Semua Bab The cursed mate's return : Bab 241 - Bab 250

Kael's povThe city shifted around us after Aeron vanished.Not physically, no explosions but in that subtle, bone-deep way you feel when a predator leaves the clearing and the forest doesn’t quite trust the silence that follows.None of us spoke for several blocks.Maia walked ahead, jaw set, spine straight, like movement itself was the only thing keeping her from splintering. Kieran stayed close to the periphery, scanning, rerouting, erasing our wake as we went. Ryn limped between us, bleeding through a hastily wrapped sleeve, pride the only thing keeping him upright.And me?I was rewinding everything Aeron had said.You’d do it again.The worst part was how close that came to the truth.We reached a safehouse just before dawn, one I’d never logged, never tagged, never even shared with Kieran until now. An old administrative annex disguised as low-income housing, forgotten by upgrades and ignored by surveillance. I keyed the door manually and ushered them inside.Once the locks eng

Kael's povThe blackout didn’t last long.Emergency lights shuddered awake overhead, thin red strips lining the hallway like old scars. Ryn groaned beside me, clutching his ribs. Kieran checked the corners for exits. He always did that when he was afraid, and he was terrified now.Maia stood in front of the elevator panel, unreadable, her fingers curled into tight fists at her sides. She didn’t look back at us. She didn’t need to.The air felt wrong. Too thick. Like the building recognized her.“Maia,” I said, softer than I meant to. “Talk to us before the system wakes up fully.”She didn’t turn. “If I talk, I’ll second-guess it.”“And if you don’t?” Ryn asked. “You’ll walk straight into the data choke point without a tether.”“That’s the point,” she said.I felt something cold settle under my ribs. A familiar feeling. The kind I used to get back when we worked together in the city, long before any of this. Back when she’d walk into a meeting with Council executives and pretend she ha

Kael's povThe alarms didn’t mean what they used to. Once, they’d meant compliance, containment. Order snapping back into place.Now they sounded… wrong, out of sync like the building couldn’t decide whether to cage Maia or kneel to her.She was shaking hard beneath my hands, breath stuttering as memory after memory tore through her. I could feel it in the way her fingers dug into my wrists not really like fright but recognition. Pattern-locks collapsing, emotional firewalls melting under their own weight.“Kael,” she whispered, voice fractured, layered with echoes that weren’t quite hers. “I can see it. All of it.”“I know,” I said, leaning closer so she wouldn’t lose me in the noise. “Stay with my voice. Just mine.”Her eyes fluttered shut.Then snapped open again, focused.“They didn’t just erase memories,” she said, fast now, clarity cutting through the pain. “They rerouted them. Buried them under behavioral dampeners. Every time I chose someone over the Council, they punished the

Kael's povSomething went wrong before it went loud.I felt it in the way the floor vibrated under my boots, really shallow, like a skipped heartbeat. Maia felt it too. Her fingers tightened around mine, not in fear, but in warning.“This isn’t just the Council,” she said quietly.The corridor ahead dimmed, then brightened again, the lights stuttering like they couldn’t decide who was in charge anymore. A seam split along the wall to our right, metal pulling away from itself with a shriek that set my teeth on edge. Heat bled out, sharp and dry.“Backup command layer,” I muttered. “They buried it deep.”Maia shook her head. “No. This one’s older.”That was worse.The Council didn’t keep antiques unless they were afraid of them.The wall gave way with a low, violent crack, and someone stumbled through the opening, coughing hard. I shoved Maia behind me without thinking, already reaching for the sidearm I’d lifted off a guard earlier.The figure dropped to one knee, palm braced against

Maia's povKael is still holding me. I don’t remember when I stopped shaking, only that his arms are locked around me like if he loosens them I’ll dissolve into code and memory and regret. His heartbeat is loud against my cheek. I anchor to it.“Maia,” he says again, softer this time. “Talk to me.”I open my mouth, but speechless because something is wrong.Not collapsing-buildings wrong. Not Council-trying-to-kill-us wrong. This is subtler like when you realize you’ve won a fight but lost track of who else was watching.The cathedral-core dims, light columns flickering as if uncertain whether they should still obey me. I feel the city, millions of minds, newly unmuted, chaos blooming like a bruise under the skin of infrastructure.And beneath that was a pressure.“Kael,” I whisper. “Don’t move.”That alone makes him tense. His grip tightens, protective instinct flaring even as he obeys.Lena steps closer, boots echoing against the floor. Her face has lost its sharp composure. She’s