bleeds into the present and the future trembles on the edge of unmaking. The Lost shall return, seeking to unbind what was bound, to break what was whole."
"Well, that's definitely us," Kota sighed. "Though for once, I wish prophecies could be about someone else's family drama."
I couldn’t agree more. Noah's arm tightened around me. His shifter energy hummed with similar frustration. I could feel how much he hated this. It was hard for him to watch his mate face dangers his wolf couldn't fight. At least he was handling it better than Lucas, who was practically vibrating with alpha energy as he stood behind Lia.
A knock interrupted Marie's reading. She swirled her hand in the air and Cyran strolled in wearing his signature faded jeans and black t-shirt combo. It somehow made him look more dangerous than if he'd been decked out in tactical gear. Xinar followed wearing what had to be a custom-tailored suit that cost more than our mortgage. The man looked like he'd just finished a photo shoot for Forbes' ‘Sexiest Supernatural CEOs’ edition.
"What's the emergency?" Cyran asked, his eyes landing on the glowing book.
"A prophecy," Dre explained as she gestured to the text. "Apparently we're in it."
"Of course you are," Xinar muttered as he moved closer to examine the pages.
"And here I thought protecting you from demons was going to be my biggest challenge," Noah said softly against my ear. His wolf was close to the surface. I could sense his frustration at not being able to shield me from this threat.
Marie turned a dark expression on us before she refocused on the words. "There’s more. 'The crystal shall recognize its true guardians in these six, for they carry the power of both past and future in their blood. But beware, for others will seek to use their connection, to twist the natural flow of power for their own ends’."
"That explains Viktor's betrayal," Lia said. "And why they've been so focused on wedding venues. They're not just after the emotional energy. They're studying bonds. Probably trying to figure out how they can turn ours inside out so we fight one another."
"Or maybe they’re trying to figure out how to replicate our familial connection to the crystal," Dea suggested.
"So what you're saying," Lucas growled as his alpha authority made the air thick, "is that there's literally nothing we can do to protect you from this? We just have to watch while you six bleed out fighting temporal storms?"
"This is going to suck," Noah muttered. I squeezed his hand, trying to reassure him. His wolf was so close to the surface I could practically feel his fur.
"About those temporal effects," Cyran cut in, looking concerned. "How severe are they becoming?"
I shared a look with my sisters. It was difficult to explain with Noah itching to fight something to protect me. "Let's just say," Dre replied, "if we don't figure out how to control these temporal storms soon, we might end up being the prophesied sisters across multiple centuries. And I really don't want to deal with that kind of long-distance relationship."
"Not happening," Noah growled, pulling me closer. His protective instincts were in overdrive, but what good were teeth and claws against time?
I looked at the prophecy again and at the six figures standing around the crystal. "We do what we have to do. We were working on a trap for the Legends before Marie called. We’ll figure this out. It’s our legacy."
"Your legacy shouldn't require this much bleeding," Lucas snapped, his alpha protectiveness extending to all of us now.
"Pretty sure that ship has sailed," Phi said, dabbing at her nose. "Along with several timelines."
Noah's chest rumbled with a suppressed growl. "There has to be something we can do. The packs have resources and connections."
"You can help by being our anchors," I told him softly. "When reality starts splitting, we need something to hold onto. Something real."
"We're going to need more than anchors," Dre muttered, eyeing our mates' increasingly agitated states. "We're going to need a miracle. And possibly an intervention for these overprotective shifters before they try to fight time."
The look Noah gave me said he'd definitely try if he thought it would help. My phone buzzed with an alert from our emergency hotline. "Speaking of supernatural problems," I said as I read the message. "Reports of suspicious deaths have been filtering in. Three bodies just showed up at the county morgue with traces of temporal magic."
"Puich works there," Cyran said immediately. "He's been keeping an eye out for anything unusual."
"The brownie?" Xinar asked. "Good. He's thorough. And absolutely terrible at lying, which makes him perfect for this kind of surveillance."
