Chapter 1224
No voice answered.
But something deep in the earth pulsed once in return.
The forest was a whispering hush around them the next morning, filtered sunlight dancing across damp skin and tangled limbs as they began to stir. Jude woke first, slowly peeling himself from the warm knot of bodies nestled against him. Rose lay draped over his chest, her breath even, eyelashes still fanned across her cheek. Lucy had curled up along his other side, her bare thigh slung across his. Sophie’s arm rested across his hips, fingers twitching in her sleep like she was still dreaming.
He eased himself up, careful not to wake them, and stepped into the fresh light. Dew sparkled on every leaf, the air thick with moisture and sweetness. A kind of sacred quiet hovered over the island, the memory of the glowing stone still vibrating faintly in his chest. He couldn’t stop thinking about how it had felt when all of them touched it together, how it had pulsed in response not just to him, but to each of them in turn. As if it had needed their bond, their unity, to awaken fully.
Soft footsteps approached from behind. Susan, her shirt barely clinging to her shoulder, hair a glorious disarray from sleep. "You always wake up before us," she murmured.
"I like the quiet," Jude replied. "It helps me think."
Susan stepped beside him, following his gaze across the forest. "You’re wondering if it changed us."
"I think it already has." He reached for her hand, lacing their fingers. "That stone - it wasn’t just a message. It was a response."
"We called it," Susan whispered, then glanced at him. "That’s what Zoey said."
"She was right."
From the trees, Zoey appeared next, brushing sleep from her eyes, a fresh wrap tied around her hips. "You talking about me?" she teased.