Chapter 6 #2
Which meant... "Someone close to us," I breathed, the realization hitting like a physical blow. My gaze swept the room, landing on each face. "Someone we trusted enough to let near them."
"It might not be someone we trust," Mom countered, her tactical mind already racing through possibilities.
At the same time, Aidon's voice cut through, low and deadly. "We need a list. Everyone who's been in this house since birth. Everyone who's so much as breathed the same air as our children."
The shadows in the corners of the room began to writhe, responding to the lethal fury radiating off him. His eyes had gone completely black. There was no white or iris, just an endless void that promised violence.
"Not just the house," Clio added quietly, still examining the babies. "Anyone they’ve come into contact with. Medical staff at the hospital during their examination. Someone saw something they shouldn't have and sold that information."
I forced myself to focus and channel my terror into something useful. "Okay, we need to review every visitor we've had since the babies were born. Every single person who's come within scanning range."
"I can help with that." Tarja jumped onto the table beside the chair Nana sat in. "I've been cataloguing everyone who enters this house since the triplets arrived. It's instinct for familiars to monitor potential threats."
"Smart cat," Nana approved, scratching behind Tarja's ears.
We spent the next two hours compiling a list. Clio felt she had a good handle on their medical care, but I had insisted they see a pediatrician.
They had visited Dr. Reeves four times, plus her nurse twice.
Friends dropping by included Stella and the various coven members who brought meals.
Delivery people for diapers, formula, and the specialized cribs from Hades and Persephone.
The electrician who'd come after Thaniel had shorted out half the house. I doubted Fiona’s video calls counted.
"I think you should focus on Dr. Reeves and her staff." Tarja pointed out one of my memories. "As you were thinking about Dr. Reeves' nurse, something felt off to me."
"What was her name?" Aidon asked sharply.
I flipped through my appointment records. "Miranda... Miranda something. I don't have a last name written down."
Clio's expression went carefully neutral in a way that made my stomach drop. "Describe her."
"Late thirties, maybe early forties. Auburn hair, green eyes. Professional. Efficient." I searched my memory for more details.
"That matches someone I know," Clio said slowly. "Miranda Ashford. She used to work at a supernatural medical facility in Boston before it was shut down for... ethical violations."
"What kind of violations?" Aidon's anger was palpable.
"It involved overlooking critical safety protocols in exchange for research funding.
" Clio pulled out her phone, her jaw tight.
"The facility claimed they were developing breakthrough treatments, but there were allegations that she'd been turning a blind eye to unauthorized experiments.
Or worse, actively selling research data to less reputable buyers.
She was never formally charged, but her career imploded overnight. "
"Do you think she's working with the Thessmark?" I asked as my anger began to simmer.
"I think she's exactly the kind of person they'd recruit," Clio replied.
"Someone with advanced medical expertise and a proven track record of flexible ethics.
Someone who knows how to map magical signatures without being detected—and who's desperate enough or greedy enough not to ask questions about what that information will be used for. "
The tablet on the dresser chimed with an incoming call before anyone could respond. I hurried over and saw my oldest son’s face on the screen. Jean-Marc looked tired. He'd clearly been up all-night working on Selene’s request to examine what his equipment told him about the scans.
“Hey, sweetie,” I greeted when I answered. “Everyone is here with me.” I turned the camera so he could see who was there.
"Good. I've got preliminary analysis on those magical scans," he replied.
"The precision required suggests advanced training.
We're talking someone with formal medical education and at least a decade of hands-on experience.
This wasn't some amateur with a scanning spell they bought off the black market.
Their energy use was too efficient. Inexperienced individuals would have left more residue. "
"We might have a name," I told him. I quickly explained about Miranda and her disgraced exit from the research facility. "Can you cross-reference her with known associates? Any financial transactions or communications or anything that puts her in a questionable orbit?"
"I'll do my best and send you what I find." His fingers flew across his keyboard. "There's something else. I started tracking that same magical residue, and I found matches. I think they've been monitoring the other children as well."
"The other families that were attacked reported incidents that sound like their infants were scanned last night," Stella said, appearing in the nursery doorway with bags of takeout.
"I talked to them before coming over here.
They all reported babies who wouldn't sleep last night.
Aside from having the feeling of being watched, nothing else happened. "
She set the food on the floor and pulled out her phone. "I've got the mothers willing to share their experiences. They're on standby for a group video call whenever you're ready."
"Do it," I said immediately. "We need to figure out who had access to these babies before the attacks."
Within minutes, Stella had assembled a video conference call with multiple families.
Ember and Kaia's faces appeared first. I'd met them both before.
I knew the exhaustion and terror written across their features intimately.
