Page 9 of Bedrest Blues & Otherworldly Clues
"Are already being affected," Mythia confirmed. "The anchor points your father cleansed yesterday are destabilizing again. Only they aren’t being poisoned this time. It's like the foundation they're built on is shifting beneath them."
I struggled to sit up straighter as my mind raced. "This could be catastrophic. If the ley lines continue to change, we'll never maintain stable defenses. We'd have to constantly reconfigure the protection grid."
"Precisely," Mythia said. "And that's assuming we can track the changes quickly enough to adapt."
Aidon was already on his phone, presumably calling Hades. I caught fragments of his terse conversation—words like unprecedented and containment failure. A sharp knock interrupted him. Nana entered without waiting for permission, which was typical for her. What wasn't typical was the grave expression on her usually sarcastic face. She carried a small wooden box that she set on the foot of my bed.
"You're going to want to see this," she said as she flipped open the lid.
Inside were everyday items. A framed family photo, one of my hairpins, a charm bracelet Nina had given me for Mother's Day years ago, and several other personal belongings.
"What am I looking at?" I asked, confused.
"Evidence," Nana replied. "Your mother and I have been testing everything in the house for magical contamination. These items are saturated with Lyra's magic."
She picked up the family photo. It was a shot of Nina, Jean-Marc, Stella, and me from Christmas. "Look closely at the frame."
I squinted, then gasped. Woven into the decorative pattern were tiny runes, nearly invisible to the naked eye. "There are symbols and they’re connected," I realized. "Like magical bridges."
"That’s what I saw as well," Nana nodded. "And they're in everything. Your maternity clothes and your jewelry. They’re even sewn into the seams of your pillowcases. Mollie found traces in the medicine cabinet. The kitchen spice rack and that new rocking chair for the nursery."
"When she finally broke through, she unleashed a magical contagion," I said as the implications hit me like a physical blow. "It's spreading through everything at an alarming rate and converting our possessions into tools for her."
"The infection rate is extraordinary," Nanaconfirmed grimly. "Her magic has a remarkable ability to bond with personal items. They seem to be corrupted the fastest."
The room seemed to swim as pieces clicked into place. "She's attacking anything and everything she can to create magical access points throughout the house."
"Exactly," Nana nodded. "Whatever she wants from you and these babies, she's accelerating her plans with this aggressive contamination strategy."
Aidon ended his call and joined our conversation, his expression grim. "My father is on his way with reinforcements. We need to create a containment sphere around the entire property to isolate it from the spreading corruption."
"Will that work?" I asked.
"Temporarily," he admitted. "But it will drain our resources significantly."
"And leave us more vulnerable to direct attack," I concluded.
The monitoring symbols continued moving unhindered. I glared at them, wishing I could blast them into oblivion without risking the babies. "We need to go on the offensive," I said finally. "We can't just keep reacting to whatever Lyra throws at us."
"You're in no condition—" Aidon began.
"Not me," I cut him off. "You. Hades. The shifters. Everyone who can fight needs to track Lyra to her source and end this."
"And leave you here?" He looked incredulous. "Absolutely not."
"I won't be unprotected," I argued. "The house will still have defenses, and Mom and Clio can stay with me."
"The ley line disturbances are accelerating. We don't have much time to debate," Mythia said from where she was looking out a window.
"She's right," Nana agreed. "And so is Phoebe. We can't win by playing defense forever."
Aidon looked torn. His protective instincts were warring with strategic necessity. I reached for his hand. "I know you're scared," I said softly. "I am, too. But if we don't stop Lyra at the source, these babies will never be safe. Not even after they're born."
Before he could respond, the bedroom door opened again. Jean-Marc and Nina were there with an ashen face. He clutched an ancient text. "We found something," he said, his voice hollow.
Nina nodded in agreement. "We know what Lyra's planning. At least, we think we do."
They crossed to the bed and Jean-Marc laid the book open before us. The page showed a ritual circle with three infant-sized cradles positioned at key points. The accompanying text was in a language I didn't recognize, but the illustrations were horrifyingly clear. Pregnant women were giving birth within the circle. The newborns were placed in the cradles, and dark energy flowed from them into a central figure who grew more powerful with each frame.
