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" F ound something interesting" turned into hours of poring over business records, ancient texts, and what became an increasingly complex wall of conspiracy theories. By the time my back was screaming in protest and the babies were demanding their third snack break, my eyes were crossing from staring at faded script. And it felt like we hadn’t really gotten anywhere.

This was all so convoluted. The danger to my babies was real yet we had no idea who or what to do to end it.

"Okay, that's it," Mom declared as she snatched the grimoire from my hands. "You need actual rest, not just shifting positions on the couch while pretending to take breaks."

I opened my mouth to protest but was betrayed by a massive yawn. "Fine. But wake me if?—"

"If the world starts ending, ancient powers emerge, or the dishes start performing Cats," Nana finished as she sipped her coffee. While the rest of us had been up all night, she had gone to bed. "We know the drill, Phoebe."

Aidon appeared at my elbow, already moving to help me up. "I'll take you upstairs."

"I can walk," I grumbled, even as I leaned into his support. The stairs had become my nemesis lately. Pretty sure they were conspiring with the coffee maker in some diabolical plot to ruin my life. Both of them probably reported to my alarm clock, the real mastermind behind operation ‘sleep-dep’.

"Of course you can." His tone made it clear he was humoring me.

Despite the early morning sun coming in around the edges of the curtains, I was almost asleep before my head hit the pillow. The last thing I remembered was Aidon pulling the covers over me and the babies settling into what felt like their naptime routine. A frantic pounding jolted me awake.

I was disoriented as alarm flitted through me. What was that? How long was I asleep? It hadn’t felt like very long. Afternoon sun streamed through the windows, meaning I'd been out for hours. The symbol on my belly pulsed with warning a second before Nina burst through the door.

"Mom! We just got a call. There's a coven emergency!

" Nina began tossing clothes at me. "You know, the young witch who just moved here with her mom?

Melody? Her powers are manifesting out of the blue.

Apparently, she's been blessed with empathic projection and she's accidentally bringing people's buried emotions to life as spirit animals at the hospital.

" I recalled the young woman who was studying to be a nurse and doing her clinical hours.

My heart started racing as I struggled upright. "What kind of animals?"

"The kind that are feeding off negative emotions and growing bigger by the minute. A patient's fear just turned into a glowing blue tiger that's the size of a golf cart. If any mundanes get video evidence, we're screwed."

Well, shit. So much for resting. “Where’s Aidon?” I hauled myself up and changed as quickly as my pregnant body would allow.

"One of Aidon's UIS agents called a couple hours ago. There’s an uprising in Sector Seven. The demons are trying to sabotage the new Hellmouth containment grid," Nina explained as she helped me pull a new shirt over my head. "He said to call if we need backup."

"Gods, I hope they contain it quickly. If those demons manage to damage enough of the network nodes, we'll have breaches all across the Western seaboard," I mused as I waddled toward the stairs. "The Hellmouth system is the only thing keeping them from pouring into our realm."

"He promised to handle it fast. He wouldn't have gone if we hadn't masked the energy coming off of your magical tattoo.

He's worried about you and the babies." Nina was the best daughter, and I appreciated that she was trying to reassure me.

It helped me not to worry because she was right.

"Plus, he's got who knows how many agents with him. "

I wrapped my arm through hers and smiled at her as we waddled down the stairs. "Thanks for the reminder. Okay, back to the crisis on our doorstep. I need to call Stella."

“I already called her. She’s meeting us at the hospital,” Nina replied as she helped steady me.

Mythia had a sandwich and apple in a container for me when we stopped in the kitchen to inform them where we were going. Mom and Nana insisted on joining us and the drive to Pen Bay Medical was tense. I was acutely aware of Nana and Nina staring out the windows for anything suspicious.

Thankfully, the concealment spell on my mark held. My magical signature remained hidden, but the babies were restless. They always sensed the urgency of the situation. And they didn't appreciate being jostled around while I speed-waddled through the hospital parking lot.

We found Stella waiting by the ED entrance with her phone in her hand.

