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I fixed Selene with my best mom glare. It probably wasn't very intimidating given that I could barely keep my eyes open. "Tell me everything. How did you even make contact?"

"I had Tseki fly me off the property so I could circle around behind those watching our house," Selene said as she got up and began pacing the room with barely contained energy.

Her hands sparked with residual offensive magic.

"I even managed to get close enough to plant a tracking charm on one of them before they noticed anything.

They're using some kind of dead drop system to communicate.

I followed the signal straight to it, and there's an emergency meeting happening tonight about recent 'concerning developments' in the area. "

"You mean me and the babies."

"Exactly. This is our chance to learn exactly what they're planning.

Maybe even identify some of their key players.

" She clenched her fists, and I could feel the magic crackling around her like static electricity.

"I'm tired of playing defense. We need to stop them and end their whole twisted interpretation of that prophecy before anyone else gets hurt.”

Footsteps thundered up the stairs before she could continue.

Mom and Nana burst in, looking like they'd been caught in a magical windstorm.

Which, given the earlier protection spell mishap, they probably had.

Mom's hair stood up in wild directions, and Nana's usually impeccable outfit was covered in what looked like sparkly soot.

"We did it!" Nana announced triumphantly, brandishing a crystal that pulsed with golden light. "We modified Hattie's tracking spell to work with the new magical frequencies around your mark. It's already picking up something big."

"Multiple somethings," Mom corrected, spreading a map across my legs. Various points glowed with different intensities on the enchanted paper. "Look at these convergence points. They're not random. They form a pattern that leads to?—"

"The old lighthouse," I finished, seeing where the lines intersected. "But that's been abandoned for decades."

"It’d be the perfect place to hide a stronghold," Selene mused as she leaned forward to study the map. "And it's not far from where the destroyers are meeting tonight. That can't be a coincidence."

"It's not," Nina said from the doorway. "The magical signatures are similar. Whatever's in that lighthouse is definitely connected to the Keepers. Their auras have the same oily feel to them."

The babies chose that moment to execute a perfect synchronized flip that made me gasp. The mark flared brightly enough to be visible through both my shirt and the blankets. Energy pulsed outward, making the tracking crystal in Nana's hand chime like a bell.

"That's definitely not helping your energy levels," Clio observed as she appeared behind Nina. I hadn't even heard her come up. "Everyone out. My patient needs actual rest, not more reasons to worry."

"But—" we all started to protest.

"Out," she repeated firmly. "You can plan your magical espionage and archive raiding somewhere that won't drain her further. The babies are already pulling enough energy without all of you adding to it."

"We'll keep you updated," Selene promised as she stood.

"Be careful tonight," I called after her. It was frustrating to know that she was going no matter what I said. I was used to being in the thick of the action, not home in bed. "These people are willing to kill to maintain their power. Don't take any unnecessary risks."

"I'll have backup," she assured me. "Stella and Layla will be nearby if anything goes wrong. And Nina can monitor the magical signatures from a safe distance."

As the others started filing out, Nina lingered by the doorway.

Her head tilted to one side and her expression shifted from fascination to concern.

"The magical currents around you have changed," she said slowly.

"Imagine a river that's been flowing one way for centuries suddenly deciding to run backward.

The old power structures are unraveling wherever your mark's influence reaches. "

"What exactly are you seeing?" I asked, intrigued despite my exhaustion.

She moved closer. "There are these threads of power - old ones that look like tarnished gold - that have been binding magical bloodlines.

I can see where they're starting to fray and break apart.

But there are newer threads too, bright silver ones, forming connections between magical mothers.

It's like watching a tapestry reweave itself. "

"It’s the network that's been draining my energy," I realized.

"More than that," she said. "The new connections are somehow... purer? Like they're closer to how magic was originally meant to flow. The babies' power is acting as a catalyst and accelerating changes that were already trying to happen naturally."

Mom and Nana exchanged meaningful looks before Mom pulled out Hattie's grimoire. "That might explain why the tracking spell reacted so strongly to the lighthouse. Nina, honey, come look at this. Tell us what you see in the magical residue."

Nina studied the map where the tracking crystal had left glowing traces. "Oh wow," she breathed. "The energy signatures there are ancient. They might even predate the Keepers. And they're similar to Mom's mark, but... original maybe? As if the mark is an echo of whatever power is stored there."

"Or perhaps," Nana mused, "that's where the power was first bound. The place where they began manipulating magical bloodlines."

"Which would make it the perfect place to hide their records," Selene added. "If we could access those archives while I'm at the meeting..."

"Are you freaking kidding me?" I cut in. "You're not splitting your focus during an infiltration mission. That's asking for trouble."

"She's right," Stella said from the hallway. "We need to handle these separately. Selene, we should focus on getting you ready for tonight. That glamour needs to be perfect."

"I can help with that," Nina offered. "Now that I can see how their magical signatures work, we can make sure yours matches exactly."

I watched as they gathered around Selene.

The former ghoul had become a member of the family after Stella and I had restored her soul.

It warmed my heart to see everyone offering different suggestions for her disguise.

The destroyers would be expecting someone bitter, someone who had lost faith in the controllers' methods.

Her glamour needed to be perfect. They added to her cover story.

She was a disillusioned enforcer who had watched too many bloodlines weaken under suppression.

"Remember," Stella coached, "you're not angry about the suppression itself. You're angry that it's ineffective. That's what they'll expect to hear."

"Keep your reactions subtle," Mom added. "These people have survived for centuries by being paranoid. They'll be watching for any sign you're not what you claim to be."

Meanwhile, Nana had spread the map across my dresser and was weighing down the corners with crystals. "The lighthouse will need its own team," she said firmly. "Look at how these ley lines converge. The magical defense system there must be incredible."

"Good thing we have someone who can see exactly how those defenses work," Mom said, smiling proudly at Nina. "Think you can map out their weak points?"

Nina studied the glowing lines. "Maybe. The magic there is... layered and complex. But there are definitely gaps where the old wards are degrading. If we time it right..."

I couldn't shake the feeling that we were missing something obvious. The pieces were there - the divided Keepers, the hidden archives, the way magic behaved differently around my mark - but the answer remained just out of reach. My exhausted brain kept trying to put it together.

Sleep pulled at me as their conversations continued. Mom and Nana refined the tracking spell while Selene and Stella worked on perfecting her glamour. Nina's voice carried an edge of excitement as she described more of what she could detect with her new sight.

"The lighthouse definitely has wards," she was saying. "But they're old, and I can see where they're starting to fray around the edges."

"That could work in our favor," Mom replied. "We just need to find the opening."

The last thing I heard before drifting off was Aidon's quiet voice: "Be careful tonight. The destroyers won't hesitate to eliminate any threat to their power."

"Don't worry," Selene replied with grim determination. "They won't even know I was there until it's too late. By this time tomorrow, we'll know exactly what we're up against."

As darkness claimed me, the babies stirred one final time. The mark pulsed gently, almost like a lullaby. I had to rest for whatever came next. I needed the energy to make sure my family wasn’t captured by the enemy.