Page 21 of Postpartum Spells & Infant Hells

She seemed smaller than she did when seated. "Call Elena first, stay clear of Morrigan unless you have no other option. And wrap your magic tightly for the six-hour drive home. Kaltherax isn't the only thing in the dark that follows a scent."

She tucked a folded bill under her mug and went out without a backward glance, the bell clanking behind her. Through the fogged window, I watched her work down the empty pier on her blackthorn cane. I got the unshakable sense that she was following some child only she could see.

I left a ten beneath my coffee and followed Stella out. Neither of us spoke until we were back on Route 3 with Bar Harbor shrinking in the mirror as we pointed south down the coast toward home in Camden. We’d learned a lot about what was going on, but didn’t have all the answers.

"You've been chewing your cheek since the welcome sign. You stopped doing that in middle school," Stella murmured at last, eyes on the road. "I’m going to ask what we've avoided for a hundred miles. If you find the bridge, are you going to cross it and fight them?"

"If I don't, they keep coming," I began. "This doesn’t just affect our babies and me. There are countless others being targeted." I studied her profile in the green dashboard light. "I can't live with myself if I let those kids drown, so I don't have to pay for the rope."

"Before we do anything, we need to talk to some others and come up with a solid plan." She used the voice she had for every terrible thing we'd walked into together. It gave me confidence knowing she had my back. "We’ll call Elena the second we're back to your house and see what she can tell us. We’ll keep that grandmother in England behind glass until there's no glass left."

CHAPTER 9

“You’re not walking into the house with that look on your face unless you want Aidon to peel the siding off with his shadows,” Stella warned as she turned onto my road. Her headlights cut through the darkness while rainwater flashed in the ruts beside us.

“I don't have a look,” I insisted, although the protest sounded weak even to me.

Stella snorted and kept her attention on the road. “Your face says you're trying to decide whether personal sacrifice counts as responsible parenting.” When I didn't answer immediately, she added, “If Ava regretted building the Wayfarers’ Bridge, you'd already have filed her under reckless and moved on.”

I pressed the brass key into my palm and stared out at the trees sliding past the windows. “She didn't regret it,” I admitted. “That's the problem.”

“She'd do it again,” Stella replied. “That's the part you can't stop thinking about.”

The thought sat in my stomach like a stone. Ava had sacrificed pieces of her future for children who weren't hers. The certainty of that choice frightened me more than the cost itself. Love for strangers wasn't supposed to make that kind of decision feel reasonable.

As the house appeared between the trees, Stella slowed at the driveway and glanced toward me. “Everyone is assuming the triplets are targets,” she challenged. “Maybe they are. Or maybe they're connected to this in a way we don't understand yet.”

I hated that her theory scared me more than the alternative. “That possibility has been pacing circles through my head for days,” I admitted. “So far, we have been given no information to say one way or another.”

Aidon stood on the porch with Nyssa strapped against his chest. I could see Mom, Nina, and Nana in the entry. Mom was holding one of the babies, and Nina held the other. Based on the glow around the infant in Nina’s arms, that had to be Thaniel. Aidon was at my door the moment Stella stopped the car. He practically yanked the door off as he opened it.

“You look like you’re okay. Tell me what happened,” he ordered as his gaze swept over me.

“I'm unhurt,” I assured him while stepping into his arms. “We got some answers. I hate most of them.”

His hand settled against the back of my neck. “That isn't a surprise.”

“It’s not all bad. We discovered who is controlling the echo children,” Stella informed him as she climbed from the car. “And we survived the trip.”

Nina narrowed her eyes as she shifted Thaniel higher against her shoulder. “How much are you not telling us?”

The babies began crying the second they smelled me, so we settled in the living room, and I began nursing Melaina first. We gave them a rundown of what Ava told us. Nina took notes furiously, and I had to remind her several times that names carried power and could open doors for Kaltherax and Orenthiel. By the time we were done sharing everything, I had fed all three of them.

“The next step is to call Elena first thing tomorrow,” I continued.

“Why not tonight?” Nina pressed.

“Because exhausted strangers rarely get useful answers at midnight,” Stella clarified before I could answer.

Nana got up from her recliner abruptly. “This family drama calls for snacks.”

Mom rubbed her forehead. “You had dinner not long ago.”

Nana rolled her eyes. “But Phoebe and Stella have been driving all day. They need to try the Dubai brownies you and Thia made.”

That perked me right up as I patted Nyssa’s back. “Mmmm, yes, please.”

“I’ll bring some,” Mythia called out.