Chapter 1171
Jude exhaled slowly, the tension in his body refusing to ease. "She’s not going to stop. This thing, whatever it is, it’s using her because it knows we’ll hesitate. We can’t let it keep leading us deeper into its game."
Sophie glanced at the others, her voice steady despite the fear in her eyes. "If we wait, it’ll pick us off. One by one. We need to face it on our terms. Find where it’s strongest, and end this."
Scarlet stepped forward, her usual softness tempered by determination. "But what if that means hurting her? What if there’s no way to save Rose?"
A heavy silence fell over them. The thought had lingered at the edges of their minds for days now, unspoken, unbearable. Jude felt the weight of it settle on his chest. But he refused to give in to it. Not yet.
"We don’t give up on her," he said, his voice fierce. "Not until there’s no other choice."
Zoey, standing guard near the entrance, called softly, her voice tense. "Movement. At the river."
They all tensed, turning toward the sound. The night beyond the cave seemed to shift, the shadows stretching and twisting as if alive. The river, glinting in the moonlight, ran steady and sure, but the trees along its edge stirred with unseen life.
And then she appeared.
Rose stepped from the treeline, barefoot, her dress torn and clinging to her like a second skin. Her hair fell wild around her face, her eyes aglow with that strange, silver light. She moved slowly, deliberately, as if she knew they watched her and wanted them to see. The soft glow from within her cast rippling patterns on the ground, making it hard to tell where she ended and the night began.