Marie looked like she wanted to continue with the prophecy, but this couldn't wait. "We need to check those bodies," I said. "If the Lost Legends are killing people while trying to replicate our connection to the crystal..."
"Go," Marie cut me off. "But come back. There’s more you need to know."
“We will,” Dre promised as we left.
The drive to the morgue was tense. Noah kept shooting me concerned looks from the passenger seat. He was probably remembering the last time we investigated suspicious deaths. That case had involved a student of Phi’s, the Skinwalker, and too many close calls for my taste.
"Stop worrying," I told him. "We've got backup this time."
"Yeah," he replied dryly, "because having a Fae lord and a demon hunter along makes everything safer."
I couldn't argue with that logic. Especially when we arrived to find the morgue's front entrance twisted by what looked like a temporal hiccup. The air rippled and fractured like a broken mirror catching the moonlight. Each shard reflected a different era of the building's history. Through the distortions, decades flickered past like pages in a possessed photo album. Victorian ironwork dissolved into Art Deco columns, and then snapped back to modern concrete.
"Well, that's not ominous at all," Lia commented as we gathered at the side entrance.
Puich met us there. His tiny form vibrated with anxiety. The brownie's white tennis shoes were so pristine they practically glowed in the dim light. They made an amusing contrast with his professional sweater and jeans combo. He bounced on his toes. "Thank goodness you're here," he said as his brown hair flopped over one eye. "The bodies. They're wrong. All wrong. They keep changing."
"Changing how?" Dre asked as her healer's instincts clearly kicked in.
"Sometimes they're fresh," Puich explained as he led us inside. "Sometimes they look decades old. And sometimes..." he shuddered. "Sometimes they're not quite dead yet."
The morgue was eerily quiet except for the hum of fluorescent lights and the soft whir of cooling systems. Puich led us to a secured area where three bodies lay covered on separate tables. The residual magic was unmistakable the second we entered the room.
"They were found in different locations," he explained as he pulled back the first sheet. "But they all show the same markers. Watch."
As we looked on, the body seemed to shift. To my stomach's dismay, it cycled through different states of decay before our eyes. It was like watching time-lapse photography in reverse, then forward, then sideways.
"I’d bet anything this happened because they tried to forge a connection to the crystal," Phi said. Her detection equipment was going crazy. "These people were test subjects."
"Failed experiments," Xinar added grimly. "They were trying to replicate your family's natural bond with artificial means. That never ends well."
"No. They’re killing people in the process." Cyran's voice was hard and his expression was dour. "This ends now."
We were so focused on the bodies that we almost missed the temporal distortion forming near the door. Months of supernatural firefighting had honed our instincts. "Down!" I shouted as a bolt of corrupted magic sliced through the air where we'd been standing.
The attack came from multiple directions at once. Figures emerged from temporal rifts. They were more of those mirage-walkers we'd fought before. Only these were stronger and more focused. "They're here for one of us," Dre realized as she threw up a shield. "They need a sister to study the connection!"
"Over my dead body," Noah growled and moved to cover my flank.
The fight that erupted in that morgue would have been comical if it weren't so deadly. Puich darted between the attackers' legs, using his small size to trip them up. Cyran called up his elemental magic. The air around him crackled as he pulled moisture from it to form deadly ice spears while simultaneously commanding flames that danced between his fingers. Next to him, Xinar's specialized UIS weapons hummed with Underworld energy. They were able to cut through the temporal fields our enemies were using and end them in all timelines.
I caught glimpses of my sisters fighting in perfect sync. Lia and Kota were tag-teaming a mirage-walker while Phi and Dea combined their powers to collapse a forming time rift. Dre stuck close to me and followed up my spells with some of her own. Unfortunately, the assholes weren't really trying to fight us. They were herding us and separating us from each other. Too late, I realized they were focused on me.
"Dani!" Noah's warning came just as a temporal field engulfed me. The world went sideways. Reality bent like a fun house mirror. I caught a glimpse of Viktor standing in a doorway that shouldn't exist. His smile was sharp with triumph. Then everything exploded.
