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,
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.
“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.
My stomach dropped. Reinforcements for Jerome. We were about to be overwhelmed.
But the voices that rang out weren’t hostile.
‘I swear to god, if you people made me leave my comfortable house to come rescue your stubborn asses, there will be consequences!”
Lumina.
My mate burst into the chamber with Ollie at her side, both of them looking furious and terrified and absolutely magnificent.
“Lumina?” I said weakly. “You’re supposed to be home!”
“And you’re supposed to have had a successful mission with minimal casualties!” she shot back. “Communications were jammed, Riley’s precognition showed terrible odds, and we decided we weren’t going to sit home and wait for casualty reports!”

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Rebirth of the Broken Luna A Second Chance at Luna's Heart