Chapter 4
Having a goddess materialize on your front porch should have been the strangest part of my week.
It wasn't even close. Hecate swept into our house with the kind of presence that demanded attention without asking for it.
She moved like water, fluid and inexorable.
The power in the house ratcheted up by several degrees the moment she crossed the threshold, making my skin tingle.
Her dark hair fell past her shoulders in waves that would make a supermodel weep. Her eyes swept across our living room and zeroed in on the babies in the cribs we had for them on the other side of the room.
She declined the chair Aidon offered with a slight shake of her head.
"I won't waste your time with pleasantries," she said.
Her voice carried none of the warmth I'd heard when she'd blessed the triplets.
This was another aspect of Hecate. This was the keeper of dangerous knowledge.
The guardian of thresholds and crossroads.
"You need to understand exactly what you're facing. "
My stomach dropped. "It’s part of something bigger, isn’t it? The hooded figures have been hunting magical children for a long time."
"They have. They call themselves the Thessmark." She dropped that bomb and didn’t pause to see the damage, just plowed right on through. "They’ve been at it a long time and are excellent at what they do. They’ve had a long time to perfect their technique.
"Supernatural children born during peak lunar phases contain concentrated magical essence. The Thessmark want it," Hecate continued. "They extract it. Use it to extend their own lives and amplify their power. The younger the child, the purer the essence."
I nearly vomited right there on my own floor. This goddess was standing there talking as if she were discussing the weather. If being immortal made you cold like that, I wanted nothing to do with it.
“Why do the Thessmark sound familiar?” Aidon asked.
Hecate lifted one delicate shoulder. “They have ties to the Underworld. No, that does not mean your father can call them off. He has no power over them. Stories are that they were born in his realm to a goddess taken prisoner by demons. The goddess turned them to pulp and escaped, leaving the babies to fend for themselves. You can guess how they survived.”
I swallowed the bile in my throat. “By extracting power and ingesting it. And they want to steal my babies’ magic.”
"How?" Clio had to clear her voice. The horror was choking her. "How do they extract it?"
"The same way one might drain a reservoir." Hecate's expression didn't change. "Violently."
"Jesus Christ," Stella breathed.
"He cannot help you here." Hecate's gaze swept the room, landing on each of us in turn.
"But I can. Which is why I'm giving you a timeline.
There are five days until the next lunar phase.
When the quarter moon hits, the attacks will intensify beyond anything you've seen so far.
They have identified several families and are planning a massive offensive to claim the ones they missed. "
"Intensify how?" Aidon demanded.
"The previous attacks were reconnaissance.
They were testing your defenses, measuring your capabilities, identifying weaknesses.
" She moved to the window, looking out at the warded perimeter.
"The next phase will be coordinated. Simultaneous strikes against multiple family members.
They'll spread you thin, force you to choose who to save. "
"They'll hit us all at once," Stella gasped as her hold on Melaina tightened.
"Precisely." Hecate turned back to us. "And they will not stop until they have what they came for, or until you destroy them completely. There is no negotiation with the Thessmark. They have no mercy. And they give no quarter."
My legs felt weak. I sank onto the couch before they could give out entirely. "Why are you telling us this? You could stop them yourself."
Something flickered across Hecate's face. It wasn’t quite amusement.
Nor was it sympathy. "I am bound by laws older than your species, child.
I cannot interfere directly in mortal affairs without consequences that would shake the foundations of everything I hold dear.
" She paused. "But I can give you information.
I can give you a warning. And I can tell you this: you have the power to win this fight.
All of you. You simply need to be willing to use it. "
"We'll do whatever it takes," I said, and meant it with every fiber of my being.
"Good." Hecate moved toward the door, then paused. "One more thing. The Thessmark' magic is ancient. They have survived this long because they are patient, methodical, and utterly ruthless. Do not underestimate them. And do not hesitate when the moment comes. Hesitation will cost you everything."
With that, she was gone, leaving behind only the faint scent of myrrh and invaluable information. We all stared at the space where she'd been standing. She’d given us a boon and a death sentence at the same time.