A wave of pure power ripped through the morgue, shattering the temporal fields and sending our attackers flying. Through the chaos, I saw Puich standing amid the destruction. His tiny form was glowing with ancient magic. My sisters were adding their power to the mix to create a magical nuclear bomb.
"Nobody," the brownie said firmly, straightening his sweater, "messes with my morgue."
The explosion ended the fight, and the mirage-walkers were left with no choice but to retreat through rapidly closing time rifts. Noah grabbed me before Viktor could and yanked me to safety. My heart hammered in my chest as I fought to calm my nerves.
"Everyone alive?" I called out as I sunk into Noah’s side.
A chorus of groans answered me. Dre was already moving among us, healing injuries and checking for damage. Puich fussed over his disturbed morgue, muttering about paperwork and proper procedures. "They're getting desperate," Cyran observed as he helped Xinar secure the area. "These attacks are becoming more focused."
"They need one of us to complete their ritual," I said as the realization hit me hard. "The prophecy said we're the crystal's true guardians. They're trying to force a connection through us."
"Which means we're running out of time," Lia added. "The Light Fae party is in two days. If they're getting desperate enough to attack us directly..."
"Then the party is definitely going to be their target," I finished for her. "But they don't know about our trap."
"Or about the prophecy," Phi pointed out. "We need to get back to Marie. Find out what else that book says."
I looked around at our odd group. Six sisters, two protective mates, a Fae lord, a demon hunter, and a tiny but surprisingly badass brownie. Not exactly the team I would have chosen for preventing a magical apocalypse, but somehow, it worked. I’d come close to being the reason the Lost Legends succeeded and it was because of this group I hadn’t.
"Right," I said, already pulling out my phone to text Marie. "But first, someone please tell me why the brownie is the most terrifying one here."
"Trade secret," Puich replied primly. His tennis shoes were somehow still pristinely white despite the chaos. "If you ever need help hiding bodies, I’m your guy," he winked.
Noah just shook his head. "Sunshine, your life is weird."
"Says the man who just fought time-traveling cultists in a morgue," I shot back. But he was right. Our lives were weird. And they were about to get weirder. Because something told me that prophecy had more to say about what was coming. I just hoped we'd be ready for it.
The drive back to Marie's was an exercise in controlled chaos. Phi was video chatting with Kaitlyn, updating her on the morgue attack while simultaneously monitoring her detection equipment. Lia was maneuvering through traffic like she was a NASCAR driver. Dre was still checking everyone for lingering injuries, while Kota conjured a new shirt because hers got torn.
"You know," I said to Noah when he and Lucas joined us on the sidewalk in front of Marie's house, "most couples spend their evenings watching Netflix and complaining about work. We get temporal assassins and prophecies."
"Keeps things interesting," he replied, flashing those dimples that still made my heart skip. "Though I wouldn't mind a boring date night once in a while."
"I'll pencil that in right after we prevent another magical apocalypse," I teased.
Marie was waiting at the door, looking even more frazzled than before. More books had migrated to her study in our absence. They were creating precarious towers that defied both gravity and organizational logic.
"They attacked you," she said as we filed in. It wasn't a question.
"How did you—" I started.
"The prophecy continued while you were gone." She gestured to the glowing book. It displayed new text. "It writes itself and shows current events as they unfold. 'The Lost shall grow desperate, seeking to steal what cannot be given freely.'"
"Well, that's not creepy at all," Kota muttered.
Cyran moved closer to examine the text. "This is old magic. Older than the Fae courts."
"Older than New Orleans itself," Xinar added. His UIS training clearly made him uncomfortable with self-writing prophecies. Join the club, buddy.
"There's more," Marie said, turning pages. "'The six must stand together when the moon is crowned in light. For divided, they shall fall to shadow's touch.'"
"The night before the Light Fae party," Phi translated. "That's when the moon will be full. Although, this could mean the night of. The full moon’s effects could still be in force."
"It's also when we'll have the most magical beings gathered in one place," I pointed out. "Including representatives from all the major Fae courts."
"It’ll be the perfect cover for whatever they're planning," Dre agreed.
