Page 16 of Postpartum Spells & Infant Hells

I snorted and lifted my shirt to expose my breast to Melaina. “I have some new information, but I’m waiting until everyone can hear it together.”

“That’s smart. We could be here all morning otherwise,” Stella said as she handed me a granola bar.

I accepted it because Stella’s affection often came wrapped in foil and delivered with a smile. Aidon stood near the sink with Nyssa settled against his chest. He looked over as his shadows began sliding around his bare feet in slow, restless coils. He looked from Stella’s tote to me and then to Caolinn’s brass key, which rested on top of Mythia’s note on the island.

“What’s going on, Queenie?” he asked in a voice quiet enough that the softness made it more dangerous. “Whatever you are holding back has been sitting between us since last night. I assumed it was your worry over this mess.”

Nana rocked by the window with Thaniel sleeping against her shoulder. She eyed Aidon, then me, then Stella with the weary judgment of a woman who had seen too much foolishness before breakfast. “If this turns into one of those conversations where everybody protects everybody else by lying badly, I’m firing a warning shot into the pantry,” she declared, patting Thaniel’s back when he huffed in his sleep. “I hate emotional tap dancing. And Mollie just reorganized the canned goods. She won’t be happy if that happens.”

“Nana, please do not shoot the beans,” Stella pleaded while her smile stayed bright. “Some of us cope with complex supernatural threats through fiber and denial.”

“I cope through accuracy,” Nana retorted, rocking as rain streaked the glass behind her. “Beans are replaceable. My patience is not.”

Mythia hovered at the stove, her wings tucked tight and too still. She was stirring something that no longer needed stirring, and she had not once looked toward note. That was when the last of my hope that this would be okay packed a bag and left the house.

I set Melaina in the bouncer beside the island right as Mom, Layla, and Selene walked into the kitchen. Unable to take Aidon’s glare, I opened the note. “I have some new information,” I told the newcomers. “Mythia gave me this note and asked me to look at it before I showed anyone else. It contains coordinates to a survivor of what we are currently facing.”

Aidon’s gaze cut to Mythia so fast the air seemed to follow. Frost feathered along the window over the sink, and Nyssa stirred against him as if his anger had brushed her dreams. “You asked my mate to keep information from me while something is trying to harm our children? Why would you do that?”

Mythia set the spoon down and turned from the stove. Her wings quivered, but she lifted her chin and faced him. “Because I was protecting the babies from a possibility. One I prayed would stay nothing more than a story I recalled from childhood,” she clarified as she flew closer and hovered over the island.

“I had only heard whispers of the echo children when I was young. I didn’t know whether they were real. Whether they could cross this far. Or whether the triplets would draw their attention. Given how much trouble we tend to attract, I decided to look into it quietly, just in case. I didn’t want to frighten this house over folklore when everyone here was already standing guard against real dangers.”

Aidon’s shadows rose higher, brushing the cabinet bases like dark water seeking cracks. “You decided what fear I could handle when it involved my children,” he challenged, his hand spreading over Nyssa’s back protectively.

Mythia flinched, but she didn’t retreat. “I know you love them and would do anything for them, Aidon. What would you have done if I told you I was going to look for information about mythical beings I didn’t know existed? I have watched you become a wall around them every hour since they were born. That is exactly why I kept searching quietly. If I brought you a rumor about lost children who may or may not come for powerful infants, you would have moved heaven, earth, and the Underworld before we knew whether there was a target to strike. That could have left them vulnerable. I wasn’t willing to take that chance.”

Stella slid off her stool and moved beside Mythia. She wasn't shielding her from Aidon because that would have been insulting to both of them. But she was close enough to remind the room that the pixie was loved. “That is noble and also completely bananas,” Stella told Mythia, her voice bright but threaded with steel. “Next time, bring the scary folklore to the family meeting. We always have snacks, weapons, and a disturbing amount of experience turning old nightmares into action items.”

“Stella is right,” I added as Melaina released my breast. “I understand why you did it, Thia, but understanding does not mean I like finding out you have been afraid for my babies since the night they were born. What do you know about them?”

Mythia’s eyes shone, and her wings drooped as though the admission weighed more than her body. “I don’t know much. The stories said echo children came near powerful babies born close to wounds in the veil. Next time, I will tell the family.”

Nana snorted, though her gaze was gentle when it settled on Mythia. “Mythia has given the most accurate description of Phoebe’s life I have heard all week,” she observed before she aimed a pointed look at Aidon. “You can be mad, Big Guy. You should be. But at the right people. Don’t go turning the pixie into an enemy when she was trying to keep your young from becoming bait for something nobody knew anything about.”

Aidon looked as if he wanted to argue. His jaw flexed, and his shadows pulled back. “She could never be an enemy. She’s family,” he announced, keeping his eyes on Mythia.

“You’re growing as a person, Aidon. I’m proud of you.” Stella snatched her notebook from the tote and flipped it open. “I’m writing it down before this family returns to threats, sarcasm, and property damage.”

I chuckled as I tapped the paper because we needed to move on. “These are not normal coordinates. Mythia’s note says the numbers will carry my voice to Ava, but gently and without a god leading. It specifically says not to let Aidon or Hades near her or she will disappear before I finish my first sentence.”

Aidon schooled his expression before his anger could get hold. “She will sense me even if I don’t speak,” he inferred, glancing down at Nyssa before looking at the paper again. “That is why Mythia hid the note from divine senses.”

Mythia nodded, her hands tightening in her apron. “Ava survived the echo children and Veiled Ones,” she explained, choosing her words carefully. “Survivors do not wait to decide whether power is safe. They run first and build reasons afterward.”

Stella leaned over the paper, ponytail swinging forward as she studied the note. “This looks like a location, and a lock had a baby,” she commented, tapping the second line with her pen. “The first line points somewhere physical, but the second line feels like it’s a spell.”

“That tracks with the ward behavior I am seeing,” Selene reported, watching symbols crawl across her screen. “The numbers keep shifting when I try to map them as standard coordinates. They might stabilize when I anchor the search to this property, but I haven’t tried.”

“Hello,” Clio called out as she entered the front door.

“We’re in the kitchen,” Nana replied. “Phoebe’s about to try and metaphysically reach out to a woman who faked her death.”

“What?” Clio asked as she entered the kitchen.

I gave her a brief rundown, making her gaze move from the key to the babies. “Before you do anything, I want to shield the triplets,” she told the room as she pulled three glass beads from a pouch. “If the connection brushes the marks left in their magic, I want it redirected toward the maternal anchor and not toward the babies themselves.”

Aidon’s eyes darkened. “Use me instead,” he ordered. “If something happens, I want it to hit me first.”