Chapter 225: We Need You, Riley

XENOIS

The walk to Riley's hospital room felt like a death march. Each step carried the weight of everything we'd lost, everything we'd failed to protect, and everything we might lose still. Lumina walked beside me, her hands clenched so tightly her knuckles had gone white, and I could feel the tension radiating from her like heat from a fever.

We'd agreed that only the two of us should approach Riley initially. Too many people would feel like an ambush, and our son was already skittish enough around us. The betrayal he felt over Sophia's death had created a chasm between us that seemed...