Se connecterChapter 382LUMINA"That would be nice," I said wistfully."After we deal with Jerome's coalition and the supernatural uprising and whatever other disasters are brewing," Xenois added."Obviously," I agreed.The boys had scattered again, drawn away by whatever new chaos was happening elsewhere in the house. Xenois and I stood together, watching our family move through the organized chaos that had become our normal.Through the permanent portal, I could see into Zade's territory. Lynn was arguing with someone about medical protocols. Marcus and Jason were laughing about something, hands linked in a way that suggested they'd stopped being subtle about their relationship. Lyn was reading on a couch, his hand absently resting on his stomach in a gesture that was either protective or unconscious."This is insane," I said. "Our lives. This house. The constant stream of people and crises and supernatural complications. When did everything get so complicated?""Probably around the time we dec
Chapter 381LUMINAI didn't know why. Didn't know how. Didn't know if it was coincidental or if someone—something—had deliberately sent me back.Supernaturals existed. Werewolves, nightwalkers, werewitches, fae. Magic was real. Time manipulation wasn't outside the realm of possibility.But who would do it? And why?Was there a price to pay?That question kept me awake some nights. The nagging fear that this second chance wasn't free. That somewhere, somehow, I'd accumulated a debt that would eventually come due.Had I already paid it? Was all the chaos and danger and near-death experiences the cost of getting to keep my family?Or was there something else? Some future payment hanging over my head like a sword waiting to drop?I'd never told anyone about this.Not Xenois. Not even after everything with Sophia had been resolved, after Riley's parentage was revealed, after the truth came out about the manipulation and lies.I'd had opportunities. Moments when the conversation naturally l
Chapter 380LUMINAI stood at the kitchen window, coffee cup in hand, watching the absolutely surreal scene unfolding in my backyard and trying to remember when my life had become this chaotic.The past few weeks had been a whirlwind that left me dizzy just thinking about it.We'd come home from Zade's territory, ready to rebuild our lives and focus on family. That had lasted approximately thirty-six hours before nightwalkers had invaded our house in the middle of the day. Then Riley and Lake—my five-year-old sons—had somehow managed to trap a centuries-old nightwalker named Lazarus in our basement using a combination of Lake's portal abilities and Riley's tactical planning.My five-year-olds had captured an enemy that had eluded experienced warriors.That was when I should have known things were going to get progressively more insane.Then there had been the pack resistance. Members who hated the changes Xenois was implementing, who'd tried to sabotage and disrupt and undermine every
Chapter 379XENOIS"I know," I said, putting my arm around her carefully. "I miss her too. Sometimes I'll be in the middle of pack business and think 'Xena would have a funny comment about this' and then I remember she's gone and it hits me all over again.""Does it get easier?" she asked. "Does the missing ever stop hurting?""No," I said honestly. "But you learn to carry it better. You learn that grief and love are two sides of the same coin. That missing her means she mattered. That the pain is proof of how much we loved her."We sat together in the quiet, both crying now, both holding each other while we mourned the person we'd lost.I'd spent so much of the last five years angry at my mother. Angry for what she'd done to Lumina, angry for how she'd manipulated me, angry for the way she'd let her grief poison everything around her.But sitting here, listening to her break down and admit her failures and show me the raw wound that had never healed—I understood her better. Understoo
Chapter 378XENOIS"I tried to make it right," she continued. "Samuel and I found Sophia. We tortured her for information about Riley, about the facility, about everything she'd done. And then we burned her alive. We told ourselves it was justice, that Xena deserved that revenge. But really, it was just more violence. More pain. More proof that we'd learned nothing from the wars except how to hurt people efficiently.""That's not—" I started, but she cut me off."When Jerome captured us, when I was chained in that cell waiting to die, part of me thought it was karma," she admitted. "That the universe was finally making me pay for all the terrible things I'd done. To enemies during the wars, to Lumina after Xena died, to all the people I'd hurt because I was too angry to see clearly. I thought I was going to die there, and I'd have to face Xena and explain why I'd become such a monster after losing her."Her voice broke completely now, tears streaming down her face unchecked."But then
a\n: I cried during this sceneChapter 377XENOISI hadn't planned to visit Xena's grave today. But after lunch, after watching Shawn try so hard to fit into a family he didn't quite believe wanted him, I felt the pull to come here. To the place where my sister rested, where I could talk to her without anyone else listening.The cemetery was quiet, tucked away on pack lands in a grove that had always been reserved for fallen pack members. Xena's headstone was simple—she would have hated anything ostentatious. Just her name, her dates, and the words "Beloved daughter, sister, and pack member."Five years. She'd been gone five years, and sometimes it still felt like yesterday that I'd gotten the call. That I'd found her body. That my world had shattered into pieces I was still trying to put back together.I knelt beside the grave, brushing away leaves that had accumulated since my last visit."Hey, Xena," I said quietly. "Sorry it's been a few weeks. Things have been... complicated. The







