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Nodding, I smoothed my shirt. “As ready as I’m going to get.”

“I’ll keep an eye on things here,” Mythia promised.

“Thanks. We will be back in time for that fried chicken dinner you promised me,” I told her with a wave as I filed out the door.

We piled into two cars. Aidon drove me, Mom, and Nana in his SUV. Stella drove her, Nina, Layla and Selene. Tsekani and Murtagh would remain behind but would be ready to respond if we needed them.

As we pulled out of the driveway, I caught one last glimpse of our house.

The garden hose was doing what looked like an interpretive dance on the lawn.

I could have sworn I saw the toaster waving goodbye through the window.

"Just another day in the life," I muttered as I settled back against the seat.

I closed my eyes and drifted off as Aidon drove us.

Mom’s voice woke me. It felt like I’d been out for hours.

I knew it couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes.

The coven house wasn’t that far. "Turn left here," she told Aidon from the backseat.

"And please tell me someone remembered to bring the cookies.

Mythia and I infused them with a calming spell to keep this meeting from going off the rails. "

"I've got them right here," Nana said as she patted her oversized bag. "Along with three types of emergency snacks for Phoebe. You know, just in case." That was smart of her. I wouldn’t do well if I got hungry.

Nightshadow Grove appeared through the trees like something out of a gothic romance novel.

If gothic romance novels included magical protection wards that made your hair stand on end.

The Victorian mansion's light green siding seemed to shimmer in the afternoon sun.

Its blue-grey, pink, and pale yellow accents created an oddly cheerful facade for a place that had probably seen more magical disasters than a Harry Potter convention.

"Well, would you look at that," Nana remarked as we pulled into the familiar circular driveway. "Seems our dear Bridget's been at the paint charms again. That new shade of purple makes it look even more like a wedding cake designed by a color-blind pastry chef with a thing for haunted houses."

A snort left me as we climbed out of the car and headed for the house.

I glanced up at the lighthouse-like room perched above the house.

I remembered the one time we'd gathered there for a late-night ritual.

Lilith had told us that the odd rectangular addition with its triangular roof had been a beacon for magical souls long before I'd been born.

The wrap-around porch welcomed us with its usual creaks as we reached the front door.

Bridget opened the door before Nana could knock.

She looked particularly sophisticated today.

I swear she looked like she could have stepped straight out of the latest "Witch Weekly" spread.

“You look better than I expected,” Bridget told me as we entered the house behind her.

"Good to see you all," Lilith called out before I responded to Bridget. Glancing up, I found Lilith at the top of the stairs.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet so quickly," I said with a smile as my gaze traveled over the space.

Even after my handful of visits, the house's blend of Victorian excess and magical practicality still caught me off guard.

Dark wood wainscoting wrapped around the walls beneath richly painted plaster, and ornate crown molding traced delicate patterns overhead.

"About time you got here," Lavina said, drawing my attention to her standing in the doorway to the parlor. Her steel-grey hair seemed extra steely today as she eyed Aidon. "Though I see you've brought extra guests."

I could see where her ire was directed and wasn’t having any of it. "He stays," I said firmly, which unexpectedly came out as, "The divine warrior shall not be parted from his beloved, lest the stars themselves weep at their separation." That was new and disturbing.

Bridget's eyebrows shot up. "What in the name of all that's holy..."

"That is why we’re here," Layla explained when I remained mute. In my defense, I was busy trying to determine if another entity had taken me over.

Discussion from behind Lavinia caught my attention.

Other coven members were already gathered in the main ritual room, which took up most of the first floor's east wing. The space was circular, and windows stretched from floor to ceiling. Their stained glass cast colorful shadows across the hardwood floors. I was happy to see Clio’s friendly face.

Her smile was relieved. She’d been asking me to inform the coven from the moment problems began.

The potted fern in the corner of the room suddenly shot upward.

Its fronds unfurled like hungry fingers.

