She sank farther back into the shadows so that any human walking by wouldn’t see her dematerialize, and then focused on home.

A moment later, she stood outside the large barn in the backyard of her new home. Once the household of Kalissa and Khloe Bradenton, the large, three-story home was now the central base for the Divinities. They called it the Divinity House.

Up until earlier that year, they hadn’t known there were other Divinities out there. Once Zach—the grandson of the priest and priestess of the Maxville Coven—set up an online community, they’d learned that there were others like Lydia, her mother, Ayden, and the Bradenton twins.

The other Divinities were well hidden in their covens and were happy to stay there. Too many of them were afraid of what this new uprising of demons would do to their safe havens.

Lydia didn’t blame them. Especially after what had happened to the Oceanway Coven a few months ago. Demons had broken through the coven’s wards, destroyed homes, and kidnapped two Dark Divine—the darker counterparts of the Divinities—children.

She shuddered at the memory. A moment later, Teddy-Bear, the Siamese twin hellhounds Hecate had appointed as the guardians of the Sinew—a marble-sized crystal sphere that held the world’s magic—stuck their large heads out of the barn.

She ignored them at first, not wanting to hear a lecture at the moment. But it would come.

In true form, they stood about ten feet tall from paws to ears. They shared one body, but two independent heads with very different personalities. They were both frightening and adorable in an oversized dog kind of way.

Teddy shook his head as Bear said, “Dia, what have you been up to?”

She rolled her eyes. They knew what she’d been doing for months, but still pretended they didn’t know. “Someone has to hunt the vile creatures down.”

Teddy extended his head and sniffed. Lydia almost laughed. They’d smelled her from inside the barn with their supernatural senses. Teddy was trying to annoy her. “That is for the Divinities to do together, not for one of them to do alone.”

“You’re a mother, Dia,” Bear said.

“Your son needs his mother alive,” Teddy added.

Lydia fisted her hands and counted to ten. This argument was getting old. “My son is in danger as long as the demons walk the human realm.”

Logan had been born with the dark rose, the symbol marking him as a Dark Divine. That meant her late husband, the man she’d trusted with her heart and soul had lied to her. He’d withheld his demonic nature from her.

Yes, she’d known he was a warlock—a dark witch who had been cast out by his or her coven. Many warlock children weren’t given the choice to redeem themselves. Therefore, they carried the dark label simply because their parents were warlocks.

In Mikal’s case, he wasn’t only half demon, he was also the son of Khan, the ruler of the Underworld and the one responsible for the many coven attacks over the last few centuries.

She’d discovered that latter bit of information while going through Mikal’s personal data files right after Logan was born.

“Logan is why I must do this. Khan will never take my son.” The dark lord must never know Logan is his grandson.

She turned to the house, ending the conversation while noticing Ryn—a Lackey demon who’d helped her mom escape Demetrius’s dungeon—lurking just inside the barn. Something bothered Lydia about the demon, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on what.

Whatever. She quietly eased into the back door and crept up the stairs to her son’s nursery. Peeking inside the room, she smiled at her baby boy peacefully sleeping in his crib.

Lydia walked over and bent to place a kiss on his head. “Mommy loves you, handsome.”

Her chest filled with pride and overflowed with love for him. She’d fight a thousand demons and die a hundred deaths to ensure that her son was safe.

And she’d do it with or without the other Divinities’ help.