Kaia emerged from the second car. She directed killing strikes with brutal precision. I’d never seen spears of water punch through chests like this. They froze their hearts solid.
More help poured out. The tide was turning in our favor. "And the cavalry has arrived!" Nana announced cheerfully, followed by another shotgun blast.
The Thessmark continued falling, but Taverner wasn't fighting. She stood back, watching her forces die. And she wassmiling. Her calm, satisfied smile made me pause.
This wasn't meant to breach the wards through force. It was a distraction. I tried to warn everyone, but my voice came out as a croak. I tried to move toward her, but my legs wouldn't cooperate. I watched Taverner raise her hands, and I realized too late what she was doing.
I had no idea what she was planning, but she was gearing up for something big. "EVERYONE INSIDE!" I screamed. "NOW!"
Everyone retreated toward the house, covering each other. But there wasn't enough time. Taverner was building a sphere of magic, and it was eight feet across now. "You should have let me have them," Taverner said. "Now all these people will die. My daughters deserve to live again. If I have to reduce your house to rubble and kill everyone you love to get it, then that's what I'll do."
"Mom!" Nina's voice came from inside. "The wards are breaking!"
Taverner smiled wider. "Goodbye, Phoebe." She released her spell.
I was on my knees, completely spent, unable to do anything but watch.
And then Tarja's voice filled my mind."Not on my watch."
CHAPTER 17
“Tarja, what are you?—”
“Binx!”Her mental voice rang out sharp and clear, cutting my question off. “Now!”
Through our bond, I felt Binx's power joining hers. Aside from the familiar who chose the Twisted Sisters, they were the only two familiars in the entire country. And they were about to do something either brilliant or completely insane. Probably both.
"Everyone!"Tarja's voice projected outward, reaching every paranormal on the property."Throw every scrap of power you can spare at us. NOW!"
It shouldn’t have been a surprise when I felt the plethora of different magics flying through the air. They’d come to help us beat the Thessmark and stop the murder of innocent children. The collective power hit the familiars, and Tarja and Binx became conduits for it. They channeled every ounce of energy thrown at them directly into the house wards, reinforcing them with a web of combined strength.
Taverner's spell hit the souped-up wards and shattered. For several seconds, nobody moved. Then, red light burst into sparks that died before touching the ground. In that briefsilence, I watched her face transform. The smug confidence melted into something uglier. Pure, undiluted rage that made the orange glow in her eyes pulse brighter.
She did not react as I expected. She smiled. It was worse than anything else could have been. It was calm, satisfied, and absolutely terrifying. She lowered her hands slowly, deliberately, like she had all the time in the world. It was almost as if she'd expected this. Had she planned for it?
"Well," she said, her voice carrying across the battlefield with unnatural clarity. "I suppose we're done being subtle."
She snapped her fingers once. Every Thessmark on my lawn surged forward as one. There was no more trying to break through various wards around the house. All I could see was a wave of gray-skinned monsters throwing themselves at us with the single-minded purpose of tearing through anything between them and my children.
"Incoming!" Stella shouted right before Murtagh's wolf barreled past me, slamming into the nearest Thessmark. His jaws closed around its throat, and I heard bone crack.
I called my fire, pulling from a well that was damn near empty. Clio had healed me, but I'd been expending it like it was limitless. Teal flames erupted from my palms. Panic bubbled up when I noticed they were weaker than before.
My meager blast caught a Thessmark mid-lunge. Its gray flesh blistered and blackened where the fire hit, but it didn't stop. Didn't even slow down. It kept coming. Those elongated fingers were reaching for my throat with claws that had been carved from obsidian.
Aidon's shadows wrapped around it before those claws could connect. He yanked it sideways, but his power flickered, guttered, and barely held. He was working triple time to make sure nothing got close to Stella, Nana, or me. It wouldn't be longbefore we were fighting this army on fumes and stubborn will alone.
"Keep them from the house!" Stella shouted, her pink flames cutting through two Thessmark trying to flank us. "We need a tighter formation!"
The network families closed ranks around us. Ember's phoenix form blazed overhead. Kaia wielded her spears of water. Those things punched through gray flesh with brutal efficiency. But even with their help, we were being pushed back. Step by step, the Thessmark drove us toward the house where my babies were crying loud enough that I could hear them through the walls. Were they alright? My heart squeezed as the urge to go to them nearly got me killed.
"They're safe," my familiar promised as I ducked and tossed a magical bomb at the Thessmark. "The wards are holding. Mom and Nina have them in the nursery. Focus on what's in front of you."
Her advice was unnecessary. A Thessmark came at me from the left. I ducked under its swipe and blasted it point-blank with fire that should have reduced it to ash. Instead, it staggered backward, smoking but very much alive.
"These assholes are adapting to our magic!" I shouted to anyone who could hear. "My fire isn't working the same!"
"Mine either!" Stella confirmed, her voice tight with frustration.
