But before she left, she leaned in close. "Keep them close. Trust no one. And whatever you do, don't bring them back here."
I thanked her, got the babies dressed, and then forced myself to walk normally through the halls. I inclined my head when we passed the receptionist with her bright smile. The crisp afternoon air was welcome when we made it outside. Nana navigated the stroller across the parking lot while I carried Thaniel, his warm weight against my shoulder, keeping me grounded.
Stella tracked us through the windshield and started the car when she got one look at my face. She jumped out to help get the babies into their car seats, while Nana collapsed the stroller and loaded it into the trunk. My hands were shaking now that we were out. Now that my children were as safe as they could be.
"Drive," I said. "We need to get home. With luck, Jean-Marc will have more information for us by the time we get there.” I sent my oldest son a message asking him to gather as much information as he could on that medical group.
Stella's grin was bright. "Finally. I was getting bored with surveillance."
She pulled out of the parking space, and I pulled out the flash drive Dr. Reeves had given me. Through my bond, Tarja's satisfaction purred against my consciousness. I was silent while Nana and Stella discussed ways to find the Thessmark and stop them. None of them was good or realistic.
By the time Stella pulled into the driveway, I was ready to crawl out of my skin with impatience. Nina met us at the door with the tablet in hand. "Jean-Marc's standing by. He said he can connect in five minutes."
I handed off Melaina to Nina and grabbed Thaniel. Nana picked up Nyssa. We headed straight for the kitchen. Aidon wasstanding by the window with his arms crossed over his chest. His shadows were restless around his feet. Stella followed me in, wearing her infectious grin.
The tablet chimed, making Nina set it down. Aidon pressed the green button, and Jean-Marc's face filled the screen. He was in the living room of the house he shared with Fiona’s kids.
"Tell me you got something," I said without preamble.
“There’s a hidden room somewhere in their basement,” he replied. “I’m still looking into it.”
"Okay. I need you to look at the information on this. And maybe track the IP address." I held up the flash drive to the camera.
"I will do what I can." Jean-Marc leaned closer to his screen. "Can you upload the files to our Dropbox? I'll pull them from my end."
Nina took the flash drive from me and plugged it into her laptop. "Give me a second."
"Everything Dr. Reeves had on the research division," I said. "She's been tracking them for months."
"It’s uploading now," Nina called out.
Jean-Marc's eyes went wide as data started appearing on his end. "Holy shit. This is... this is a goldmine. She gathered a lot of information." His fingers were already moving, pulling up windows faster than I could track. "She's been building a case."
"Can you use it?" Aidon asked, moving closer to the screen.
"I can map their entire network with this." Jean-Marc's grin was fierce. "She even has logs of when the research division accesses the main server. Times, dates, file types. This is everything I need to—" He stopped, his expression shifting. "Wait. There might be a way to buy more time."
"How?" I leaned forward.
"If I can access the collective's server, I might be able to corrupt their data. Wipe the maps they've made of the babies, force them to start over."
"Can you do it remotely?" Aidon asked.
"Not without better access to their network." Jean-Marc's expression turned calculating. "But if someone could get me physical proximity to the building, I could hack in through their wireless system. It wouldn't take long—maybe thirty minutes with the right equipment."
Stella and I exchanged glances. "That's a terrible idea," she said.
"Absolutely not," Aidon added.
"I'm not suggesting breaking in," Jean-Marc countered, holding up his hands to the camera. "Just... parking nearby with the right gear. Close enough to piggyback on their signal. I could walk someone through it over the phone, or?—"
"We'll think about it," I cut in, which was code forwe're probably going to do it, but we need a better plan first."Anything else from your mom?" I asked Aidon, shifting the subject. She was going to look into the relic they used to collect power.
Aidon's hand found mine, squeezing gently. "She's concerned about the Scythe's energy signature. The way it can bypass wards suggests it was altered from its original design. When someone forces change on a magical artifact, it becomes unpredictable."
We spent another hour dissecting information, building theories, and discarding the ones that didn't fit the evidence. Jean-Marc stayed on the call, cross-referencing data from his end and occasionally swearing under his breath when he found something particularly damning. By the time we finally signed off, my head was pounding, and the triplets needed to be fed.
We continued researching Thessmark and the Corvus Medical Group, then ate a delicious dinner of lobster rolls and pasta salad. After dinner, Aidon and I took the babies up and got them bathed and ready for bed. While Aidon sang songs in ancient Greek, making the babies coo with sleepy contentment, I stood at the nursery window. I watched Layla patrol in wolf form, her breath misting in the cold air. The temperature had dropped significantly, bringing the first real hint of winter.
