Chapter 10
Breakfast turned into a war council the second Stella walked through my door at eight AM, Clio trailing behind her with enough bags to stock a small arsenal. "I brought reinforcements." Stella dumped her load on the counter with a series of thuds and clinks. "And potion ingredients."
Layla, Murtagh, and Tseki filed in from patrol, bringing the sharp scent of pine and frost. Mythia and Mom continued setting out food, creating a buffet that would make any five-star restaurant pale in comparison.
Within minutes, my kitchen was packed with people eating and planning to break into a medical facility.
If you didn’t consider they’d been using it as a front to target supernatural infants, it would seem weird. But there had been at least eighty-three deaths because of them. Probably hundreds more they'd hidden.
Stella pulled a rolled bundle from her largest bag. "You need to see this," she said around a mouthful.
I pushed Nina’s laptop and the few books she’d been using for homework aside. Thankfully, our family tended to stand around the island eating. We rarely used the table for actual meals. Stella unfurled blueprints across the scarred wood. Real architectural plans, not the sanitized public versions.
"How did you get these?" Mom leaned in, studying the detailed schematics while eating her Eggs Benedict.
"Being a real estate agent has its perks." Stella's grin was bright. "I called in every favor I had with the county planning office. Here's what's interesting. The basement level isn't on the public blueprints."
She tapped a section. "But it exists. I cross-referenced property records from 1982 with the building's original construction permits. Someone added an entire sublevel after initial construction."
"That's expensive," Nana observed. "And requires serious bribes to keep off official records."
"Which makes it even more notable." Stella pulled out a second document. "The modification was filed under 'mechanical systems expansion’, but the space allocation doesn't add up. This is usable square footage. They built rooms, but not for machinery."
Aidon traced the sublevel outline with his finger. "How big is it?"
"Roughly three thousand square feet. There are multiple rooms, corridors, and storage.
" Stella laid another document beside the first. "According to the modification records, the sublevel access is hidden behind a supply closet on the main floor.
But there's a second entrance through the parking garage. "
"That’s got to be the maintenance entrance Dr. Reeves mentioned," I said.
"It seems like it." Stella pointed to a marking on the garage level. "It leads to a service corridor that connects to the sublevel. The garage entrance is our best bet."
Layla leaned over the table, already identifying sight lines and exit routes. "It’s less visible than the main building. Easier to keep things hidden and escape if things go sideways."
"And they will," Murtagh added.
"That's why we plan for it," Tseki said, marking choke points on the blueprint.
Clio moved around the table, setting down small cloth bags that smelled of herbs. "I brought protective charms and counter-curses. If the Scythe is down there, its presence will saturate the area with corrupting energy."
She opened one bag, revealing stones etched with runes. "You'll need shields against essence drain. Without them, prolonged exposure could damage your magical cores."
I picked up one of the stones. It was warm against my palm, thrumming with protective intent. "How long do they last?"
"Two hours, maybe three, depending on exposure intensity." Clio distributed stones to everyone on the strike team. "After that, the shields will degrade. You need to be in and out fast."
"That's the plan," Aidon said, tucking his stone into his pocket.
“Speaking of plans.” Stella turned to my mother, who was putting things away. "I had an idea, but only Mollie will be able to do it.”
One of Mom’s eyebrows rose, and confusion crossed her features. “What can I possibly do?”
“I’m hoping that you can use your kitchen witchery skills and brew primordial fire." Stella beamed at her like it was the best idea ever.
Mom's jaw dropped to her chest. "You want me to make primordial fire?"
"It's the only thing guaranteed to destroy the Scythe," Stella said.
"I've been thinking about how skilled you are at creating things like your potions.” She was referring to the concoction my mother created for herself and the other victims of Lyra’s experiments.
Mom struggled to cope with her tribred nature until she developed the potion.
"Primordial fire is not a potion." Mom set down the jar carefully. "That's Old Magic. I don't think it’s something kitchen witchery can duplicate."