The other mothers I didn't recognize, but the haunted look in their eyes was universal.
"Thank you for doing this," I started as I took Melaina from Nina when she started to fuss. "I know it's not easy to talk about."
"Are you kidding?" Ember's fire-touched eyes blazed with the same protective fury I felt burning in my chest. "If this helps us protect our kids, I'll talk until I'm hoarse. What do you need to know?"
Clio positioned herself where everyone could see her. "We're trying to identify who had contact with your babies before the attacks. Specifically, did any of you have interactions with someone named Miranda Ashford? Or anyone from the Corvus Medical Group?"
Kaia's face went pale. "Miranda? Yes. She was there for the twins' wellness check about a week before..." She swallowed hard. "She said she was covering for our regular nurse."
"Same here," Ember confirmed in a tight voice. "She examined Ash. Spent almost an hour with him. She told us she was being extra thorough because of his unique heritage." Her hands clenched. "I thought she was being careful."
Another mother spoke up, her voice shaking. "I didn't see Miranda, but there was a woman from Corvus Medical who came to do a home visit. She said it was a new program for high-risk supernatural births. I never thought to question it."
My stomach turned to lead. "Did any of you notice anything during these visits? Anything that seemed off?"
"She used diagnostic spells I'd never seen before," the fourth mother said slowly, her expression darkening with realization. "She said they were cutting-edge detection methods. Hailey was fussy afterward, wouldn't settle for hours."
"Ash too," Ember added. "He cried for most of that night. I thought maybe he'd been traumatized by the shots."
"Those scans were used to identify them as targets for the Thessmark," Clio said quietly. "She mapped them. Whoever did this was collecting detailed information about each baby's magical signature."
"I let that doctor touch my baby," the third of the mothers whispered. "I thanked her for being so thorough."
"It's not your fault," Mom said firmly from where she stood with Thaniel. "These people are professionals who know exactly how to gain trust. That's what makes her dangerous."
Jean-Marc's voice cut through the conversation.
"I found her. Miranda Ashford. The Blackthorn Institute in Boston formerly employed her.
They fired her two years ago for conducting unauthorized tests on infant patients without parental consent.
She disappeared after the Institute filed charges.
There are reports of her resurfacing in—" He paused, his expression darkening.
"Portland, Montreal, Phoenix, and Camden.
All within the last six months." Every city where a family had been attacked.
"She's been hunting for them," I said, the words tasting like acid. "Identifying targets and handing that information over to the Thessmark."
"And we allowed her to test our kids," Ember said, her voice breaking.
"She used our trust against us," Aidon corrected, his hand warm on my shoulder. "That's what predators do. But now we know who she is and what she's been doing. That gives us an advantage."
Nana snorted from her position at the table. "Some advantage. We know the name of one scout. We still don't know where the Thessmark are hiding or how many of them there are."
"But we know their method," Stella countered, her expression sharp with determination. "They use medical access to identify and map targets. That means we can warn other families and shut down that avenue of approach.
"I'll draft an alert for the network," she continued, her fingers flying across her phone screen. "Every supernatural family with infants needs to know about Corvus Medical Group and the scanning technique."
Clio nodded. "I'll reach out to legitimate healers and medical practitioners. We can create a verification system to make it harder for infiltrators to gain access."
"Can’t we question this Miranda and ask her what she knows about the Thessmark?” Nina asked.
Aidon smiled at her. It was terrifying. “I’m looking forward to it. I don’t care if she knows anything. I’m going to grill her.”
The other parents shared his sentiment. We talked for a little longer and promised to deliver charms that would prevent further scanning.
After the call ended, I sat in the rocking chair with Nyssa sleeping against my chest and Tarja curled in my lap.
Her purr was a soothing rumble. Through the window, I could see Layla patrolling in wolf form.
Her black fur gleamed in the sunlight. Murtagh and Tseki checked the tree line with methodical precision.
Selene was with them and reinforcing the wards.
Nina was doing homework at the kitchen table, her textbooks spread out, but her attention constantly drifted to Thaniel in his bouncy seat beside her.
Mythia prepared dinner, moving through the space with quiet efficiency.
Mom played peekaboo with Melaina, drawing delighted giggles that made my heart ache with how normal it seemed.
Nana cleaned her shotgun at the island with Binx supervising.
This was my army. This motley collection of blood family, chosen family, and allies who'd become something more.
Gods and shifters, witches and familiars, teenagers and ninety-year-old badasses who'd only recently come into their power.
Whoever was hunting my children—Miranda Ashford, the Thessmark, anyone else who thought my babies were resources to be harvested—was about to learn exactly how dangerous a mother's love could be.