Lumi was struggling.
The power Elena had given her wasn't fading. If anything, it was growing stronger. Every day, she could feel more children — not just Royal Blood children, but all children. Every kid who was scared, who was hurt, who was alone. The signals came constantly, a cacophony of small distresses that she couldn't silence, like a radio stuck between stations, all static and noise.
It was overwhelming.
"It doesn't stop," she said one night. She and Sera were on the roof again. The same spot. The same stars. The same cold wind pulling at their hair. "The feelings. They just keep coming."
"Can you block them?"
"I don't know. Grandma Elena could." Lumi's voice was small. The weight of what she'd inherited pressing down on her. "She built walls. Kept things out. But she also k
