"They have one of those video doorbells, but it didn’t get anything. Whatever cloaking magic they're using fooled the technology completely." She glanced at me. "Sound familiar?"
"Yeah." I thought about the frames Nina had captured on her phone. "What about the second family? You said there were two of them."
"Selkie twins. Three months old. The mom's name is Kaia. She pulled them underwater during the attack. Apparently, selkie babies can breathe in both forms from birth. The attacker couldn't follow."
“That was fast thinking on her part,” I observed. “These things are as evil as Lyra.”
"And they didn’t pick a very imaginative name," Stella added as she pulled up to a modest ranch house with a well-maintainedyard. Before we could unbuckle our seatbelts, the front door opened.
The woman who stood there had literal fire in her eyes. They flickered between gold and red. She would never have been able to hide that from mundies. I understood why she was having a hard time controlling her phoenix heritage. She was maybe thirty, with dark copper hair pulled into a messy bun and the exhausted look of new motherhood stamped across her face.
"You must be Phoebe and Stella," she called out as we approached. "I'm Ember. Thank you for coming."
Her grip was firm when we shook hands and warm enough to be uncomfortable. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with us." I smiled at her. I probably looked deranged, but I couldn’t help it. I was too worried about my babies.
"Are you kidding? When Stella said you'd survived an attack too, I would've driven to you." She gestured us inside. "My mate's at work. He wanted to be here, but I figured this was better as a mother-to-mother conversation anyway."
The living room was dominated by a circular arrangement of cushions and blankets with a bassinet at the center. The temperature in the room was at least ten degrees warmer than outside. The baby inside radiated heat like a tiny furnace.
"That's Ash," Ember said, pride and pain mixing in her voice. "He’s one month old today."
I moved closer. His hair was the same copper as his mother's, but streaked with gold. "He's beautiful."
"He's a survivor." Ember knelt beside the bassinet. "The night they attacked, I'd just put him down. I barely made it to the kitchen when I felt the creepy sensation of being watched. Then the window exploded inward."
Stella had pulled out her notebook. "Can you describe the attacker?"
"It was difficult to see its face because it had this hood that covered everything. It had gray skin and those hands—" Ember shuddered. "It had long fingers with black claws at the ends that were at least three inches each. It moved in this flowing way, like silk in water. It was completely silent." My stomach turned, and my breath caught when I recalled how it went after Melaina.
"It went straight for Ash's bassinet. Didn't say anything, didn't hesitate. Just launched this spell that looked like rotten blood and smelled like decay." Ember's voice cracked. "I threw up a shield, but it wasn't strong enough. The thing did something that started eating through it. That's when my one-month-old baby burst into flames."
"He’s got great survival instincts," I murmured, thinking of Melaina's heat surges.
"That's what the healer said. You have to understand that what he did is not normal for our kind. Normally, babies just warm up. Ash created a wall of fire hot enough to force the attacker back." She looked up at me. "I spent his entire first month celebrating every milestone. Now I'm celebrating that my infant can weaponize himself."
I'd been thinking the exact same thing about the triplets. "I know," I said softly. "I hate that they have to be weapons before they can be children."
Ember's eyes filled with tears. "Nobody warns you about this part. About being grateful, your baby has the power to defend himself while simultaneously mourning the fact that he'll need it."
I sank down beside her and pulled her into a hug. She stiffened for a moment, then melted into it. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs. Behind us, Stella quietly texted someone. No doubt she was making arrangements for protection for the family.
"Oh, I did get something." Ember stood, moving to a shelf and retrieving a small glass vial. Inside was what looked like ash. "Where the spell hit my shield before Ash burned the attacker, it left residue. My mate collected it before it could dissipate."
Stella's eyes lit up. "May I?"
"Take it. If it helps identify these bastards, it's yours."
We spent another thirty minutes going over every detail. Stella catalogued everything while I held Ash, marveling at the heat radiating from his tiny body. "One more question," I said as we prepared to leave. "The lunar phase. When was Ash born?"
Ember's expression betrayed her surprise. "Waning crescent. It’s a peak window for fire elementals. Our clan elder told me it was lucky that his powers would develop faster." She laughed bitterly. "Some luck."
Stella’s phone pinged with a message. "Shit. It looks like there were two other attacks. That makes five families so far, and they all had children born during peak phases," Stella explained. "We think that's how they're choosing targets."
"So, they'll keep coming." Ember took Ash from me.
"Yes. And we found out today what we're actually dealing with." I took a breath. "They're called the Thessmark. They extract magical essence from children to extend their own lives."
Ember's face went white. "Extract. You mean?—"
