Nana's shotgun boomed three times in rapid succession. Each blast dropped a Thessmark. It was the only weapon that seemed to be working consistently. "Salt and iron don't have a magical signature they can adapt to!" she called out, pumping the shotgun with practiced ease. "But I'm down to my last magazine!" Shit.
“Tarja, see if there is anyone inside who can bring Nana more magazines for her shotgun,” I sent to my familiar.
“I can have Nina bring some out,” Tarja replied immediately.
Tseki roared overhead. His dragon was massive against the pre-dawn sky. Fire poured from his jaws, scorching the earth and turning Thessmark to ash. Unfortunately, he had to get close to them, or the flames lost their effectiveness. That allowed several to swarm him. They climbed his scaled hide and drove their claws between his scales, searching for vulnerable flesh.
He twisted into a spiral as he shot straight up. The move shook them off. Layla's wolf form caught one before it hit the ground. Her jaws crushed its spine. But the effort cost her. A Thessmark I hadn't seen coming raked its claws down her side, opening up gashes.
Murtagh was there before I could throw out a magical bomb or some fire. His dark brown wolf hit the attacker hard enough to cave its chest in. He dragged Layla behind our line while Ember swooped down. Her phoenix wings created a wall of flame, slowing the advancing Thessmark.
"Clio!" I screamed. "Layla's down!"
The healer appeared at Layla’s side. She pressed her hands to the wolf’s side for a few seconds before saying, "I'm tapped out. I've been healing people for over an hour straight. I need time to regenerate, but she will live."
"Taverner's doing something." Tarja's voice sharpened with alarm. "She's gathering power again, but it feels different this time."
My gaze skipped across the battlefield to where she was standing at the back of her forces. Her hands were raised, and orange light bled from everywhere. Her eyes, mouth, and fingertips. And the Thessmark nearest to her were screaming.
It was then that I noticed there were streams of power traveling from them to her. The witch was draining them. It seemed as if they couldn't stop her. I watched their grayflesh wrinkle and crack before they disintegrated into ash that scattered on the wind.
"She's making herself a weapon," Aidon said beside me, his voice rough with exhaustion. His power was faltering. He could still pack a punch, but his shadows were barely responsive now. They were flickering around his hands instead of the solid darkness I was used to.
"We need to stop her before—" My words trailed off when Parker appeared next to Taverner. He'd materialized from thin air through a portal. She was creating a portal using dimensional magic again.
"No!" I pushed forward, trying to reach them, but Thessmark blocked my path. My fire hit them and started melting skin, but didn’t make them move out of my way.
The portal stabilized. I couldn’t see where it would take her. I assumed she was manipulating the dimensional magic at the Corvus medical facility, but the basement had been destroyed. Taverner turned to look at me across the battlefield. Even from over eighty feet away, I could see her smile. I couldn't wait to wipe that smirk off of her face.
"This isn't over, Phoebe," she called out. "I'll have those children. If not tonight, then tomorrow. Or the next day. I have all the time in the world."
She stepped backward through the portal, taking most of the Thessmark with her. Parker followed suit. The portal collapsed the moment he stepped through. The magic feeding it was cut off with an audible pop.
I threw everything I had left at that closing gap. Fire, fury, and desperation. It splashed against empty air and dissipated harmlessly. They were gone.
The coven and shifters managed to take out the remaining Thessmark on my lawn quickly. They’d been expending as muchenergy as the rest of us and didn’t have much left, either. Silence fell.
We stood there, breathing hard and bleeding in various places. The lawn was scorched black in patches, littered with spent shotgun shells, and the acrid smell of burned magic. Ember's phoenix form guttered out, leaving her standing naked and swaying on her feet. Someone—I think it was Kaia—wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.
“That bitch got away,” I cursed.
Inside the house, the babies' cries intensified. Their terrified wails gripped my heart. "The babies," I gasped, already moving.
Aidon was right beside me, both of us running for the house. We burst through the door and took the stairs two at a time. The sound of their crying pulled us forward like a physical tether.
We found them in the nursery with Mom and Nina. All three were red-faced and inconsolable, their powers spiking in response to the terror they'd felt. Melaina's crib was radiating heat. Thaniel's sparks were dancing wildly across his blanket. Nyssa's shadows writhed around her like living things.
I scooped up Melaina while Aidon grabbed Thaniel and Nyssa. The moment they were in our arms, their crying began to ease. Slowly, their powers settled.
"They felt everything," Mom said quietly, her eyes suspiciously red. "Every moment of that battle. They knew you were in danger."
I held Melaina closer, breathing in her baby scent, feeling her warmth seep into me. Tarja jumped onto the changing table, her green eyes meeting mine. "Taverner will come back."
"No, she won’t," I whispered. “I’m going to hunt that bitch down.”
"How?" Nana's voice came from the doorway. She stood there with her shotgun, hands shaking slightly as she reloaded."How do we find someone who can open portals to anywhere? Someone who could be on the other side of the planet by now?"
My earbud crackled with static, then Jean-Marc's voice came through: "I might have an idea. But you're not going to like it."
