Chapter 1599
Jude smiled and sat up carefully, easing Lucy’s arm from his chest. She murmured something in her sleep and curled tighter around their daughter. He stood barefoot, stretching, and walked toward the edge of the field. The path to the heartstone glowed faintly in the distance, pulsing slowly like it was still dreaming too.
He didn’t head that way.
Instead, he turned toward the cliffs - the place where this had all begun, where Rose had once fallen, where the island had first shown its power. The wind met him gently, salty and cool, brushing against his bare skin like a greeting. The sea shimmered in the dark, moonlight silvering its surface. And the sky... the sky was slowly bleeding into blue.
He stood at the cliff’s edge, toes against the stone, heart wide open.
And he spoke - not to anyone near, but to the island itself. "They’re here now. All of them. And they’re safe. And loved."
The wind stirred, lifting the edge of his hair, curling around his fingers.
"I don’t know what we’re becoming," he whispered. "But I’ll protect them. Always."
Something shifted behind him. He didn’t need to turn.
Rose.
She stepped close, pressing against his back, her arms slipping around his waist.
"I felt you leave," she murmured.