Chapter 1360
He laughed softly. "We might break the island if we do."
"Let’s find out."
He rolled onto his back, and Lucy stretched across his chest, her bare leg draped over his thigh. Emma stirred next, pressed against his other side, her lips brushing his ribs. Then Zoey, sprawled near his feet like a cat, sat up and stretched, her breasts rising as her arms reached high above her.
Around them, the others woke one by one, a rising tide of groans and soft moans, yawns and kisses, the air alive again with heat even before anyone spoke. The spiral was still faintly visible in the earth, glowing gold and warm like a living heartbeat. Their altar.
Sophie was already sitting up, braiding her damp hair, her naked body dappled in leaf-shadow and golden light. She looked at the others with a calm, measuring gaze.
"It’s not over," she said.
Natalie sat up beside her. "No. It’s just beginning."
Jude ran his fingers through Lucy’s hair. "Did anyone else... feel it last night? Like the island wasn’t just watching anymore. Like it joined us?"
Rose, who had been lying beside Grace with one leg wrapped over hers, looked up. "She did. That light, that surge - it wasn’t just us. It was communion."
Emma raised her head. "So what does she want now?"
Rose sat up slowly, letting the vines fall away from her body. She touched the spiral with her fingers and closed her eyes. "She’s awake. And she wants us to explore."