Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart novel Chapter 429

Chapter 429

XENOIS

And Jerome was orchestrating it all, staying safely out of reach while directing his forces like a conductor leading an orchestra of violence.

We were winning, but slowly. Too slowly. Eventually we’d wear down, make a mistake, and that would be it.

That’s when I heard it.

A child’s voice, cutting through the chaos with absolute authority.

“Everyone DUCK!”

I didn’t question it. I dropped to the floor immediately, some instinct recognizing the voice even though it made no sense for that voice to be here, in the middle of a combat zone, in a nightwalker nest.

A blast of superheated plasma streaked over my head, so close I felt the heat, and struck the nightwalker I’d been fighting. He disintegrated on the spot, ash and embers drifting down where he’d been standing seconds before.

I looked up and my heart stopped.

Because standing in the corridor entrance, looking exhausted but determined, was Riley. My five-year-old son. With Lake beside him, hands glowing with portal magic. And Shawn, his palms still crackling with residual plasma energy from the attack he’d just executed.

“Riley?” I managed to choke out. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Saving you,” Riley said matter-of-factly. “Your tactical approach was solid but you didn’t account for communications

jamming or Jerome’s trap protocol. We came to shift the odds.”

“You were supposed to stay home!”

“And you were supposed to have a 0.1 percent chance of survival,” Riley countered. “We upgraded that to maybe forty percent. You’re welcome.”

Before I could respond-before I could process the fact that my children were in active combat, that they’d disobeyed direct orders, that they’d portaled into the middle of a deathtrap-Shawn fired again.

Another plasma blast, taking out a werewitch who’d been about to complete a spell. The attack was precise, controlled,

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devastating

“Oh, I like him,” my mother said, whistling appreciatively from where she was still leaning against the wall. “Can we exchange him for Xenols? I think we made a mistake with our firstborn.”

‘Silvial’ my father protested.

“I’m joking,” she said. “Mostly,”

Lake stepped forward, his young face set with determination that shouldn’t belong to a five-year-old. “We should evacuate Grandma and Grandpa now. They’re exhausted and injured, I can open a portal directly to the house.”

“Not yet,’ my mother said immediately. “We’re not leaving until we’ve secured the intelligence documents Samuel stole. They’re critical information about Jerome’s coalition.”

“You stole documents while escaping captivity?” Zade asked incredulously,

“Of course we did,” my father said, as if this was perfectly obvious. “What, you thought we’d waste the opportunity? The planning room was right there. We couldn’t not take advantage.”

“Where are the documents?” Riley asked, already assessing the situation with tactical precision that made me simultaneously proud and terrified.

“Inside Samuel’s shirt,” my mother said. “He’s been carrying them the entire time we’ve been running and fighting.”

“They’re getting slightly bloody,” my father admitted. “But mostly intact.”

I wanted to laugh. Or cry. Or possibly both. My parents had escaped captivity, survived a chase through hostile territory, executed some kind of explosion technique that had left them barely able to move, and throughout all of it had protected stolen intelligence documents.

Because of course they had.

“Riley, get the documents from your grandfather,” I commanded. “Lake, be ready to portal everyone out on my signal.

Shawn-”

“On it,” Shawn said, already positioning himself to provide covering fire.

The enemies had regrouped, wary now that we had someone who could vaporize them from a distance. Jerome was shouting orders, trying to coordinate a response to this unexpected development.

That’s when I heard more footsteps. More voices. Coming from the corridor Riley’s team had emerged from.

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My stomach dropped. Reinforcements for Jerome. We were about to be overwhelmed.

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