The prophecy book suddenly flared brighter, and new words appeared on the page in flowing script. Marie leaned forward to read it. "Beware the false friend who walks in darkness, for he seeks to bind what was meant to be free. The crystal's power cannot be forced, only guided by those who share its ancient song."
"Viktor," Lia spat the name like it tasted bad. "He's not just helping the Lost Legends. He's trying to bind the crystal's power to himself."
"But he can't," I realized. "That's why they need one of us. And he knows it. The crystal only responds to our bloodlines."
"The prophecy confirms it," Marie nodded. "Only those who carry both lines may channel its true power. All others who attempt to force its blessing shall be consumed by their own ambition."
"Like those bodies in the morgue," Xinar said grimly. "They weren't just failed experiments. They were examples of what happens when someone tries to forge an artificial connection to the crystal."
A chill ran down my spine as I remembered how those bodies were caught in an endless cycle of death and undeath. If that was what happened to regular people who tried to connect to the crystal... "What would happen if they tried to force a connection through one of us?" Dea asked quietly as if she’d read my mind.
The silence that followed was deafening. "The prophecy doesn't say," Marie finally admitted. "But given your natural connection to the crystal, the power feedback would be catastrophic."
"Define catastrophic," Noah demanded as he moved closer to me protectively.
"Think less 'localized temporal disturbance' and more 'reality-breaking chain reaction’," Phi supplied helpfully. "The crystal's power, amplified through one of our corrupted connections, could theoretically create a cascade effect that would?—"
"Tear apart the fabric of space-time?" Lia finished. "That's exactly what we need right now. As if regular old magical explosions weren't exciting enough."
I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache building. "So let me get this straight. We've got a self-writing prophecy telling us we're the crystal's destined guardians, a vampire traitor trying to steal its power, and a group of time-bending cultists who want to use one of us as a magical battery to potentially destroy the world?"
"Don't forget the Light Fae party we still have to host," Kota added.
"Or the fact that every wedding venue in the city is being used to find us," Dre chimed in.
"And the dimensional tears that keep popping up around the Quarter," Phi contributed.
"Thanks for those reminders," I said dryly. "Really helpful."
The prophecy book flared again, and more words appeared. Marie read them with growing concern. "Time grows short as the moon waxes full. The Lost seek to unmake what was woven, to break the bonds that bind reality's flow. Only through unity may the six prevail, for their strength lies not in power alone, but in the bonds between."
"Our connection to each other is far more important than our connection to the crystal," Dea translated. “That’s why they will never pull this off. They don’t understand what it means to be a Twisted Sister.”
"More important," Cyran added as he studied the text. "The prophecy suggests your bond as sisters is what makes you true guardians, not just your bloodlines."
Something clicked in my mind. "I bet they've also been using wedding venues to better understand emotional bonds. If they’re smart, they're trying to understand our connection to each other."
"But they can't," Lia said with growing excitement. “Because you can't replicate or force something like that. It has to be real."
"Which means our trap at the plantation might actually work better than we thought," I added. "They're expecting to find six sisters with a magical connection they can corrupt. Instead..."
"They'll find six sisters ready to kick their temporally-displaced asses," Kota finished with a grin.
The prophecy book gave one final pulse of light before going dark. Marie closed it carefully. "The rest is up to you now. Whatever happens next will determine whether the Lost Legends succeed in their plans or fail in their attempt to control what was never meant to be controlled."
"No pressure or anything," I muttered.
Noah squeezed my hand. "You've got this, Sunshine. All of you do."
Looking around at my sisters, I knew he was right. "Right then," I said, straightening my shoulders. "We've got a party to prepare for, a trap to finish setting, and reality itself to save. Plus, I still need to figure out how to explain to the Light Fae why we can't use real starlight in the centerpieces."
"Just another day at the office," Lia quipped.
And really, that's what our lives had become. A constant balance of magical crisis management and event planning, with a healthy dose of sarcasm to keep us all sane. But looking at my family and our increasingly weird collection of allies, I wouldn't have it any other way. Now, we just had to survive long enough to prove that prophecy right.