Chapter 413

XENOIS I couldn't explain. Didn't have words for what I'd just experienced. A vision? A memory from another timeline? Precognition of something that could happen? We rushed Lumina through the portal to the hospital in Zade's territory—their medical facilities were more advanced than ours. The emergency team took over immediately, wheeling her away while Lynn provided rapid-fire updates about her condition. I stood in the waiting area, still seeing double. Conference room and bedroom. Present and past. Two versions of the same terrible moment overlapping in my mind. "Dad?" I turned to find Riley, Lake, and Ollie standing with my parents. All three boys looked terrified, their young faces reflecting fear I recognized from that other timeline. Ollie. Alive. Healthy. Not dead in a morgue somewhere while I celebrated another child's birthday. I dropped to my knees and pulled all three of them into a crushing embrace, needing to feel their solid reality. Needing confirmation that this was re