"Well," Nana said finally, her voice dry despite the tremor underneath. "That was cheerful."
"We have a lot to do in five days." Mom's hands were shaking. "We have to find out everything we can about the Thessmark."
"Why can’t we just catch a freaking break?" I whispered, testing the word. It tasted like ash and old blood. "At least we know who we’re dealing with now."
"We’re in a better position than where we were before.” Aidon pressed a kiss to the top of my head.
"We'd better get started looking into these assholes." Stella pulled out her phone, and her fingers flew across the screen. "I’m going to let Lilith know so she can have the coven looking for information and see if we can find the other families.”
Mom lifted a hand. “We need to coordinate protection for them, as well. No one should feel like they are facing these alone."
"I'll do as much research as possible from here,” Jean-Marc called out from the tablet, reminding me that he was still on the conference call.
Turning, I smiled gratefully at him through the camera. “Thanks, sweetie. Keep in touch.”
“Will do. Love you guys,” Jean-Marc said before hanging up.
I started moving to the cribs where Thaniel and Nyssa slept. Reaching down, I smoothed Thaniel's dark hair, then did the same for Nyssa. They were so small. So vulnerable.
"Phoebe—" Mom started.
"I'm okay." My voice cracked, betraying the lie. "I just need a minute."
She nodded, understanding written across her face. "We'll start planning."
I stayed there for a long moment, watching my babies sleep. Aidon stood behind me with his arms around me. We watched their tiny chests rise and fall with each breath. Layla padded into the room in wolf form, taking up position near the cribs. She lifted her head as I looked at her.
"Thank you for watching them," I whispered. She pressed her muzzle against my hand.
"I won't let them take you," Aidon murmured to all three of our children. "I don't care what I have to do. I don't care what it costs. You're mine, and I protect what's mine."
Stella sidled up and handed Melaina to Aidon, then bumped my shoulder. “You want to go on a little road trip with me? "I got two names. Both in the Portland area. Both willing to talk to us today if we can get there.”
My gaze skipped over my babies, then moved to Nina and finally Aidon. He inclined his head. “Go. We will hold down the fort here. We still have breast milk in the fridge. Just don’t be gone long. No one in the house can feed them if we run out.”
“We won’t be too long,” I promised. I pressed my lips to each baby’s head before hugging Nina and then kissed Aidon.
Aidon ran a hand over my shoulder. "Take your phone. Keep it on. If anything feels wrong—"
"We leave immediately," I finished for him. "I know."
Grabbing my regular bag, I raced out the door with my best friend. Stella and I climbed into her car. "Ready?" Stella asked as she started the engine.
"No." I grabbed my bag, checking for the twentieth time that the emergency supplies were still there. "But let's go anyway."
"First stop is in outer Portland," Stella said as she pulled onto the road. "The family is of phoenix heritage. The mom's name is Ember, and her baby manifested during an attack by a Thessmark two days ago."
My jaw dropped to my chin, as my head tilted in her direction. "Manifested how?"
"His fire. Phoenixes don’t usually manifest their defensive flames until they’re teens. And his was hot enough to drive the attacker back." Stella's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "At one month old, Phoebe. A one-month-old baby had to weaponize himself to survive."
The familiar combination of pride and grief twisted in my chest. "What else did you find out? Your work is very impressive. You got this information fast."
A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth, and she lifted one shoulder.
"What can I say? People like talking to me.
Anyway, the attack happened two days ago.
She gave the same description as what we saw.
A hooded figure with gray skin and those clawed hands.
It came through a window while Ember was in the kitchen and went straight for the baby. "
"Did they have any cameras around their house?"
"They have one of those video doorbells, but it didn’t get anything. Whatever cloaking magic they're using fooled the technology completely." She glanced at me. "Sound familiar?"
"Yeah." I thought about the frames Nina had captured on her phone. "What about the second family? You said there were two of them."
"Selkie twins. Three months old. The mom's name is Kaia. She pulled them underwater during the attack. Apparently, selkie babies can breathe in both forms from birth. The attacker couldn't follow."
“That was fast thinking on her part,” I observed. “These things are as evil as Lyra.”