MEDIUM

28.

"Growing strong." He supplied as Mags smiled happily. "I need to find a way to protect my family again, it's starting to get on my nerves." Adrian mumbled and Mags laughed heartily. "You're good at that, you're the freaking witch of protection, who better to do so than you, and I know you'll find a way out this." She reassured and Adrian nodded gratefully. "So can I get everything on this list, and I was hoping you had serpent hearts." Ari explained handing over the list and the last statement had Mags quirking a brow. "You can't perform sacrificial magic while pregnant." She chided. "I'm performing no magic at all, dad has a tracker on me, lighting a candle has punishments, and he's pregnant too, anyway, Enzo is the one performing the spell, his hubris with sacrificial witchcraft is surprisingly good." Adrian explained as Mags just chuckled shaking her head.

"And you wonder why most threats come for you, with a blended family like that." She added and they both laughed. "Adrian look what we got?!" The boys screamed as they ran to where Ari appeared away from the back of the shop. "Show me." Adrian told them as Kent was first with an enchanted pendant that glowed when he pressed a bit of magic in it. "That's a great protection enchantment, but you always have better ones, so I settled on making them night lights." Mags explained as Ari just nodded with a light chuckle. "I got an alarm clock, it has a dragon inside." Martin explained as he showed off his prize and when it was midday the dragon did come out and hailed tiny sparks but roared. "Don't worry the sparks are just theatrics they won't light anything." Linda was the one to explain as Mags gathered their stuff.

"What did you get big boy?" Ari asked Mark who just sighed. "Nothing, I couldn't find anything." He pouted, almost in tears. "That simply can't do, —you two, wait for Mags here, tell her to bring you more candy, nomore than five per each of you." Ari instructed as he took his baby brother into his arms. "Don't tell pops I carried you, he'll make us sit on the chair of shame." Ari whispered to Mark who giggled and nodded. "So what were you looking for?" He asked the now smiling boy. "I wanted a pendant, but Kent had one, then a dragon clock, and Martin had one, I want something of my own." He whispered as Ari found the perfect thing well things.

"It's okay to want to be different and separate from the others, to be your own person, it means growing up, you still love your brothers, you just don't have to like the things they do, —this when you go to sleep will turn your ceiling into the milkway just put a little magic in it and you'll see all the beauty of the stars, and then this is your own special wake up clock, it'll wake you everyday with a different song that you like or a bird tune, or animal sound, you just tell it, and it makes a great hiding spot for your candy." Ari explained to Mark who beamed a smile from ear to ear. "I love them, thank you Ari!" The boy cheered as Adrian just laughed.

"You're so good with him." A new voice mumbled behind Adrian, it caused him to shiver holding Mark close. Beware the deceiver, he wears the mask of the damned, beware child of elder blood, he wants your power. Adrian knew that warning came from the ancestors, how he knew, no idea but he knew and that warning wasn't lost on him, so he held out his hand toward his siblings protecting them in a barrier no one could penetrate. "Impressive, you're already calculating which way this will go, but not to worry, I'm just here to look at you, ever so closely, —the medium, I thought you were myth honestly, a cautionary tale to baby witches. Beware of the medium, his punishment is swift and unforgiving." He finished as Ari tried to read his mind.

He forced his way in and what he saw caused his stomach to tighten. "Ah, hmmm, I should've known you could get into my head." The man mumbled as he forced Adrian out with a lot of power, to resist him like this was astonishing, it took a lot of will. Adrian inhaled deeply when he was forced out completely. "There we go, don't be rude, —you ask anything of me I will tell you." He added and Ari didn't want to know anything more. "I've seen enough to know that in the end it's not enough, even if you tell me." He argued and the very tall equally built man chuckled. "That's where you're wrong, witch of protection, you see I want you to know something before my massacre of this city begins, you won't and can't stop me, —even if you try and I know you will, I will kill that growing little one in you, you along  with your precious little brothers, I've watched you for a very long time, so I know how you think, how you act and how you'll try rescue her, but ultimately, you will fail and there will be no one to stop me, and I thank you for that, the Sovietro's are weaker than ever, who'll stop me now." He concluded as a tail, dark purple appeared behind the man, it glowed and as it did, the man vanished.