Chapter 1659
The orb shimmered gold, then deepened to amber, then a pale violet. It beat in rhythm with the spiral still pulsing in the distance. When Jude stepped forward, the light leaned toward him like a sunflower finding the sun.
He reached out instinctively, brushing his fingers along the edge of the orb. It responded with a surge of heat that raced up his arm and bloomed in his chest.
"Oh," he breathed.
Lucy pressed it gently into his hands, and as he held it, the entire clearing seemed to hush. Even the flower behind him stopped moving. The forest listened.
The orb pulsed brighter now, like it recognized him fully.
"It’s alive," Jude whispered.
"No," Rose said softly as she rose to her feet. "It’s more than that. It’s possibility."
Sophie stepped forward, her arms crossed, still skeptical, but her gaze fixed. "What kind of possibility?"
Lucy moved to Jude’s side, one hand on his shoulder. "It’s a seed," she said. "A seed of the island, but also of us."
Emma stepped around the group slowly, her expression shifting from curiosity to awe. "Are we supposed to plant it?"
"No," Natalie said quietly. "We’re supposed to carry it."