She looked up when she heard Nana’s cane.

"Thank the gods you’re here. I just got off the call with Melody.

She's on the third floor in the East wing," she whispered as we approached.

"The emotional projections are causing complete havoc with the medical equipment.

She said every time someone gets anxious about test results, their worry is manifesting as actual different animals.

She's trying to ground it, but she's in way over her head. "

"Please tell me this isn't all over social media already," I groaned as we hurried toward the elevators. The last thing we needed was #GlowingHospitalGhostAnimals trending on TikTok. Being in the hospital for the third time in as many days was making me jittery. My hand went to my stomach and I said a prayer that the containment kept the secret society out to get my babies didn’t find me.

"I haven’t seen any alerts come across my phone." Stella's forced cheerfulness wasn't reassuring. "But, there's currently a glowing blue tiger made of pure fear stalking the surgical ward, and it's got company."

The elevator ride was the longest thirty seconds of my life. When the doors opened to the third floor, the first thing that hit me was the noise. Alarms on the machines were beeping erratically. When I poked a head into one of the rooms, I noted the display was flickering with static.

The real problem wasn't immediately visible to mundie eyes.

My magical sight picked up the shimmer of emotional energy saturating the air.

Melody stood in the middle of the hallway looking like she was about to cry.

Around her, a menagerie of glowing spirit animals prowled.

Each one had been born from a different patient's fears or anxieties.

A tiger of pure fear stalked past a nurse's station while what looked like a pack of spectral wolves made of raw panic paced outside a room.

"I don't know what happened!" Melody cried when she spotted us.

Her brown curls were frizzed with static electricity, her own anxiety adding to the manifestations.

"One minute I was doing my rounds, trying to comfort a scared patient before their surgery.

The next, my chest got really warm and..

. a glowing blue bear appeared. I called my mom who told me about my great-grandmother's power and that’s when I knew I was making their emotions manifest."

"Did your mother tell you that this was a normal empathic manifestation?" Nana asked. "Usually projection powers just let you sense emotions, not turn them into giant glowing spirit animals."

"No, she just said I was an empath like her!

" Melody's voice cracked with panic. Her curls practically crackled with static as another spectral creature - this one looking suspiciously like an anxious raccoon - materialized near the nurses' station.

"She didn't mention anything about power manifestations!

I was just trying to help Mrs. Henderson calm down before her surgery and suddenly - BAM!

- that appeared!" She pointed at the massive blue tiger.

As it got closer to the cardiac monitor, it went haywire.

"This isn't supposed to happen! Mom just gets migraines and has to avoid crowds! "

Before anyone could respond, a nurse rounded the corner. She moved with an otherworldly grace that immediately set off warning bells. Her nametag read "Cassandra" but the way the emotional manifestations recoiled from her presence told me she was something far more ancient than a hospital employee.

"The Old Ones did warn us this would happen," she said softly, her voice carrying despite the chaos. "When the thrice-blessed ones draw near, the veils between worlds grow thin. Ancient powers stir, and those meant to guard them awaken before their time."

I shared a look with Stella. "You're one of them. A Keeper."

"Of course she is,” Nana barked as she lifted her cane. “Did you follow the energy of my mark here?"

Cassandra shook her head as something like fascination crossed her features.

"The mark went dark for us last night. Many assume you are holed up at your house. I can see that, in fact, we can no longer sense the mark as we once could. I don’t know how you managed to sever that connection.

I felt the power fluctuations at the hospital.

I hoped..." She paused, her ancient eyes showing a weariness that made me think of centuries rather than decades.

"I hoped I might be able to help resolve the chaos here.

There should be peace in a place of healing.

Not all of us seek to control or destroy.

Some of us remember our true purpose. We were tasked with guiding and protecting those touched by old magic. " Her gaze shifted to Melody.

"Her unborn babies did this?" Melody squeaked.

"Indirectly. Their presence accelerates what was meant to be," Cassandra explained. "Your power would have manifested eventually, but the ancient powers flowing through those children are like a catalyst. They're waking things that have slept for centuries."