Chapter 1176
Hours passed in a haze of green and shadow, the forest endless, the trail winding and treacherous. The air grew thick with the promise of rain, the wind sighing through the leaves like a voice too soft to understand. But they didn’t stop, not until the trail led them to another clearing.
This one was different.
The ground was bare, the trees burned black at the edges as if scorched by some great fire. The air smelled of ash and salt, and at the center stood a ring of stones, ancient and cracked, their surfaces etched with symbols no one could read. The mist here was thicker, clinging to the stones, and in the center of the ring lay a single silver charm-Rose’s.
Jude’s chest tightened. Sophie squeezed his hand, and they stepped forward together. The others formed a loose circle, their eyes scanning the shadows, the trees, the stones. The hum in the air was louder here, a deep thrum that seemed to rise from the earth itself.
And then the wind shifted, and with it came the sound of footsteps-soft, slow, deliberate.
Rose stepped from the mist.
Her hair clung to her face, damp with sweat or mist or both. The silver light inside her was dimmer now, flickering uncertainly, as if whatever held her was weakening or waiting. Her eyes found Jude’s, and for a heartbeat he thought he saw her reach for him-not with her hands, but with something deeper, desperate.
But then that smile returned, soft and wrong and empty.
"You came," she said, her voice like the wind through dead leaves. "I knew you would."