Chapter 1355
The tree behind them no longer shimmered violently. It glowed soft now, like candlelight, watching, satisfied. The bark bore the twelve circles and Jude’s mark at its center. Something had changed. Not just in them, but in the island.
When Lucy finally moved, she did it like a cat stretching across warmth, her bare thigh sliding over Jude’s as she rolled onto her belly and propped her chin up on her hands. "We’re not the same anymore," she murmured, voice thick and dreamy.
"No," Stella agreed from behind her, curled against Grace like vines wrapped around one another. "I feel... wider. Like I go beyond my body."
"It’s her," Rose said without lifting her head from Jude’s chest. "She’s part of us now."
Sophie pressed a kiss to Jude’s shoulder. "Then what are we part of?"
Jude’s hand moved slowly over Rose’s back, fingers tracing lazy patterns. "Something that doesn’t want to hurt us."
"But it does want us," Zoey said, lying flat with her arms flung wide, glowing skin dappled with bits of moss and flower petals. "All of us. And now it has us."
"It’s not possession," Natalie whispered. "It’s communion. Consent."
Layla let out a low laugh. "The hottest cult initiation I’ve ever imagined."
Everyone chuckled, the sound light and soft, relaxing the thick air.
But Jude couldn’t laugh yet. His mind spun - not with fear, but with awe. His body was still humming from their shared climax, from the moment of transcendence that had surged like fire through their limbs and left something more behind. His veins felt electrified, and he swore he could still feel each of them - not just near, but within.