"Which you’re a whizz at. Seriously, I’ve been told how there’s not been a more talented kitchen witch in decades,” Stella cajoled. I would have wondered if she was lying, but Stella had a way of getting people to open up. It was why she’d created the network and not someone else.
“Do you think you can do it?" I asked.
Mom's gaze swept from me to the triplets in their bouncy seats scattered across the floor.
Thaniel's downy hair sparked with tiny flames that danced across his scalp like fairy lights.
Nyssa's shadows had pooled around her seat in dark, protective tendrils, coiling and uncoiling like living things.
Only Melaina slept peacefully, her chest rising and falling with the kind of innocence that made my throat tight.
"I can try." Mom's voice was careful, measured—the tone she used when she was already three steps ahead, calculating odds and risks.
"But I'll need three things. Dragon's blood resin.
Ash from a lightning-struck tree that's at least a hundred years old.
And a piece of obsidian formed during a volcanic eruption. "
My stomach dropped. Of course, it couldn't be simple. Of course, we couldn't just—
"The dragon's blood isn't a problem." Tseki offered. "I can give you pure grade resin that would make master alchemists sell their firstborns." He flashed a grin that was all teeth and arrogance.
One down. Hope flickered in my chest. I hated getting ahead of myself, but Stella might have had a brilliant idea.
"I should be able to source the ash from a lightning-struck oak," Clio offered as she pulled out her phone, and her fingers flew across the screen. "Someone in the coven has to have some. We're witches—half of us hoard this shit like dragons with gold." She winked at Tseki.
Two down. The flicker grew stronger. Could we actually do this?
"I have obsidian,” Nana blurted. “Though I’m not sure if it’ll work.
It’s a little totem I picked up in Hawaii back in '62—before I knew a damn thing about the supernatural world.
Just thought it was a cute souvenir. Been using it as a paperweight for sixty-some years.
Guess the universe knew I'd need it eventually. "
“Will the souvenir thing affect the stone?” Mom asked Clio.
The healer shook her head. “Unless the person carving it used magic on it, its innate powers would not have been diminished.”
Mom nodded slowly. "Then I can brew it. But you need to understand this primordial fire will reduce things to the state they were before they existed. If you use this wrong, if you get even a drop on yourselves..."
"We won't exist anymore," Aidon finished.
"No, you won’t. And I don’t want to be responsible for that.” She frowned.
"How long do you need to make it?" I asked.
"Four hours if I start now." Mom took a deep breath as if steeling herself. "You have to promise me not to handle this potion directly. Use a containment vessel, and you do not, under any circumstances, just throw the vial."
"I promise." I lifted my hand.
Mom's jaw set in that stubborn line I'd inherited. "Nana, I need your help. Get your totem and meet me down in the Sanctuary. Tseki, come with me."
Nana headed for her room, and Tseki followed Mom down to the basement, where we had our magical Sanctuary. Stella and Aidon returned to the blueprints in the dining room. Thaniel chose that moment to let out the loudest fart. Mythia and I started laughing as I picked him up.
Carrying him into the living room, I put him on the changing table to check his diaper. I could hear Mythia in the kitchen singing to Melaina and Nyssa. Why did life have to be so hard? I would love for a year where no one was trying to kill my kids or me.
Guilt swamped me when part of me called myself a liar. I loved the chaos of my new life. Had from day one. Being the Pleiades and handling the craziness and danger had come naturally to me. I didn’t want to give it up, but I wanted my children to be safe.
"You're allowed to be scared," Tarja said, appearing beside me.
"I'm terrified," I admitted. "What if we don't make it back? What if—"
"What if you succeed?" Tarja interrupted. "What if you destroy the Scythe, expose the Thessmark, and save every magical child who comes after?"
That was why I was doing this. "I will stay connected with you tonight," Tarja continued.
"Promise me," I said, my voice cracking. "If something happens to me, you'll watch over them. Help them understand who their mother was."
"I am not the only one who would share you with them, but nothing is going to happen to you." Tarja's tail wrapped around my ankle. "They already know, as do I, that their mother was a warrior.