Page 35

P ersephone and Aidon moved in perfect sync.

His shadows tangled with her devastating power as they pushed back the wave of destroyers trying to stop us.

Stella's magic crackled through the air while Nana's potions had several creatures dissolving into screaming puddles.

Mom and Nina stood between me and them. They were ready to join the fight while prepared to keep me out of it.

A sharp contraction hit just as my phone buzzed. Pulling my cell out of my back pocket, I glanced at the screen. Why was she calling right now? Before I could reason it through, Mom's hand caught my arm. "Answer it. Sarah wouldn't call right now unless it was an emergency."

I swiped to accept while keeping my eyes on the battle raging in front of me. "Kind of in the middle of something," I managed through gritted teeth.

"They're moving," Sarah said without preamble. Her voice was tight with controlled panic. "Three pregnant witches just reported Keepers at their homes. We're mobilizing the midwife network now, but we need help coordinating their evacuations."

My heart jumped into my throat. "Where?" The babies' magic flared in response to my spike of fear. Another wave of purple, blue, and gold light pulsed through the chamber. Perfect timing, as always.

"Portland, Bath, and Rockland. The mothers began showing signs of improvement a few minutes ago. Somehow, the Keepers have realized what is happening. They're targeting every magical pregnancy they can find to stop the change."

The babies kicked in unified protest. Their distinct powers flared. Nyssa's shadows writhed along the walls while Thaniel's time-warping energy made the call's audio distort and echo strangely. While Melaina's golden light pulsed in harmony with something deep beneath the lighthouse.

"The energy signatures are intensifying," Nina muttered. "Mom, look at this pattern." She held up her phone and then pointed to a complex diagram on the ground. Ancient runes spiraled in similar configurations that echoed the mark on my belly.

"The babies' powers aren't random," she continued excitedly.

I held my breath as Aidon and his mom managed to push the destroyers out of the room.

"They're following an ancient template for how magic was meant to flow.

Shadow, time, and resonance. They're fundamental forces that were intentionally separated.

Jean-Marc found references to it in some books. "

"That tracks with what we're seeing in the field," Sarah added through the speaker.

"Every pregnant witch we've helped has shown increased ability in one of those three areas.

Amanda's baby literally froze time when a Keeper got too close to their house.

Melissa's daughter created shadow doubles to confuse anyone watching them.

And Catherine's son..." She paused meaningfully.

"Let's just say their house plant collection has developed some interesting defensive capabilities. "

"It's like your babies are awakening things that were dormant in magical bloodlines," Mom observed as Aidon’s gaze clashed with mine. "Variations of these powers should have been there all along."

A crash from above reminded us we weren't alone.

The destroyer faction was still trying to stop us, and from the sound of it, reinforcements had just arrived.

"That's the third wave to arrive," Nana reported grimly.

"They're burning through any spell we put up like cheap fireworks. We won’t be able to hold them off forever. "

"We need to split up," I decided quickly, mind racing through options. "Mom, take Stella and Selene to help Sarah. They've got the most experience with emergency extractions. Nana, you and Nina keep working on understanding these patterns.”

Persephone used her powers to create a tunnel. “This will take you to the car. Go,” she told them.

I told Sarah help was coming and disconnected the call. “We will find a way home,” I reassured Mom when she didn’t leave.

Shaking her head, she gave me her pained look. “We should stick together.”

"No. Go," I told her, squeezing her hand quickly. "Those mothers need you more than we do right now. Sarah will text you the addresses. Just... be careful. These Keepers are desperate, and desperate people do stupid things."

"Like trying to bind powers that were never meant to be bound?" Stella quipped, but her expression was serious as she moved to the tunnel. "We'll get them out, Phoebe. All of them."

"Watch the magical frequencies around Bath," Nina advised before they disappeared into the tunnel.

"The ley lines there are unstable since the Keepers' last attempt to suppress bloodlines in the area.

And Grammy?" She caught Mom's sleeve. "The research Jean-Marc and I found suggests the babies' powers will be strongest when working with others like them.

If you can get the moms to coordinate their abilities. .."

"They’ll be able to help us,” Mom finished for her. “There’s strength in magical numbers. We’ve got this."

"Be careful," Aidon growled as another explosion shook the chamber. "The destroyer faction isn't the only threat out there. Every supernatural entity can sense the change coming. Some will try to stop it. Others will try to control it for themselves."

Mom nodded, and they vanished into Persephone’s tunnel.

I turned back to the destroyers trying to break past the barrier Nana and Stella had cast on the door leading into the chamber.

Aidon's phone buzzed. His jaw tightened as he scanned the messages.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to breathe through another contraction without giving myself away.

"Demons are everywhere," he growled, his eyes still on his phone as updates kept flowing in.

"The Marianas Trench facility is reporting unprecedented activity levels.

Siberian containment units are straining.

Even the Hellmouth in London is showing energy spikes.

" His dark gaze met mine, fierce and unyielding.

"Don’t even say it. My mother and I aren't leaving. "

"Oh good, a demon uprising and destroyer attacks. Just what every woman wants when heavily pregnant," I muttered, earning a sharp look from him. I grimaced and glanced away. Nina had grabbed something from one of the shelves and was reading through the scroll.

"The timing isn't coincidental," Persephone added, her power rolling off her in waves that made the destroyers below shrink back. "Everything's connected. The demons, the Keepers targeting pregnant witches, and these attacks," she gestured to the hoard mere feet away. "They know what's coming."

Nina waved the scroll, ducking as another blast hit our protective barriers.

"It's a good thing Gammy went to help those other mothers because each one is connecting to one aspect of the old powers.

I don't think it's just Mom and the babies repairing the First Song.

They're also recreating the original magical framework," she shared excitedly.

"Look at this." She read aloud, "'When the three-fold power awakens in trinity born, the ancient bonds shall break.

What was scattered shall gather, what was broken shall mend, and those who sought to control the bloodlines shall find their power turned to dust'. "

"What does that mean?" I asked, breathing through another contraction while channeling power into our defensive shields.

"The Keepers systematically dismantled the First Song's basic components and scattered them through bloodlines they could control," Persephone explained as she blasted back another wave of destroyers.

"But the babies are acting like magical magnets, drawing similar powers back together so they can help repair it. "

"That's why they're so desperate," Nana said as she lobbed a vial of brownish sludge.

They made several destroyers dissolve into screaming puddles.

"The Keepers based their entire power structure on keeping magical bloodlines separate and controlled.

But the babies are undoing centuries of magical manipulation just by existing. "

Through my connection to the other mothers, I felt every moment of their evacuations.

The midwife network moved with practiced efficiency, getting the pregnant witches to safety.

I knew Mom, Stella, and Selene were running interference against the Keepers while they worked.

Between one blink and the next, I shared one woman's terror as she clutched her swollen belly.

Her baby's temporal magic surged wildly in response to her fear.

Beneath the panic was a core of steel. She wouldn't let them hurt her child.

Another mother's emotions hit me differently.

This woman had a cold, calculated fury as she packed emergency bags.

Her unborn daughter's shadows were already learning to wrap protectively around her mom like a cloak.

Each time a Keeper's magic brushed against her wards, the shadows lashed out with surprising ferocity for something still in the womb.

A third mother's energy sang with fierce maternal protection.

Her unborn son's power was harmonizing with the ancient wards embedded in her family home.

I felt her satisfaction as everyday objects transformed into magical defenders.

The herbs in her kitchen window sprouting thorns and her grandmother's old rocking chair creaked to life.

Even the welcome mat became a trap door for uninvited guests.