“If they use this on our babies, they could destroy the Eastern seaboard.” I set down my mug before I dropped it.
"That’s a fair assessment. Your babies are exponentially more powerful than those twins were." Tarja's gaze held a grim determination. "If the Thessmark try to use the corrupted Scythe on them, the essence will more than likely detonate. Zeph used the phrase 'magical nuclear reaction.' Everything within a mile would be vaporized instantly. The firestorm would consume another four miles beyond that. Anyone within ten miles would suffer lethal radiation, except it would be magical instead of nuclear."
Aidon joined us right as she shared that little tidbit. Apparently, he'd given up on sleep, too. He crossed to me without a word, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
“If they succeed, it’s going to be worse than we thought,” I told him.
Nodding, he pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “She was sharing with me as well. That’s why I came down.”
"There's more," Tarja said. "The other familiars have been sharing information. The Thessmark aren't just trying to steal power anymore. They're trying to weaponize it. They want to harness that catastrophic reaction and channel it. They want to turn your babies into living magical bombs they can unleash on the Underworld."
"That's not possible." But even as I said it, I knew I was wrong.
"I’m not so sure about that. I think they're close to succeeding. Which means they're close to making their move."
"You’re just a ball of good news tonight, Tarja,” I told my familiar before turning to my oldest son. “We need to know as much as possible to know where to hit these assholes. What else did you find, Jean-Marc?"
"What you would expect in the patient record. They've been tracking bloodlines. They only seem to download the families with documented levels of power." His jaw clenched. "They have a priority list ranked by power levels, genetic markers, and probability of producing high-yield offspring. Our family is marked as Alpha Priority."
Mom appeared in the doorway next with Binx padding at her heels. She'd thrown a robe over her pajamas, but her eyes were alert. "I heard voices," she said, moving to the stove. "I can see this is a serious session. I'll make snacks."
Binx leaped onto the table beside Nina's laptop as we filled them in on what Tarja and Jean-Marc discovered. Mom's hands stilled over the strawberries. Her face went pale.
"That would kill millions of people," she whispered. “We can’t let that happen.”
“They will not touch the triplets," Aidon snarled. "I suspected it would be bad for them to target three children born simultaneously to two powerful bloodlines, during a celestial convergence. Not even my father guessed something like this would be the result."
The baby monitor crackled to life. Thaniel's cry was quickly joined by Melaina and Nyssa. Mom and Nina disappeared up the stairs, leaving the rest of us with the weight of what we'd learned.
"The security system," I said, forcing myself to focus. "Can you get us past it?"
"I’m working on it." Jean-Marc's fingers flew across his keyboard. "The research division runs diagnostics every Thursday night from 11 PM to midnight. The motion sensors in the basement are disabled during that window."
My heart kicked against my ribs. "Tonight is Thursday."
"Yeah." Jean-Marc's smile held no humor. "I'm creating a backdoor into their security system. When you're ready to go, I can loop the camera feeds for exactly sixty minutes. After that, the system resets, and you'll be exposed."
I checked the time. It was 2:47 AM. "We move at eleven tonight."
"I'm coming," Nina said as she returned with Thaniel and Nyssa. Aidon took Nyssa while I took Thaniel and unbuttoned my shirt. He latched on immediately.
"No." The word came from both Aidon and me simultaneously.
"I'm seventeen, not seven," Nina protested, her magic sparking at her fingertips. "I can fight?—"
"Which is exactly why you're staying here." I met her eyes. "If the Thessmark sends another team while we're gone, you, Gammy, and Selene are the last line of defense inside the house. You think I'm trusting anyone else with these three?" As much as I would want Nana to stay home, I knew there would be no stopping her.
Something in her expression shattered like glass. Handing Thaniel to Aidon, I tugged my shirt down and closed the distance between us in three strides. Yanking her against my chest, I held her tightly. "You and Jean-Marc aren't any less important to Aidon and me just because the triplets are here." My voice came out fiercer than I intended as I locked eyes with my son through the screen. "Youknowthat, right?"
Her eyes went glassy, that telltale shine that meant tears were coming whether she wanted them or not. "Sometimes it doesn't feel that way."
Jean-Marc's throat worked as he swallowed hard, nodding once. "Their safety is more important, though. That's just... that's how it is."
No. No, no, no.The admission carved a hole straight through my chest. "The babies are helpless right now," I said, desperate to make them understand and fix this before it festered into something worse. "They need constant protection because they can't doanythingfor themselves. But you two?" I gripped Nina's shoulders, holding her gaze. "You're my partners in this. I trust you with my life. Withallour lives. I love you both with my whole fucking heart."
I cupped her face between my palms, thumbs brushing away the tears that had started to fall. She crumpled into me, burying her face against my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her and held on tight, breathing in the familiar scent of her coconut shampoo. It’s the same kind she'd used since she was twelve.
"I love you," I whispered fiercely and held Jean-Marc’s glassy eyes. "So damn much. The babies don't change that. Nothing changes that.Nothing."
