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A muscle in his jaw twitches. "For once, we agree on something."

"Will wonders never cease," I mutter.

Trent's eyes narrow slightly as he studies me. "You seem...different."

"Different how?"

"More settled. Less angry." He hesitates. "What happened out there?"

For some reason, I don't want to share the butterfly moment with him. It feels private somehow, a connection between me and Vex that would lose something in the retelling.

"Just gaining better control of the modifications," I sayinstead. "Learning to work with them rather than against them."

Trent nods, accepting this partial truth. "The council will primarily be discussing extraction options for the other Haven children. Your insight would be valuable, whether they officially want it or not."

"Then I'll be there," I decide. "Officially invited or not."

He gives me a faint smile. "I expected nothing less."

As we walk toward the main settlement buildings, I find myself caught in a strange space between the two men who now dominate my life in different ways—Trent with our complicated history and broken trust that somehow hasn't severed the connection entirely, and Vex with his wild intensity and unexpected moments of insight that challenge everything I thought I knew.

Unity versus Splinter. Control versus adaptation. Past versus future.

And me, somewhere in the middle, still discovering what I'm truly capable of becoming.

The butterfly's image stays with me as we walk—delicate yet strong, transformed completely from its original form into something new and beautiful. Not Unity. Not Splinter. Something else entirely.

Maybe that's not such a bad thing to be.

CHAPTER 15

As it turns out,sneaking into a secret council meeting isn't that hard when you can hear conversations through walls and smell everyone's unique scent from twenty meters away.

The council meeting about the Haven children had barely started when the alarms blared. Security breach. Infiltrator detected. Just like that, my genetic destiny took a backseat to immediate survival.

Now, three days later, Haven's Edge remains under lockdown. Guards at every entrance, patrols doubled, and a thick cloud of paranoia hanging over the settlement. The infiltrator—a quiet man named Ellis who worked in communications—was caught sending encrypted messages about me directly to Unity Command.

About me specifically. Not the settlement, not their defenses, not their technology.

Me.

I'm standing on the observation platform that circles the main building's upper level, watching residents hurry through their duties with newfound urgency. The morning sun catches on the weapons many now carry openly—a stark change from the peaceful community I first encountered.

"You're up early," comes Vex's voice from behind me.

I don't turn. "Couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts."

He moves to stand beside me, his presence somehow both unsettling and comforting. "Understandable. Finding out you're the primary target of a Unity spy would keep anyone awake."

"Thanks for that reminder. Super helpful."

His mouth quirks up slightly. "Just stating facts, Flutterby."

The nickname he gave me during our training session still sends a tickle up my spine. I push it aside, focusing on the more pressing issue.

"Any progress with the interrogation?"

Vex's expression darkens. "Ellis isn't talking. Claims he was just following orders—standard Unity protocol."