Chapter 1126
The fire had long since burned down to glowing embers when Jude stirred. The air was too still. Not the comforting hush of sleep, but something heavier. A hush full of watching. He sat up slowly, careful not to wake Sophie, though her hand still clutched his. Across the clearing, the moon hovered low and bright, casting silver light over the sleeping forms of the others. But Zoey was gone.
He stood quietly and scanned the camp. Layla’s hammock swayed faintly, as if recently vacated. Rose’s was empty.
His heartbeat picked up.
He squeezed Sophie’s hand gently. Her eyes fluttered open.
"They’re gone," he whispered.
She sat up without a word, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, already knowing who he meant.
By the time they slipped into the trees, the jungle had shifted again. The path didn’t lead to the river or the orchard but deeper, toward the hills no one had dared to name. The air was damp, carrying a pulse that matched the beat in his chest. As they moved, they began to hear it, soft singing, like wind through reeds but layered with words.
Words that weren’t theirs.
The trees opened into a wide hollow bathed in moonlight. The ground there pulsed with watcherscript, lines curling like roots, glowing a dull red that hadn’t been there before. In the center of the hollow, Zoey, Layla, and Rose stood in a perfect triangle. They were nude, unashamed, their bodies marked with dark, inky runes that shimmered against their skin. Between them, something had risen from the earth, black stone, jagged and steaming.
It looked like a spine.
Or a fang.