Chapter 1098
"Knew all of us. Knew our names, our dreams. Knew what we wanted. And it offered that, wrapped in skin and kisses and heat, but it wasn’t Rose anymore. It was something inside her using her body to speak."
Jude took the bundle from the tree. Lucy flinched but didn’t stop him.
"We need to show Sophie," he said.
They returned to camp just before dawn. Sophie, Emma, and Natalie were huddled together, speaking in hushed tones. When Jude dropped the woven herb bundle at Sophie’s feet, her expression tightened instantly.
"It’s like the ones by the lake," she said. "The ones we thought were watcher offerings."
"They’re not," Lucy said. "They’re nests. Seeds. Anchors. They grow when someone falls."
Emma nudged it with her toe. "How many more do you think there are?"
"I don’t know," Jude said. "But if we can find and destroy them, "
"Maybe we cut off her connection to it," Sophie finished.
They buried the first one in ash and crushed the herbs. As they did, the morning shifted subtly. The laughter from the trio quieted. For just a breath of a moment, Rose looked up from where she lay against Zoey’s side, her eyes narrowing across the fire.
She knew.