Chapter 1262
As the fire burned low in the small metal brazier, the shadows inside the treehouse began to stretch and curl like cats waking from slumber. Conversation dwindled into quiet murmurs. Someone yawned - Susan, maybe - and Lucy curled into Emma’s lap like a child needing comfort. The mood turned slow and heavy, the kind of quiet that doesn’t lead to rest but to unease.
Rose began to hum.
It was soft, almost imperceptible at first, a thread of sound that wound between the spaces in their minds. Jude’s breath caught. He looked across the room at Sophie, whose fingers were now clenched into the fabric of her skirt. Zoey had already shifted her weight, preparing to stand if needed. But Emma didn’t move. Lucy lay still in her lap, but her eyes were open, unfocused, as though she were dreaming while awake.
Then Layla joined the hum.
Followed by Natalie.
Then Susan, Stella, and finally Grace.
The sound thickened, a layered vibration that seemed to resonate with the wooden beams of the treehouse itself. The walls groaned. A few of the candles flickered violently, nearly extinguished. Jude stood slowly.
"Enough," he said, the authority in his voice cutting through the melody like a blade.
The humming stopped, abruptly, as if it had never been there at all.
Everyone turned to look at him.
Rose blinked. "Is something wrong?"