The morning after Nadia's arrival, Haven woke to a new kind of hope.
Word had spread through the community overnight. Maya's sister had been found. Rescued. Brought home. The hybrids who had been freed from the Oregon facility—more than thirty of them, weak and traumatized but alive—were settled in the medical wing, surrounded by healers and volunteers.
Elena worked through the night, tending to the wounded, fighting infections, helping bodies remember how to heal. Daniel sat with the ones who couldn't sleep, telling stories, holding hands, being the steady presence he'd never had for Sasha. Mira, the young healer Hope had trained, moved from bed to bed, her hands glowing with gentle magic.
By morning, all thirty-four new arrivals were stable. Sleeping. Safe.
Sasha stood outside the me
