I feel the energy in the room and the lights flicker, my magic drawing on their energy, electricity zapping loudly around me.
I feel the darkness trying to envelope me, feeding off their anger. I close my eyes, breathing and focusing, pushing the darkness back to the edges like Astral showed me. Regaining my composure, I open them.
“Let me up,” Tobias says through gritted teeth.
“No, you will listen.” He goes silent, I watch his jaw clench and unclench.
“I did nothing, Thaddeus manifested magic, not me. I have control of myself and I’m so sick of both of you hovering. I don’t need a mother, I have one of those, well did. So, either step up and act like my mates again or step the fuck out. I won’t keep putting up with you treating me like I’m a ticking time bomb. I have control and if I feel off, I will let you know.” I tell them.
“This is you, in control?” Theo says, shaking his head.
I huff, annoyed. “Yes, if I wanted to hurt you, I could have, easily might. I have merely restrained you. Now, I’m going to get fucking diapers for our son, understood?” I ask, looking between the pair of them.
They say nothing, but I see Tobias nod. I release them, Theo falls to the floor with a soft thud. His eyes still crimson as he steps toward me, and I hold up my finger.
“Don’t. You will see for yourselves I’m not lying. I would never hurt our son and it is about time both of you realize that. I will kill myself long before I will ever harm a hair on that boy’s head.”
Tobias looks down guiltily, but Theo steps forward again. But this time, Tobias speaks and Theo halts. “Let her go, Theo. I think we all just need to calm down,” he says, rubbing his temples. Thaddeus makes a noise and all three of us look up at the ceiling.
“I will go,” Tobias says, walking out, heading up the stairs.
I grab my keys again, heading toward the door. Theo sings out as I get to the door. “My wallet is on the hallway stand, can you buy more coffee,” he says, coming up behind me.
His eyes, now their usual green and his aura has calmed to a more neutral color. And they think I am the bipolar one. I chuckle at my thought, before grabbing his wallet and going to the car. Hopefully, this will be the end of our arguments now. I have bigger things to worry about with the challenge coming up in four days. I don’t need drama at home on top of that. And now, I have another task added to the never-ending list of shit to stress about, that is to find out what is going on with my baby boy.
I know as soon as I drive down toward the house something is wrong; the lights flickering inside the house is a dead giveaway. Pulling up out the front, Theo has hold of Thaddeus, who is looking over Theo’s shoulder at the car. Tobias is standing next to the power box, scratching his head, confused. Getting out of the car, I hide my amusement.
“What are you doing?” I ask, hopping out of the car. Theo is watching Tobias, and I can hear him flicking off the switches in the power box.
“Either we have an electrical problem, or the house is haunted,” Theo says.
I can see Thaddeus’ eyes glowing green, a mischievous grin on his face while he squeals and cackles. His eyes glow with intelligence far beyond his years. When he sees me, he grasps air, holding out his arms, and I smile at him.
“Are you playing tricks on your daddies?” I whisper, taking him from Theo, who still hadn’t paid attention to what I said about Thaddeus.
Theo walks over and looks at the power box with Tobias. I shake my head and walk up the porch steps.
“You can’t go in there Imogen, stay out here. All the power is off, and the lights are still flickering, a fire could start.” Tobias calls out.
I stop, an amused grin on my face as I cock my eyebrow at him. “Typical men aye, in one ear and out the other.” I tell Thaddeus, who squeals loudly while eating his hand and slobbering all over it.
“It’s a ghost, it is the only explanation. I knew that oracle was conjuring up bad voodoo,” Theo says, throwing his hands up in the air.
I can’t help it, I burst out laughing. Snort even at how ridiculous they are being. Deciding to play along, I turn to walk inside, carrying Thaddeus and my grocery bag.
“Imogen, did you not hear us? The place is possessed!” Theo calls out.
“Oh, I heard you alright. I can’t believe you two are scared of Casper the Friendly Ghost.”
“Hey, ghosts are real, I lived in a haunted house once. I’m telling you, Imogen, Astral has brought some bad mumbo jumbo here.” Theo calls out to me.
I shake my head. “Did you not pay attention to anything I said earlier?” They both look at me like I have grown two heads. Feeling through the bond, I can tell they have no idea what I’m talking about.
“There is nothing wrong with the house, your son is doing it. You would know, if you bothered to look at him,” I point out.
“You expect me to believe a baby is conjuring magic?” Tobias asks.
“Yep, he did it earlier but you two were too busy blaming me for upsetting him and weren’t listening.” I shrug.
They both come to the porch, looking up at me. “Witches can’t manifest magic till they are of age, Imogen. He is two months old.”
“Correct, he is two months old, I know when my son was born. But he isn’t a normal witch baby, Tobias, he is a tribrid. I also know that he is growing rapidly. What two-month-old is as big as a one-year-old and can sit up and nearly crawl? He is growing faster and beyond his age. The oracle even said she couldn’t predict what his future holds. Well now, we just got a glimpse.” I try to explain.
They still don’t believe me, seriously how thick can one be? As if on cue, Thaddeus starts giggling, and the lights start flickering faster. That’s when I realize his powers are manifesting from his emotions. He doesn’t even realize what he is doing, just feels the funny feeling of his magic tickling him, well until the darkness around the edges touches him like it did earlier.