Chapter 1163
Jude stood frozen, his breath coming in shallow bursts, the weight of what almost happened crushing him. Sophie wrapped her arms around him, grounding him, pulling him back from the edge.
"We’ll face her together," she said, voice fierce and soft all at once.
And as the night deepened around them, they knew the battle was only just beginning.
The dawn broke slow and gray, casting a pale, cold light over the island. The storm that had threatened the night before hadn’t come, but the air was heavy with it, the promise of rain hanging just out of reach. Jude stood at the water’s edge, staring out at the endless sea, the waves crashing in steady rhythm against the rocks. His eyes burned from lack of sleep, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t stop thinking about Rose, about the way she’d looked at him, the way her voice had wrapped around him like silk, sweet and suffocating all at once.
Sophie came to stand beside him, slipping her hand into his without a word. The warmth of her touch steadied him, but didn’t ease the ache in his chest.
"We can’t stay like this," she said quietly. "We can’t let her haunt us every hour."
"I know," Jude said. "But she’s part of this place now. Part of us. I don’t know how to fight that."
"Together," Sophie said simply. "That’s how."
He turned to look at her, at the determination in her eyes, and he nodded. They gathered the others, their small circle of battered hearts and stubborn hope, and together they moved into the forest, following no path but instinct. The island seemed to hold its breath as they passed, the trees whispering secrets they couldn’t quite hear.