Chapter  398

LAKE I sat in the kitchen with Riley and Ollie, eating cereal and trying to pretend yesterday hadn't been scary even though it totally had been.   "You did good," Riley said, like he could read my mind. Maybe he could. His precognition was weird like that. "The portal strategy was tactically sound and effectively neutralized the threat."   "I was scared," I admitted quietly. "What if I'd gotten the angle wrong? What if the portals hadn't worked? What if----"   "But they did work," Ollie interrupted, reaching over to squeeze my hand. "You saved Uncle Thorne and Marcus and everyone. You're a hero."   "I'm not a hero," I protested. "I'm five."   "You can be both," Riley said matter--of--factly. "Age doesn't determine heroism. Action does. You took action when others were in danger. That's definitionally heroic."   I poked at my cereal, watching the pieces float in the milk. Yesterday had been so weird. One minute I was in bed, the next the lights went out, and then I heard shouting from t