Chapter 1378
The hum beneath them deepened, no longer just a vibration in the ground but something that moved inside them, threading through blood and bone. Jude could feel it under his skin - like heat, like rhythm. Every breath he took echoed in Lucy’s chest. Every thought flickered in Sophie’s eyes. Rose leaned against him with the ease of someone who already knew his next move.
They weren’t just bound anymore - they were woven.
The mossy bed beneath them hadn’t vanished; it had become part of the temple floor, roots and petals twining into the spiral etched in stone. The vines above glowed with soft, golden veins, and the ceiling was open to the sky - except the stars were wrong. Too close. Too many. They were no longer just under the temple. They were somewhere between earth and something else.
Emma ran her fingers through Jude’s hair, her naked body pressed against his back. "I still feel it. Like we’re glowing on the inside."
Stella, curled beside Grace, nodded. "Because we are. This place... changed us."
Natalie sat upright, her legs folded beneath her, hands glowing faintly as she held them out. "It gave us something. I can feel the island listening now. Like it’s waiting for us to speak."
"We already are," said Zoey from across the chamber, her lips brushing Scarlet’s shoulder. "We just don’t need words anymore."
Jude stood slowly. Not because he felt weak - he didn’t. He felt stronger than ever. But there was reverence in his movement now, an instinctual respect for the air around them, the moment they existed within. Every footstep on the moss-carpeted floor was a prayer. Every heartbeat a note in the island’s new symphony.
Lucy joined him, her fingers lacing through his. "What happens now?"
He looked at the pool. The water had returned, still and gold, like melted sunlight. "We leave the temple."
Rose arched a brow from where she lounged across Susan’s lap. "And go where?"