<h4>Chapter 1066: Chapter 1066</h4>


    Zoey woke with the heavy weight of dread pressing on her chest, though the room smelled of morning dew and soft skin. La and Rosey tangled on the bed across from her, their limbs wrapped like ivy. A sliver of golden light slid through the wooden shutters, glinting off strands of Rose’s hair as she whispered something into La’s ear that made her giggle in her sleep. That same giggle. The one Zoey had heard in the forest. That high, airy note that didn’t belong to any of them. Or maybe it did now.


    Zoey sat up, pretending to stretch, letting her eyes scan the room like she always did, calm, measured, invisible. Emma and Ste were still dozing, their bare legs entwined in azy embrace. Susan snored softly near the fire. Sophie and Grace were missing, probably gone for an early wash by the river. Jude wasn’t in the room either. Her stomach twisted.


    She slid outside and crossed the clearing quickly, pretending she didn’t notice La’s eyes tracking her through the window crack.


    Later that morning, she kept her distance as they all worked. Jude was with Serena and Natalie, reinforcing one of the food huts, while Ste carried baskets of fruits freshly gathered by Grace and Sophie. La moved like silk through the camp, brushing too close to Ste and grazing her hip with her fingers, while Rose leaned against a tree, biting into a thick-skinned mango as she watched the two of them like a cat.


    Zoey pretended to clean theting near the smoke pit, but her eyes never left them. Every gesture Rose made, La mirrored soon after. If Rose tucked her hair behind her ear, La did the same within moments. If Roseughed, La followed it half a breathter. Zoey counted three different times they licked their lips in sync.


    She waited. Observed. Memorized.


    Around noon, when the sun was highest and the others were half-asleep from the heat and full bellies, she saw it. Rose touched La’s arm and said something in a low voice. La smiled with that same slow upturn and nodded. Then both of them turned, nced once across the camp, right at Zoey, and vanished into the trees.


    Zoey hesitated only a second before setting her aside and following them.


    She moved quickly, carefully, feet light and silent across the roots and moss. The deeper she went, the cooler the air became, thick with shadow and strange scents. She followed the faint sounds of their giggles, the brushing of leaves, the rhythm of their steps. They weren’t even trying to hide. As if they didn’t care.


    They led her deeper than she’d been in weeks, through a patch of trees where the trunks twisted unnaturally toward the sky. Something shimmered at the corner of her vision, like heatwaves bending light, but when she turned to look it was gone. She shook it off and pressed on, eyes locked on the sway of Rose’s hips just ahead, and La following close behind her.


    Then suddenly they stopped.


    Zoey ducked behind a wide trunk, her heart hammering. Rose leaned back against a moss-covered boulder and stretched her arms over her head, exposing her stomach to the filtered light. La stepped between her legs, pressing close, and for a moment, it looked like they might kiss. But instead, they both turned and looked directly at the tree where Zoey was hiding.


    "We know you’re there," Rose said, voice like syrup.


    Zoey stepped out slowly. No point pretending anymore.


    "I followed you," she said simply.


    La stepped aside and motioned toward a fallen log. "Come sit with us."


    There was no anger. No surprise.


    Just smiles.


    Zoey hesitated. Her skin prickled with tension, but she walked forward anyway. She sat. They nked her, one on each side, and suddenly it was warm. Too warm. Rose leaned in and took Zoey’s hand gently in hers, stroking her knuckles with her thumb.


    "We just wanted to show you," Rose whispered, "what it feels like."


    "Feels like what?"


    La smiled. "Freedom."


    Zoey’s breath hitched. Her pulse raced. But she didn’t pull her hand away. Rose leaned in, kissed her jaw, her neck, and Zoey let her. She didn’t understand why. She just...let her. La’s lips brushed her shoulder, her corbone. The air thickened with a hum Zoey couldn’t hear, only feel, vibrating deep inside her chest like a song she used to know.


    They touched her gently, slowly, fingers and mouths exploring with a familiarity she hadn’t earned, and yet felt as though she’d known it forever. The leaves rustled. The wind stilled.


    By the time the three of them walked back to camp, the sun was lower, the light nting golden through the canopy. Zoey’s hair was tangled, her clothes rumpled, but her smile was soft, dreamy. La walked beside her, arms looped around her waist. Rose ahead, leading the way.


    Jude stood by the house when they returned. He looked up and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the three of them so closely tangled. But when Zoey smiled at him, really smiled, slow and wide and just a little too sharp, his brow furrowed for only a second. Then he smiled back.


    Dinner that evening felt like a celebration. Rose fed La bites of roasted fruit, licking the sticky juices from her fingers. La ran her fingerszily down Zoey’s spine as they shared a bowl of mashed tubers. The other women noticed, of course, but they didn’tment. These things weren’t unusual anymore.


    But there was something different now.


    The way Zoeyughed, it had a new rhythm. Her voice was softer, slower. She tilted her head the same way Rose did. She reached for her drink and her pinky extended just like La’s. Even her posture had shifted, spine straighter, shoulders rolled back like she carried a secret.


    And then there was the smile.


    It came out when no one was looking directly at her.


    Like when Grace made a joke and the camp erupted withughter, Zoey didn’tugh. She just smiled slowly, eyes half-lidded, the corners of her mouth lifting in a shape that should’ve been yful. But it wasn’t.


    It was something else.


    A little too wide.


    A little too still.


    And La saw it. And Rose saw it.


    And both of them smiled back.