Chapter 1152
The night passed without incident, but none of them slept well. Even those who curled against Jude’s body, Stella tucked under one arm, Sophie pressed to his chest, and Zoey wrapped around his back, shifted often in their sleep. Emma was the only one who took watch, sitting cross-legged near the fire with her knife drawn, eyes flicking to the treeline at every sound.
When morning came, they moved slower than usual. There was no hunting party. No eager gathering of fruits or fish. Just a quiet understanding between them all that something was off, and none of them had the strength to say it out loud yet. The air was still, heavy with humidity that clung to their skin like invisible vines. The birdsong that usually filled the dawn was nearly silent.
Jude stepped away from the cluster of bodies and wandered toward the river. It was his habit, a routine that made him feel like something was still normal. He knelt at the edge, watching the current, letting the cold water run over his fingers. When he looked up, Rose was already there.
She didn’t speak. She just watched him with that soft expression, her hair falling over one shoulder, lips slightly parted, like she’d woken from a dream she hadn’t quite left. Jude rose slowly and reached for her hand.
"Still feels strange, doesn’t it?" he asked.
She nodded. "It’s not over. We all feel it."
He pulled her gently into his arms, wrapping her against him. She didn’t resist, but her fingers slid under the hem of his shirt, tracing his spine. Her mouth pressed to his neck.
Despite the unease, his body responded to hers like it always did, eager, warm, familiar. They kissed by the river, soft at first, then deeper, her hands tugging at his clothes while his slipped beneath hers, fingers tracing skin that felt too warm for morning. She whispered his name like it was a secret, and when he pressed her down into the soft moss near the edge of the bank, she let him with a moan.
Their bodies met with a slow, aching rhythm that was more desperate than romantic. Jude held her tightly as if that could anchor him. As if that could make the dread go away. She clung to him the same way, whispering things he couldn’t quite hear between the kisses and the trembling of her breath.
Afterward, they lay there tangled, her breath against his chest, his heart pounding too fast.
"You feel it too," she said softly.