The plant grew and twisted, its stems thickening and leaves multiplying until they formed a massive archway of living greenery.

The stained-glass windows began to vibrate in their frames.

Their colors began seeping away and threading through the leaves of the plant.

"By all that's sacred," Lilith breathed. "In all my years in this house..."

"You might want to grab a cookie," Nana said as she set down the tin of chocolate chip calm Mythia and Mom had made. "Something tells me we're about to have another... incident." She glanced meaningfully at my belly.

Before anyone could reach for the tin, the massive bookshelf along the ritual room's far wall shuddered. We’re not talking about a slight tremor.

No, the whole thing rattled like it was trying to dance.

One by one, books began shooting off the shelves.

Their pages fluttered open as they took to the air.

The symbol on my belly began to burn. Its light pulsed in sync with the airborne books.

The babies kicked in unison. Then, my little nuggets sent a wave of power through me that made every magical object in the room rattle.

The portraits on the walls began whispering among themselves.

Even their painted eyes went wide with alarm.

"Um, guys?" I called out as the sensation built. "I think we might have a situation here." More books joined the aerial display. Their pages glowed with symbols that matched the one on my stomach.

"Duck!" Aidon roared as a particularly massive tome swooped overhead like a leather-bound bat out of hell.

The ritual room erupted into chaos. Books zipped through the air like possessed projectiles.

The light streaming in through the stained glass windows caused their pages to cast strange shadows.

The historical artifacts displayed around the room decided to join the party.

They flew into the air and created an obstacle course of floating candlesticks and levitating ritual tools.

"Protect the pregnant lady!" Nana shouted as she brandished her walking stick like a lightsaber. She didn’t need it as much anymore, but she kept it collapsed in her purse just in case. "And somebody stop that ceremonial chalice before it makes a break for the street!"

The ancient chandelier above us began to swing like a pendulum. Its crystals chimed in harmony with the whispers from the books. The sound resonated with the symbol on my belly in a way that made my blood vibrate.

Mom and Nina worked in tandem. Their magic created shields against the literary assault while Selene and Layla tried to corral the flying books. The ones that seemed most active were arranging themselves in a circle around me.

"This is definitely not Lyra," Mom admitted as she deflected a book that looked like it was bound in scales. "She's more 'death by dagger' than 'death by library.'"

The symbol on my belly flared like a supernova.

Suddenly, I could understand what the whispers were trying to say.

I hadn’t even heard them a moment ago. The words bypassed my ears and went straight to my brain.

They carried images of powers so ancient they made the gods look like teenagers at a high school party. The Titans, then?

"Oh, this is not good," I muttered. Unfortunately, it came out as, "Lo, portents most dire do unfold before us, heralding doom with scholarly fury."

"What do you see?" Aidon demanded.

Before I could answer, every book in the room dropped to the floor at once.

They landed with a synchronized thud that made the floorboards shake.

As the dust settled and the books finally stopped their aerial acrobatics, I couldn't help but notice how the afternoon light streaming through the stainedglass windows highlighted the ancient symbols now scattered across the floor.

"Well," Bridget said, brushing dust from her sleeve, "I haven't seen anything like that since the Yule Disaster of '83."

"Do tell," Stella perked up, momentarily forgetting about the chaos surrounding me.

"Another time," Bridget interrupted, her eyes fixed on the books strewn around us. "Right now, we need to focus on what just happened and what it means for Phoebe and her children."

A heavy thud from above interrupted our conversation. The sound echoed through the house like a drumbeat. “Was that in that lighthouse room?” I asked.

Everyone in the coven nodded at the same time. "We need to find out what that was," Nana declared and then turned to head for the stairs with the kind of determination that usually preceded property damage.

We trooped up after her. Our footsteps were oddly muffled on the normally creaky stairs. Even the portraits were suspiciously quiet. Though I caught several of them nudging each other and pointing upward. I felt like I was stuck in one of the Harry Potter movies.