Chapter 11: ECHOES OF THE BOND
Kevin woke before the lights of the refuge shifted from night-cycle to dawn. He did not wake to silence, nor to sound, but to presence.
Warm. Steady. Alive.
Rwanda.
The awareness came not from his ears or eyes, but from somewhere deeper, woven into his blood, pulsing in rhythm with his heart. The bond. It was no longer strange or overwhelming. It was… familiar. Like a second heartbeat layered beneath his own.
He sat up slowly, breathing in the cool air of the chamber. For a moment, he stayed still, concentrating.
She was awake.
Moving.
Alert.
Not far away.
Beneath her calm, he sensed tension, a thread pulled tight but unbroken. Vigilance, always. Rwanda never truly rested. Not in body, not in mind.
Kevin swung his legs over the edge of the bed and
