"It's just emergency supplies," I replied, mentally reviewing the contents.
Along with the standard baby necessities, the bag contained a sleek temperature regulator that Hades had crafted for Melaina's heat surges. There were also a pair of copper-threaded mittens from Persephone to ground Thaniel's electrical outbursts. Plus, a small obsidian pendant that would absorb Nyssa's shadow flares before they could escape.
There were also three different magical suppressors that looked deceptively like ordinary pacifiers. A first aid kit souped up with enough supernatural healing goodies to patch up a dragon. And enough backup breast milk to feed a small army of babies.
"Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it." The corner of my mouth kicked up. Because let's be real—with these three little hellions, I was definitely going to need it.
"You sound like Nana," Nina laughed as I buckled Nyssa into the seat that was behind Thaniel. "She wanted to come along, by the way. I told her we were just going to the market, not infiltrating enemy territory."
"I love your great-grandmother, but she hasn't parted from that shotgun for months.” Not since Lyra had infected me with a parasitic bond that targeted my babies. It didn’t matter that shewas in the Underworld and couldn’t hurt us anymore. She was worried about the creatures that got free during her eclipse.
“It might stick out at the farmer's market,” I continued. “We'll end up banned from every vendor in the county. Easy, sweetheart. We're just going for a ride." I tickled Nyssa’s tummy.
"Aidon's going to be sorry he missed this," Nina commented as we maneuvered the strollers through the front door. "Where is he, anyway?"
"Meeting with his father about establishing more portals for the Hellmouth," I replied. To better control the number of demons that escaped through the veil to Earth, Aidon and I created a Hellmouth on his property next door. Because we needed more gates reinforcing the thin barriers separating the two worlds, Fiona and her friends in England had created one in Cottlehill Wilds. Before I got pregnant, Aidon had talked about having more installed across the globe.
The morning air was crisp with the promise of winter. It carried the scent of fallen leaves and wood smoke from the fireplaces. Our property looked almost normal again. If you ignored the subtle shimmer of protective wards and the creatures milling around. The refugees who'd sought shelter with us during the crisis had mostly moved on to rebuild their lives. The pixies remained in their mound, of course. And a few shifters had remained behind to join Layla and Murtagh’s forces keeping our border safe. They felt indebted to me.
Getting three car seats properly secured in my SUV took another fifteen minutes and required an advanced degree in engineering. By the time we were actually driving toward town, I was already questioning the wisdom of this outing.
"They're being really good," Nina observed, turning in her seat to check on her siblings. "Almost too good. Should I be worried?"
I glanced in the rearview mirror at three pairs of eyes watching the passing scenery. "They're probably just taking everything in. This is the furthest they've been from home."
The farmer's market was exactly the kind of wholesome, mundane place where nothing supernatural ever happened. Which should've been my first red flag that today was going to go sideways faster than a drunk fairy on roller skates. With Lyra gone, things had been better for supernaturals all across the world. That was going to make a difference, I told myself as we hit traffic.
"Second thoughts?" Nina asked as I stared at the sea of cars circling the town square like vultures hunting for parking spots.
"Third and fourth thoughts," I admitted, checking that the emergency devices Hades and Persephone had gifted us were easily accessible in the diaper bag. "Turning back would prove I'm a coward who can't handle a shopping trip. Your sisters and brother need to be exposed to mundies. The devices will help keep their power under wraps."
"You're not a coward," Nina said firmly as we transferred the babies into their ridiculously expensive supernatural stroller. Nana and Mom had layered on dampening fields, temperature regulation, and enough stabilization spells to contain a small apocalypse. "You're just a mom whose kids could accidentally level a city block."
The strollers hummed to life as each baby settled into their section. Melaina's warmth triggered the cooling system on her stroller. It was why she had her own. Thaniel's electricity met the grounding fields with satisfied sparks, and Nyssa's shadows pooled contentedly in their contained space.
"Okay, ladies and gentleman," I announced to my passengers. "It’s our first official outing. You are going to meet mundies for the first time. The rules are simple. No setting things on fire. No electrocuting bystanders. And absolutely noshadow-grabbing people. We're buying vegetables and acting normal."
Nina snorted. "Define normal. You and I can set this entire place on fire if we wanted."
I rolled my eyes at my teenage daughter as we began walking. "We’re simple people whose biggest concern is getting enough vegetables. Not whether their baby might cook said vegetables because she’s hungry."
The market buzzed with Saturday morning energy. Vendors were hawking produce and various other items. The scent of fresh bread and apple cider made my stomach growl. A smile spread across my face. This was the normal chaos I was looking forward to. Too bad it only lasted for about thirty seconds.
Melaina decided she was hungry. Nina hadn’t been able to feed her the bottle earlier. The infant escalated from fussing to a full volcanic meltdown. Her distress spiked her heat signature. Nina shot me wide eyes right as I felt the temperature climbing around her stroller.
"I need a bottle," I said urgently, digging through the bag while Nina tried soothing my increasingly fiery daughter. "Before she?—"
Too late. The bottle in my hands heated rapidly as Melaina's power responded to her hunger. The breast milk reached tongue-burning temperatures in seconds.
"It's too hot," I muttered, trying to cool it with my magic while ignoring curious stares from other shoppers.
"I've got it," Nina said, wrapping her hands around the bottle and channeling her Pleiades power to absorb the excess heat.
"Poor little thing," commented an elderly woman selling herbs. "Babies get so worked up over nothing."
If only she knew ‘nothing’ meant shit shorting out or catching fire when upset. We'd barely gotten Melaina settled when Thaniel joined the party. He decided that seeing his sister fedmade him hungry. His displeasure manifested as an electrical surge that fried Nina's already damaged phone. Thin tendrils of smoke drifted from her pocket.
"That's the second one this month," Nina groaned, staring at the dead device.
