Chapter 1175
Rose extended a hand across the stream, her fingers delicate and pale, glowing faintly. The water lapped at her feet, the current sluggish, thick, as though reluctant to flow past her. The thing beneath stirred again, the surface of the stream quivering, hinting at coils or limbs too large to name, too dark to see clearly.
Lucy was at Jude’s side now, blade drawn, her voice low and fierce. "She’s not alone. That thing-it’s using her, Jude. It’s *through* her. You step in that water, you might not come back out."
Sophie grabbed his other hand, fingers digging in. "Please. We’ll find another way. We’ll save her-but not like this."
Jude’s heart raced. He looked at Rose’s face, at the shimmer of tears that glistened in her silver-lit eyes, and saw the agony there. A silent plea. A war within. And he knew that stepping into that stream would be surrender-not just of himself, but of everything they had left.
He shook his head slowly, lowering his foot back onto solid ground, stepping away from the water’s edge. "I’m not giving you up," he said, his voice breaking. "But I won’t let that thing take me too."
Rose’s smile faltered, the silver glow flickering as if a breeze had touched it. For an instant, her hand wavered, as though she longed to reach for him, to cross the water herself. But then the thing beneath the stream rose higher, its presence swelling like a tide. The water darkened, the glow around Rose flaring bright once more, swallowing that fleeting moment of weakness.
Her voice came softer now, almost tender. "Soon, Jude. You’ll see. You’ll understand."
The thing beneath surged, sending a wave across the stream that nearly splashed at their feet. The ground trembled beneath them, and Rose began to retreat, her glow fading as she stepped backward into the trees, swallowed once more by shadow and mist.
Jude stood frozen, his breath ragged, his heart aching with the loss of her, the fear of what waited next. Around him, the others gathered close, their faces pale but resolute.