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Todos os capítulos de Dear Ex Husband Wants Me Back: Capítulo 41 - Capítulo 50

52 Capítulos

41

The meeting island was nothing but rock and wind.No trees. No sand. Just grey stone rising out of the grey sea, sharp as broken teeth. The boat scraped against the shore. Kai jumped out first, pulling the rope around a jagged boulder.Wren looked around. "I don't like this place.""Neither do I," I said. "That's probably why they chose it."Miro surfaced in a shallow pool, his black eyes scanning the horizon. "No ships. No submarines. Just us and the birds.""Keep watching," I told him.We climbed the rocks. The wind pulled at our clothes. The sky was low and heavy, thick with clouds that hadn't decided whether to rain.Elara was already there.She stood on a flat section of rock near the island's highest point. Beside her stood a man. Old. Older than anyone I had ever seen. His skin was wrinkled like dried fruit. His back was bent. But his eyes—his eyes were sharp. Bright. Aware."You came," Elara said."I said I would."She gestured to the old man. "This is Marcus. The King's assis

42

Haven was beautiful.That was the first thought that hit me as I stepped off the boat. The second thought was: too beautiful.The buildings were made of wood and stone, built into the hillside like they had grown there. Flowers bloomed everywhere—purple, yellow, red. Children ran through the streets, laughing. Adults sat on porches, chatting. A woman sold bread from a cart. A man fixed a fishing net outside his door.It looked like a postcard. Like somewhere the Council had never touched.But I knew better. The Council touched everywhere.Elara led us through the main path. People stopped to stare. Whispers followed."Is that the Queen?""She's so young.""I heard she fought the Progenitor."I kept my face neutral. Kai walked on my right, Wren on my left. Miro had stayed in the water outside the harbor. He didn't like being so far from the sea."The Council doesn't know about this place?" I asked."They know it exists," Elara said. "They just can't find it.""How?"She pointed at the

43

I found Marcus at dawn.He was sitting in a small garden behind The Heartwood, watering flowers with a rusty can. His hands shook. Water splashed on his shoes. He didn't seem to notice."Marcus," I said.He looked up. His eyes were tired. "You're leaving today.""Yes. But first, I need to ask you something.""Ask."I sat on the bench beside him. "The Progenitor. You said it wakes when Variants gather. That my resonance called it.""Yes.""Then why isn't it here? Haven has hundreds of Variants. Thousands, if you count the other settlements. Why hasn't it risen here?"Marcus set down the watering can. He was quiet for a long time."Because Haven is protected," he said finally."Protected how?""Silas built something before he died. A dampening field. It masks Variant resonance. To the Progenitor, Haven looks empty." He looked at me. "Your island has no such protection. Neither did the Sanctuary. That's why the Progenitor found you."I felt cold. "You're telling me I've been broadcasting

44

The stairs went down forever.Concrete steps. Metal railings. Damp air that smelled like rust and old water. Our footsteps echoed off the walls. Every sound seemed too loud.Wren walked in front of me. Kai brought up the rear. Miro couldn't follow—the tunnels were too far from water. He was waiting outside the city, in the river, ready to help us escape.I counted the steps. One hundred. Two hundred. Three hundred.At three hundred and fifty, we reached the bottom.A narrow tunnel stretched ahead. Pipes ran along the ceiling, dripping condensation. Wires hung from the walls. A single bulb flickered yellow every twenty feet."Left tunnel at the junction," I said, remembering August's words.We walked.The tunnel curved left, then right, then left again. I lost track of direction. The walls looked the same. The pipes looked the same. The flickering bulbs looked the same.Kai stopped. "We're going in circles.""No," Wren said. "Look." She pointed at the floor. Scuff marks. Fresh ones. "S

45

The facility was hidden in a valley between two hills.No signs. No fences. Just a single dirt road leading to a metal door set into the side of a hill. If you didn't know it was there, you would walk right past it.But I knew. We all knew.Wren held the paper with the address. Her hands were steady, but her eyes were not."Jeremiah said she's inside," she said."How do we get in?" Kai asked.We stood at the edge of the tree line, watching the door. No guards outside. No cameras that we could see. Just the door and the dirt road and the wind."There's always a way," I said.---We found it behind a pile of rocks.A grate. Rusted. Loose. Big enough for a person to squeeze through.Kai lifted it. The metal screeched. We froze, waiting for alarms. Nothing.I went first.The tunnel was narrow. Dark. I crawled on my hands and knees, feeling gravel and dirt beneath my palms. Behind me, Wren. Behind her, Kai.The tunnel opened into a basement.Pipes. Boilers. Dust. And a door.I tried the ha

