Chapter 1731
The stars shimmered with impossible clarity above them, each one pulsing in slow rhythm like they too were part of the breath, part of the great cycle the island had drawn them into. Jude stood barefoot among the sleeping bodies of his lovers, the pulse of the tree beneath his feet still echoing in his spine, in his bones, in the deepest part of his being. The light hadn’t left him - it had simply woven itself into him, a quiet golden thread in every heartbeat. He looked down at Lucy first, her cheek resting against the moss-covered root, her bare back dusted in stardust, rising and falling with the gentlest breath. She was still glowing faintly. All of them were. They had become more than women now. More than companions. More than lovers. They were each pieces of a living constellation, linked to him and to one another by something older than memory.
A rustle stirred in the foliage beyond the canopy, but there was no threat in the sound. The island no longer hid. It welcomed. A gentle breeze swept through the clearing, and as it touched his skin, he felt the distant beat of the ocean again, the pull of tide and moonlight. Jude walked, slowly and reverently, down the spiral of roots, letting his hand brush across the resting shoulders, hips, and thighs of his wives as he passed. Zoey stirred first. Her eyes opened slowly, unfocused at first, then sharpening with recognition as she reached for him.
"You’re leaving?" she whispered.
"Just walking," he said gently. "I need to feel the air again."
She sat up, her skin gleaming. "Not without me." She rose effortlessly, stepping over Natalie’s outstretched leg, and took his hand.
Moments later, Emma joined them without a word, her hair wild, her lips still swollen from kisses long passed. Then Grace and Stella, moving together like dancers, brushing against each other with unconscious affection. Soon all of them were standing, bare under the stars, their bodies moving in quiet harmony. They said nothing as they walked. They didn’t need to.
The path that opened before them was different now - not a trail, but a river of light winding between trunks and vines, leading toward the cliffs. The ocean was louder here, more insistent, crashing with a rhythm that matched their own. As they crested the slope, the moon came into view - massive, golden, suspended low over the horizon as though waiting for them. Below the cliff, the ocean foamed and sparkled, waves illuminated with threads of bioluminescent light.
"Here," Rose said, stepping out in front. "This is where it began."
"This is where you fell," Jude said quietly.