“I thought you hated me. You said you would rather I die than become a Super Duper.”

“I was trying so hard to protect you.” She squeezed me harder, a sob escaping her. “I would rather you think I hated you than watch you die with something Hera would cook up. She is so very dangerous, and I couldn’t live with the thought that she would torture you and make your life a living nightmare. I didn’t think I could bear to see you under her rule. But the truth . . .” She stepped back and cupped my face with her hands. “The truth is you are strong enough, my beautiful girl. You are more than strong enough, and I should have seen that you have had that strength all along. That your bloodlines run true, that the power in your grandmother went right through us both. I should have believed that I was strong enough too.” That last was said so softly, I wasn’t sure I was meant to hear it. But I did, and it cemented something between us. Her fears were not so different than my own.

Shaking, I hugged her again, relishing the feel of her hugging me back. Really holding me for the first time in what felt like forever. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, but ease off a bit. I’m not a Super Duper like you,” she whispered. I laughed and stepped back.

“Sorry . . . wait.” I let her go and ran to the phone and called my house. Tad picked up, and before he could say anything, I blurted out, “You’ve got to come to the bakery, right now. You have to.”

He didn’t ask why, just hung the phone up, and I knew he was on his way. “Tad, he’s missed you too.”

She nodded. “I was wrong. You are both so much more than I could have ever hoped for in children.” She clapped her hands together and smiled at me, really smiled. “I think we need to start again with so many things. But let’s begin with this anniversary. I don’t want to hide how much I love your father anymore.” She patted my face again, smiling as she pointed at the samples. “Which one do you think Clark will like best?”

Still sniffing and wiping at my face, I bent over and pointed at the red velvet. “He loves chocolate, and it’s a nice twist. We could fill the center with raspberry and then do fresh raspberries as part of the toppings.”

“Please tell me I’m invited,” Ernie stage-whispered, and my mom laughed.

“Eros, you are invited. Seems fitting, don’t you think?” My mom lifted an eyebrow at me, and I grinned, my heart all but floating. This day . . . this day would stay with me for the rest of my life. The day my mother and I finally were honest with each other.

The day I saw that, while she’d gone about it the wrong way, she’d been trying to protect us, because she loved us.

She nodded. “Now, what else do we need for the platters?”

I opened my mouth to tell her that I had a few ideas, but no words came out. I froze, hearing the heartbeat of something far bigger than any person. The beat was like a section of drums echoing one another. A heartbeat that big could mean only one thing. I stared at Ernie. His face paled.

He flipped around in a sudden circle, his eyes worried. “Alena. I think we have a problem.”

The ground shook, and I put my hand on my mom’s back. “Mom, stay here.” I ran out into the main part of the bakery. The plate glass had been replaced, and through it I saw a thick, hard skin that looked like pebbled gray leather. The image filled the plate glass as it moved. “Diana, get my mom and the girls and get out!” I pointed to the back even as I ran to the front door.

And right into the monstrous danger that waited for me.

CHAPTER 8

I stood on the front step of my bakery and stared up at a creature that was easily the same size as me in my Drakaina form. I thought about shifting, and smoke curled up around me, leaving me blind for a split second, and then I was staring down at the top of my bakery from two stories up. I whipped around and faced the creature in front of me. Her body was that solid gray that came from overdoing the mixture of too many food colorings as you tried to swirl them together. Pasty gray and ugly, it covered her entire body except for a strip of black down the center of her back. Her body was thick, and she had four legs, the front two tipped with three claws each that dug into the cement with a screech. Nine long necks topped with nine heads wove and bobbed in front of me. Sitting on the center head was a man dressed in solid black body armor. It looked to be a blend of old and new with the bright, shiny brass buckles tightened over black hard-shelled armor that reminded me of a SWAT team. A golden shield rested on his left arm, and a sword was gripped in his right hand. He slowly pointed it at me.

“Drakaina. Your death is here.” His words were firm, and he was obviously strong in his belief. That didn’t bode well.

“Don’t count on it, chump!” Ernie yelled as he flew up next to me. He had a wee tiny bow that he pulled taut. “Don’t think she’s doing this alone.”

Hercules sighed. “Eros, get lost, you little bugger. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Then go away! Alena is not the one you should be fighting!” Ernie yelled.

The Hydra’s nine heads hissed together, the noise echoing back and forth. I opened my mouth and hissed right back, the rumble of my voice deeper and far more deadly sounding. At least to me.

Without warning, she launched herself at me, claws outstretched along with her heads. I dove down, sliding under her belly and wrapping myself around her middle. I squeezed, and she roared, then didn’t roar again as she struggled to get air. Of course, she wasn’t alone.