46

The island appeared on the horizon at sunset on the third day.Leo had sent a boat to meet us when we radioed ahead. Corvin flew overhead, his wings fully healed now, circling like a hawk. He landed on the deck as we approached, his feathered arms spread wide."You brought more," he said. It wasn't a question."Twelve," I said. "Prisoners from a Council facility."Corvin looked at the van we had driven onto the ferry. At the faces pressed against the windows. At the boy still curled in the front seat."The island is getting crowded.""The island is getting alive."He nodded. He helped Kai unload the prisoners.---Jaden was waiting on the beach.He ran to me before the ferry had fully stopped. Water splashed up to his knees. He didn't care."You were gone so long," he said, his arms around my waist."I know. I'm sorry.""Did you bring me something?"I laughed. It was the first real laugh in days. "I brought you twelve new friends."Jaden looked at the prisoners climbing off the ferry.

47

The journey back to the island took three days.The sea was rough. The sky was grey. The fragment burned hotter with every passing hour. I kept it in a metal box Leo had given me, but the box glowed red. The wood around it smoked.Miro swam alongside the boat, his black eyes fixed on the horizon. He spoke less now. He was listening. We all were.The Progenitor was coming."He's faster than we thought," Miro said on the second night. We had stopped at a small island to rest. The boat needed repairs. Kai worked on the engine while Wren gathered firewood."How far?" I asked."Three days. Maybe two." Miro's scales flickered. "He's not swimming. He's gliding. Above the water.""Above?""He's grown since you saw him last. The fire from the Nursery. The prisoners. He's been feeding."I thought about the facility we had freed. The cells. The prisoners. The ones we hadn't reached in time."He ate them," I said.Miro nodded. "He ate everything."---We reached the island at dawn on the third da

48

The pack gathered at the volcano's base as the sun set.Hundreds of children. Hundreds of Variants. They sat in rows on the black sand, holding hands, whispering prayers. Some cried. Some laughed. Some stared at the horizon where the Progenitor's shadow had begun to darken the sky.I stood at the front, the lock in my hand. It pulsed gently, blue light spilling between my fingers.Leo stood beside me. "How does this work?""I don't know.""You met the King. He didn't tell you?""He told me to let go." I looked at the lock. "That's all.""Let go of what?""Everything."Leo was quiet. Then he put his hand on my shoulder. "Then I'll start."He closed his eyes.The lock pulsed brighter.Leo's body began to glow. Soft gold light, like mine but softer. Kinder. He opened his eyes and smiled."I see it," he said. "The Fold. It's beautiful."Then he was gone.Not dead. Not disappeared. Just... elsewhere. I could still feel him. His resonance. His heartbeat. He was in the Fold.The pack gasped.

49

The Progenitor moved.Its body uncurled from the sky, black scales scraping against the clouds. The ground shook. The volcano groaned. Waves crashed against the beach, higher than houses, higher than trees.But the pack did not run.Astra stepped forward, her hands raised. Ice shot from her palms, forming a wall between the beach and the volcano. The Progenitor's tail slammed against it. The ice cracked but held."Corvin!" I shouted.Corvin took to the sky, his wings spread wide. Behind him, a dozen other flyers followed—children with feathers, with leathery wings, with skin that caught the wind. They swarmed the Progenitor's head, diving at its eyes, its mouth, its gills.The beast roared. The sound shattered windows on the island. Children on the ground covered their ears."Miro!" I called.Miro surged from the water, his scales blazing. Behind him, every Variant who could swim—dozens of them—launched into the sea. They attacked the Progenitor's underside, where the scales were thin

50

Three weeks passed.The island healed slowly. New grass grew over the glass beach. Young trees pushed through the ash. The volcano stopped smoking. The water turned from black to blue.The children healed too. Burns faded. Cuts closed. Nightmares stayed, but they came less often. Astra's hands were still scarred, but she could freeze a cup of water again. Corvin's wings grew new feathers, brighter than before.I sat on the cliff every morning, watching the horizon. The key hung around my neck now, small and warm against my chest. Eli's stone was in my pocket. The Master Key was dark—not dead, but quiet. Resting.Leo found me there on the twenty-first morning."The scouts are back," he said.I stood up. "What did they find?""Council ships. Three of them. Patrolling the outer edges of our territory. They haven't come close yet, but they're looking.""For us?""For something."I looked at the horizon. Nothing but water and sky."How long until they find us?""A week. Maybe less."I nodd

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