"we can use the portal to sneak the babies out," i said. "all i have to do is open it in the nursery, and we can wheel the cribs through before the leyworms can stop us."

she quirked her mouth and nodded. "it is a good idea, but i don't think it's the right one."

"why isn't it right?"

"because we need the leyworms. they're the only ones who can feed the cupids without us resorting to offering ourselves or others to do the job." she sighed. "until we have a better place to move them, we'll have to hope the leyworms are up to the task."

i had a feeling once slitheren and the younger leyworms returned, their defenses would be quite a bit stronger. maybe kassus wouldn't be able to get past the leviathans. in any case, his presence would be a golden opportunity for me to get his blood and free my mom.

i had lunch with elyssa, and then travelled via the portal to see mom. she didn't respond when i knocked on the side of the trailer. i knocked again, my stomach feeling sick with worry. what if she'd miscalculated about how long she could last?

"mom?" i said, knocking again.

"i'm here," said an exhausted voice.

i blew out a sigh of relief. "how are you feeling?"

"tired," she said. "i considered putting myself in a light preservation spell, but the effort might cost too much of my dwindling reserves."

i should have taken the chance with kassus earlier, i thought. damn it, why didn't i try?

"i'm sure my health isn't the only reason you've come, son. what do you need?"

i pushed aside the anger and took deep breaths to center myself on the task at hand. then i told her about the cupids.

her incredulous gasp echoed from within the container. "they live again? how is this possible?"

"i think it's the same thing that happened to you," i said, referring to the last thing she remembered at the destruction of the grand nexus. "it's why you were raised as a child by the conroys."

"it's unbelievable, but it makes sense," she said, wonder still in her voice.

"yeah, as if anything about life makes sense," i said. "well, kassus found out about them. apparently, he and the darkwater people are going to the relics with alabaster arches and clearing them of cherubs. that's how they stumbled across the cupid nursery. we may need to move the babies, but we're not sure how to feed them soul essence without the leyworms."

"they're consuming soul essence at this age?" mom said. "they shouldn't require that for the first few years, at least not until they learn to channel."

"channel?" i said.

"yes, that's what we call it when we use our magic."

"isn't it all channeling?" i pulled out my staff and imagined how shelton and the others did it. "arcanes channel through staffs and wands."

"that's actually casting," mom said. "believe me, i learned how to do arcane magic, and there are many differences. the source remains the same, but the method is much different."

"explain," i said.

"arcanes use an internal well to hold their aether. when they use magic, they draw upon that well, focusing their will through a staff, wand, or other instrument to enact the spell. our kind have the ability to channel aether directly from the source."

"but we have an internal well," i said.

"we do, yes, and it's much larger than an arcane's. on the downside, we don't utilize it as efficiently as arcanes do, possibly because they've had centuries to perfect casting from smaller reservoirs."

i still wasn't too clear on the difference between channeling and casting, except for how we utilized the aether. i could appreciate the strength we had, namely being able to draw directly from a ley line and into a spell. but we were off subject.

"back to the cupids-you say they shouldn't be feeding off soul essence yet. why do you think these are?"

"perhaps they are different since they've been reborn. they are not normal seraphim children, i can tell you that."

we talked a little longer, but she didn't have much more to tell me other than most normal angel infants breastfed like humans. our brief conversation only raised more questions, which i didn't ask since mom sounded so tired.

i pressed my hand to the side of the trailer, wishing more than anything i could touch her hand, or bring her comfort. "i love you, mom."

my supernatural hearing picked up the faint sounds of crying from within. "i love you, too, son. i'm sorry for all i've put you through."

i leaned my forehead against the side, squeezing my eyes shut to dam up the tears. "it's okay," i said, my voice hoarse. when i was younger, friday night was family night. dad would buy pizza, and we would all watch a movie or play board games. as i'd grown older, i'd wanted to hang out with my nerd friends or play computer games instead of sitting with the parents.

what i wouldn't give to have that back right now.

had my childhood been a sham? had family nights been faked by my parents to make us seem normal, or had they really wanted to be that way? a part of me burned to question mom about every aspect, but she needed rest and i needed to spend my time tracking kassus and drawing his blood.

i knew where kassus would be again soon. that was a huge advantage. all i had to do was figure out how to capitalize on it. i called a meeting when i returned home. many in our gang already knew since elyssa had told them.

