Chapter 2 #3
I shook my head. "I need to check the stroller first. It's downstairs."
His brow furrowed. "It can wait—"
"No. It can't." Something was nagging at me, a detail I hadn't processed. "I need to see exactly where that lance would have hit."
Understanding flickered across his face, followed by resignation. "I'll come with you."
We descended the stairs in silence. Tarja's soft paws barely whispered against the wood as she trailed behind us. The quiet felt heavy, like the moments right before lightning strikes.
"What's up, Buttercup?" Layla's voice cut through the space as she and Selene appeared in the entry. Both read the situation as soon as she asked the question, and their expressions turned serious.
I gestured toward the stroller with a hand that wanted to shake. "I need to check something."
Under the chandelier's unforgiving light, the scorch mark was undeniable. It was six inches across and right where Melaina's chest would have been. The floor lurched beneath me, or maybe that was just my world tilting off its axis.
I made it three steps. Maybe four. Then my knees gave out like someone had cut the strings holding me upright.
Aidon caught me from behind. His arms banded around my waist as he held me together when everything inside me wanted to fall apart. "She would have died," I breathed out, each word scraping my throat raw. "Instantly. That would have gone straight through her heart."
"But it didn't." His voice was gravel and smoke against my ear, rough enough to ground me. "Your deflection worked. Nina's shield held. Melaina is upstairs sleeping, safe and sound."
"This time." I turned in his arms, and the fear I'd been wrestling down since the market finally broke free, flooding through me like a dam giving way. "What about next time? What if they come for us at home? What if—"
"Stop." His hands came up to cup my face, thumbs pressing against my cheekbones with just enough pressure to make me focus. His eyes—those impossibly blue eyes—demanded I look at him. "I need you to hear me. Really hear me." I nodded, not trusting my voice not to crack completely.
"My greatest fear isn't dying," he said.
There was something raw in his tone, something that made my chest ache.
"It's not torture or imprisonment or losing my immortality.
It's failing to protect you and our children.
The thought that I might not be enough to keep you safe—" His jaw clenched, a muscle jumping beneath his skin. "That destroys me."
"Aidon—"
"But I also know I'm not alone in this." His thumbs brushed away tears I hadn't even realized were falling.
The gesture was so gentle it nearly undid me.
"Not only are you a Pleiades witch who's survived things that would destroy most people.
But we have allies who would burn the world down to defend those babies. "
"Yes, you do," Selene agreed. I'd almost forgotten they were there, witnessing this moment of complete vulnerability. “And we won’t let anything touch them.”
"We're still just people." I had to swallow the lump in my throat. "And someone very powerful wants our children dead or worse."
"We will find them." Something shifted in his expression. His fury mixed with determination in a way that would have terrified me if it wasn't so beautiful. So deadly. "And stop them.”
Layla bobbed her head in agreement. “We’ve faced down a lot of evil creatures and won. This won’t be different. We will make sure they can never threaten our family again."
“Layal’s right. You aren’t facing this alone,” Selene reminded me.
“We're stronger as a unit,” Tarja projected, winding between my legs affectionately. An image flickered through our connection of our family. Both blood and chosen, standing like a wall against the darkness pressing in from all sides.
"Damn right we are," Layla muttered. “This asshole won’t know what hit him.”
Without warning, Aidon scooped me up, making me yelp despite everything. "What are you doing?" I squeaked.
"Taking you to bed before you collapse." His voice held that note of absolute certainty that meant arguing was pointless. "You're running on adrenaline and stubbornness. Both are about to run out."
He wasn't wrong. I could feel the crash hovering just out of reach. The wave was about to break over my head and drag me under.
"We'll check the wards and reinforce them," Selene called after us, already moving with purpose. "Triple layers. Nothing gets through."
"And then we'll check the perimeter," Layla added. "If there's anything out there, we'll find it."
Aidon carried me to our bedroom and set me down on the bed with a gentleness that made my throat tight. Turning on the tablet next to the bed, he pulled up the baby monitor app.
The screen was split into three feeds showing each crib. Their magical signatures were steady and calm. "They're okay," I said, trying to convince myself as much as him.
"They're perfect," he confirmed, settling beside me on the bed. "And we're going to make sure they stay that way."
I threaded my fingers through his, anchoring myself to him as I watched the monitor.
Melaina shifted in her sleep, her tiny fist curling against her cheek.
Thaniel's fingers twitched, sparks flickering and fading like dying stars.
Nyssa's shadows pooled contentedly around her blanket, protective even in dreams.
“Rest,” Tarja commanded me. “I'll keep watch. Nothing will touch them while I draw breath.”
"Thank you," I whispered as I got under the covers next to Aidon.
The last thing I felt before exhaustion claimed me was Aidon's lips against my temple and his whispered promise. "No one hurts our family and lives. I swear it on the River Styx itself." I believed him. Gods help anyone who tried to prove him wrong.