Luna. Chapter 75

(Lyra's POV)

Orion arrived at the house Tuesday morning carrying a metal briefcase and wearing the expression of someone delivering bad news. I met him at the front door, already dreading what he might have discovered.

"The glasses?" I asked without preamble.

"We need to sit down for this conversation."

That was never good. I led him to the living room where Victor was reading the morning paper and Asher was building an elaborate tower with his blocks.

"Whatever you found, just tell us," I said, settling onto the couch.

Orion opened the briefcase and pulled out a clear evidence bag containing the red star-shaped glasses I'd found in Asher's room. Even through the plastic, they seemed to pulse with malevolent energy.

"These glasses belonged to the Nova family," he said without preamble.

Victor's newspaper rustled as he folded it carefully. "The Novas died out decades ago."

"Exactly. The last known member of the bloodline was Alpha Marcus Nova. He died in 1987 under mysterious circumstances."

"What kind of mysterious circumstances?" I asked, though I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"The official report said heart failure. But there were rumors about a family curse, about objects that carried their power through generations."

I stared at the glasses, my mouth going dry. "These are cursed."

"More than cursed. They're what we call soul-bound artifacts. Objects infused with the life force of their original owner." Orion's expression was grim. "Marcus Nova didn't just die wearing these glasses. Part of his soul was trapped inside them."

"That's impossible."

"Is it? You've seen enough supernatural phenomena lately to know that impossible is just another word for things we don't understand yet."

Asher looked up from his blocks, his young face serious. "The red glasses taste angry. Like someone who doesn't want to be dead."

My blood went cold. "Asher, what do you mean?"

"The angry man in the glasses. He's been whispering at night. He wants to come out and play."

Orion and Victor exchanged looks that made my stomach clench with fear.

"What does he whisper about?" Orion asked gently.

"About how his family was stolen. About how he wants revenge on the people who killed him." Asher's voice was matter-of-fact, the way children talked about imaginary friends. "He thinks I might help him since I can do special things."

"Oh god." I reached for Asher, pulling him onto my lap. "Baby, you can't listen to the man in the glasses. He's dangerous."

"I know. He tastes like poison and old sadness and really, really angry thoughts."

Victor leaned forward. "Orion, how did cursed objects from a dead family end up in my grandson's bedroom?"

"That's what we need to figure out. Because someone deliberately placed them there. Someone who knows about Asher's abilities and thought exposing him to this level of dark energy was worth the risk."

My mind raced through possibilities. "Seraphina."

"Possibly. But she's been in Council custody for weeks. Unless she had help on the outside..."

"Or unless she's not the only person targeting our family."

The thought made me feel sick. One psychopath obsessed with destroying my family was bad enough. The idea that there might be others, people working with cursed objects and soul-bound artifacts...

"What do we do?" I asked.

"First, we remove these glasses from your house immediately. The longer they're here, the more influence the trapped soul can exert."

"And then?"

"Then we figure out who put them there and why." Orion sealed the evidence bag inside the briefcase. "But there's something else you need to know."

"What?"

"Soul-bound artifacts don't just affect the people who touch them. They influence everyone in the vicinity. The longer these glasses were in your house, the more they've been corrupting the spiritual energy of your entire family."

I thought about the strange dreams I'd been having, the way Asher had been waking up crying in the middle of the night, the tension that had been building between all of us lately.

"How long does it take for the influence to fade?"

"Depends on how long the objects were present. And whether the damage has already been done."

"What kind of damage?"

Orion hesitated. "Prolonged exposure to cursed artifacts can create permanent spiritual scarring. Changes to personality, increased aggression, paranoia, nightmares that feel more real than reality."

I looked at Victor, who'd gone pale. "Dad?"

"I've been having the strangest dreams lately. Dark dreams about betrayal and revenge."

"Me too," I whispered.

We sat in horrified silence, understanding that our family had been under attack in ways we hadn't even realized. Not just through poison or direct threats, but through something more insidious. Something designed to turn us against each other from the inside.

"There's more," Orion said quietly. "Soul-bound artifacts are attracted to people with strong supernatural abilities. They feed off psychic energy, growing stronger the longer they're exposed to it."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning whoever placed these glasses in Asher's room knew exactly what they were doing. They were trying to use his abilities to empower Marcus Nova's trapped soul."

The full horror of what had almost happened hit me like a physical blow. Someone had tried to use my four-year-old son as a battery to resurrect a vengeful dead man.

"We need more security," I said.

"We need answers," Victor corrected. "Because until we know who's behind this, it's going to happen again."

Orion closed the briefcase with a decisive snap. "I'll take these to the Council containment facility. But Lyra? You might want to consider having the house cleansed by a professional."

"What kind of professional?"

"A witch. Someone trained in spiritual purification."

Great. Cursed objects, trapped souls, and now I needed to hire a witch.

Just another Tuesday in my supernatural life.