Chapter 861 - 863
The fire crackled as Jude sat still, his gaze flickering between each of his wives as they exchanged worried glances. The silence after his question hung thick in the air, almost suffocating. Somewhere, far off in the trees, a nightbird called out, but no one paid it any mind. Their world had narrowed to the small circle around the fire and the unspoken truth that hovered just outside their reach.
Serena was the first to move. She shifted closer to Amelia and whispered something too quiet to hear. Amelia gave a tight nod but didn’t speak. Jude watched this quiet exchange, wondering if there was more happening between them than they were ready to share. He could feel the uncertainty building among them, not just the confusion of lost memory, but something more primalfear of the unknown.
"I thought I was just tired," Natalie said finally, her voice barely more than a breath. "Like... like I’d been working too much or not sleeping right. I’d blink and feel like I missed a moment, but I didn’t think it was important."
"It’s not just sleep," Lucy said, her arms folded across her chest as if to protect herself from the cold, or something else. "It’s like something else takes over, just for a second. I feel different. Hot. Like my skin is on fire and my head is full of noise. But then it’s gone. And I forget what I did."
Sophie was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt, her brow furrowed. "When Jude asked the question... it was like I remembered something I didn’t even know I forgot."
Susan leaned forward, staring at the fire. "Maybe it’s the island. Maybe it’s showing us dreams again. You remember those days, early on? When we’d wake up and not know if what we saw was real or just some kind of vision?"
Zoey gave a tight nod. "It’s worse than before, though. It’s not just dreams. We’re awake, we’re living, and then... something else takes our place."
Emma sat across from Jude, knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped tightly around her legs. She hadn’t spoken since their return from the beach. Her face was pale, not from fear, Jude realized, but guilt. A kind of guilt she didn’t understand. She looked like she was trying to remember what she’d done wrong, knowing she wouldn’t find the answer.
"It’s not just happening randomly," Jude said quietly. "It’s going through all of you. One by one. I don’t think it’s over yet."