Dahlia and the Garden of Light - Chapter 45: Chapter 45

The storm had passed in the night, but the island still trembled from it. Palm fronds littered the sand. A fishing net—one they’d never owned—hung tangled in the branches of the banyan tree.
Rain paced the shoreline uneasily, growling low.
Dahlia stood barefoot in the wet sand, eyes fixed on the figure tangled in seaweed and driftwood. Soaked. Bruised. Unconscious.
“Markus,” she whispered, voice cracking. “No… no, no, no.”
She ran to him.
Behind her, Derek was frozen halfway down the slope, his hands balled into fists. “How did he find us?” he muttered.
Mira was already climbing the rocks with her pack. Her eyes scanned the sea like it had personally betrayed her.
“He didn’t find us,” she snapped. “Someone sent him. Which means someone knows where we are.”
The Shoreline – Moments Later
Dahlia knelt beside Markus, checking for breath. His chest rose—shallow, but steady. Sea foam clung to his lashes.
She brushed the hair from his forehead, heart racing. “He’s alive. He’s alive.”
“Which is not good news,” Mira called down. “Get away from him. If he’s chipped, if he’s tagged—he could be leading others here right now.”
“Tagged? He’s not a weapon, Mira!”
“You don’t know what they did to him in the last two years. None of us do.”
Derek approached slowly, Rain staying tight by his side. “She’s right, Dahlia. We don’t even know how long he was in the water. What if he was tracking us the whole time?”
“He wouldn’t,” Dahlia said, her hands trembling. “It’s Markus.”
“You hope it’s Markus,” Mira snapped. “But that version of him—the one who helped you escape New York, who stood between you and gunfire—that version might be gone.”
Dahlia didn’t move. “I know him.”
Mira’s voice lowered but stayed sharp. “You knew him.”
The Shelter – That Night
Markus lay wrapped in a thermal blanket near the fire. His face was bruised, a deep gash sliced across his side, and his breath came in short, wheezing gasps. Dahlia knelt beside him, petals crushed into a thick paste staining her fingertips.
Rain stood guard at the threshold, unmoving, his nose twitching toward the sea.
“I’m using firelily,” Dahlia said quietly, almost to herself. “But that won’t be enough. Not this time.”
Derek shifted near the wall, arms crossed. “What are you doing?”
She didn’t answer right away.
Instead, she placed both hands gently on Markus’s chest. Her palms glowed faintly—gold, like candlelight under water. Outside, vines rustled and trembled. From the ground beside them, tiny white flowers bloomed from nothing. They pulsed, fragile but bright.
Rain whined low.
Derek stepped forward. “Dahlia—what are you—”
“I’m healing him,” she said through clenched teeth. Her voice trembled with concentration.
Mira’s boots crunched on the floor as she entered, already half-packed.
“You’re exposing your power,” she snapped. “Out loud. In the open. In front of him.”
“He’s dying,” Dahlia said. “I’m not going to let him die when I can stop it.”
Mira’s voice hardened. “You don’t know what they did to him. What they put inside him. And now you’re giving him your energy?”
“I know who he is,” Dahlia shot back. “You can doubt everything, but don’t ask me to doubt him.”
Moments Later
A golden hum filled the shelter, the flowers surrounding Dahlia blooming wider, glowing from their cores. Markus’s breathing slowed, steadied. The tremble in his lips faded. The shallow rise and fall of his chest deepened.
Derek’s eyes widened. “You’ve never healed like this before.”
“I didn’t know I could,” Dahlia whispered.
She closed her eyes, exhaustion sweeping through her. She pulled her hands back slowly. The flowers dimmed.
Markus was still. His color had returned. His wounds were closing—not fast, but enough to stop the worst of it.
Mira stared. “What did it cost you?”
Dahlia was pale. Her hands shook. But she kept her spine straight.
“I don’t care what it cost. He’s alive.”
Midnight – Markus Wakes
A low moan stirred the silence.
Dahlia opened her eyes and stumbled over, heart pounding. “Markus?”
His lids lifted—slowly, as though the weight of the ocean still pressed against them.
He looked around, confused… then saw her.
“…Dahlia?”
A breath escaped her chest. She knelt, cupped his cheek. “It’s me. You’re safe.”
He flinched faintly, just once, as though unsure of her touch. But he didn’t pull away.
“How long?” he rasped.
“Two years,” she said, voice raw. “You disappeared. We thought you were dead.”
He coughed weakly. “They… used my name. My voice. I didn’t know if you were alive… or a trick.”
Derek stood behind her, arms tense. “Who are they?”
Markus’s gaze flicked toward him, eyes shadowed. “The people chasing you. The ones who want what Dahlia can do.”
Mira stepped into the doorway, hands on her hips. “Name them.”
“Too many names,” Markus said. “But the last place I was held… they called it Echelon. It’s not quite government. Not quite rogue. It’s… worse.”
Dahlia’s voice was barely audible. “Is that who sent you?”
Markus shook his head. “I escaped. I wasn’t supposed to.”
“Then how did you find us?” Mira asked, sharp again.
“I didn’t know where I was going,” he said. “I just swam… kept swimming. Then I heard her.”
Dahlia stiffened. “Heard me?”
“In the water. In my head. Like… music. Like flowers underwater.”
No one spoke for a moment.
Mira turned on her heel and left without a word.
Afterward – On the Rocks
Dahlia found her perched on the edge of the rocks, moonlight casting Mira’s silhouette in silver. The sea roared below them like something ancient and angry.
“You’re leaving,” Dahlia said flatly.
Mira didn’t turn. “He’s breathing now. Your miracle worked. You’ve done your good deed.”
“Don’t do this.”
Mira stood. Her voice was low but sharp. “You’re in love with him.”
Dahlia blinked. “So what if I am?”
“So you’ll burn the whole world down for him. That’s the danger.”
“I didn’t heal him because I love him. I healed him because I could.”
“You don’t understand what they want from you,” Mira said. “But I do. The second they know where you are—what you can really do—they’ll stop at nothing. Not for you. Not for Derek. Not for love.”
“And running forever is the better answer?” Dahlia asked. “Teaching my brother how to sleep with one eye open, how to lie and steal and hide?”
“It’s the only way we’ve survived.”
Dahlia took a breath. “I’m not surviving anymore, Mira. I’m living. And I will not be afraid of who I am.”
Silence stretched between them.
Finally, Mira turned. “If Echelon is real… and he’s not lying…”
“He’s not.”
“Then get ready, Dahlia. Because what you just did—that kind of light—draws shadows.”
End of Chapter – The Cost of Blooming
Inside the hut, the air was warm and quiet. Markus slept soundly, his chest no longer wheezing. Derek sat near him, watching the flickers of light from the still-glowing petals. Rain lay at the threshold like a statue.
Dahlia stood by the window, one hand pressed to the wood. The sea breathed in and out beyond the trees. The flowers she'd called into bloom had begun to wilt, their brief life spent.
The island no longer felt like a quiet place.
It felt like a fuse, burning low in the dark.