"let me get this straight," shelton said. "you want to ambush a squad of elite battle mages?"

"we don't have to ambush them," i said. "all we need is kassus."

"even if we all pitch in, that ain't an easy task," shelton said. "those people are used to fighting. they're conditioned to respond to surprises with deadly force."

"what about a drain ward?" i asked, looking at bella. "you know how to make them. why don't we rig the cavern with them?"

she pressed her lips together. "sure, we could try. it might take me a couple of days to make one, though."

we don't have a couple of days.

"how about stealth tactics?" i said. "can we separate kassus and knock him out?"

elyssa answered. "separating him would be the tricky part. if i can get him alone, i'll just dart him and knock him out."

"how about we shoot all of them with lancer darts?" i asked. "if we all fired at once, they'd never have a chance to respond."

she moved her head side-to-side as if considering the proposal. "it might work."

"hold on," shelton said holding up his hands palms out. "if these guys are worth their salt-and i know for a fact they are-their robes are warded with armor and magic resistance spells. to stand a chance at knocking them out, we'd have to hit every one of them on naked skin. that would mean neck, head, or hands."

i considered the odds of us nailing twenty-plus people with such precision. it didn't seem likely. if even a handful remained conscious, they could still put up a hell of a fight. and what if kassus brought in even more battle mages his next visit?

"we have some pretty important unanswered questions," adam said, rescuing us from silence. "the first is what do the leyworms want with the cupids? if we know the answer to that, we'll probably know why they don't want us moving the babies. and next, does kassus have even the remotest chance of stealing a baby right out from under the leyworms, especially once the younger ones return from wherever they went?"

"good questions," i said. "but that's not the matter at hand. we need kassus's blood. since we can't move the babies, we might as well use the situation to our advantage."

"i just feel like it might be a big risk not moving the babies," adam said. "using them as bait doesn't feel right."

"we're not using them," i said. "the leyworms won't let us move them, so we're making do with the situation."

"i don't think directly attacking these men is the answer," meghan said. "while we each have our strengths, they have the manpower and firepower to kill us all."

"i'm not advocating attacking them," i said, frustration starting to rise within me. "we don't have time to sit around and hope kassus makes a mistake. we need his blood now."

"we want to help you any way we can," adam said. "none of us here wants your mother to die."

"if we go about this the wrong way, a lot more than your mom stand to die," ryland said. "maybe we should have a talk with commander borathen. he might spare a squad to help."

"i already talked with him," elyssa said.

i huffed. "and the answer is no," i said. "shouldn't even bother asking him. it's not like he helped rescue my mom." i knew i was being unfair. he'd left the decision in my hands and i'd decided the political consequences would be too severe, opting only for auxiliary help.

lips pressed tight, she raised an eyebrow at me. "he said yes." i could tell from the tension in her voice she wasn't happy with me right then.

"oh," i said.

she sighed and shook her head. "he had to reposition assets thanks to the synod moving their own troops into my father's territory, but he agreed to provide us with his best special ops squad to resolve the situation."

"whoa, why didn't you mention this earlier?" shelton said.

"i just got the text from him a few seconds ago," she said. "he told me alysea is too valuable to let die, and that, so long as the operation could be done in a way to minimize exposure, he would provide support."

"does he know about the cupids?" adam asked.

"no, but we'll have to tell him," elyssa said. she gave me a cross look. "happy?"

i looked away. "yes."

"i'm happy you're happy," she said in a tone indicating she was anything but. "this opens up several options, including the one justin mentioned earlier about simply knocking them all unconscious. we have other crowd-control options that might work, depending on what sort of defenses kassus's people have."