Chapter 1674
Jude looked down at the glowing camp, at the women he had loved and been remade by. At Lucy, who now carried more than just their bond - she carried the future. "I want it to be true," he said finally. "Real. Not perfect. But honest. I want it to be us."
A warm voice interrupted them. "Then it starts with tonight."
Natalie stepped into the firelight below, holding out a carved wooden bowl of fresh berries and pulped fruit, their juices glistening like wine. "We honor what we’ve become," she called softly, "by celebrating it."
Scarlet followed her, lighting the tall fire stack with a flick of dried moss and coals from earlier in the day. The fire caught instantly, golden sparks swirling into the sky. As it lit, the ground seemed to respond again - more petals blooming, soft grass rising, the entire island pulsing with joy.
Jude descended with Rose beside him, and the others gathered in a circle. No one spoke for a long time. They didn’t need to. They simply watched the fire burn, felt its heat on their skin, its glow reflected in their eyes.
Then Zoey stepped forward, brushing her long dark curls back as she knelt beside Jude. "Before they come," she whispered, "I want to feel this again. All of it. You. Us. Before it’s shared."
He looked into her eyes. There was no fear there. No desperation. Just raw, open want.
Grace moved beside her. "Then let’s make a memory they’ll never touch."
The others nodded slowly, drawn in by the flicker of heat in the air, by the curve of bodies leaning into one another. Lucy rose without effort, the golden light around her softening as she stood at the edge of the firelight. She looked directly at Jude. "Show us again," she said, voice low, voice whole. "Remind us who we are before the world arrives."