<h4>Chapter 1084: Chapter 1084</h4>


    Grace seemed calmer than usual, but there was a tension in her shoulders, like she was fighting a pull she couldn’t name.


    Sophie watched them all carefully. Jude could feel her mind working, taking in every shift, every smile that didn’t quite reach the eyes.


    By afternoon, they went on another foraging trip. Jude, Sophie, Rose, La, Zoey, and Grace. They moved deeper into the eastern woods, looking for ripe fruits and new herbs. It was quiet, too quiet, but Rose made up for it withughter and teasing. She chased Jude around a tree and pressed him against it, kissing his neck while Sophie and the others picked berries nearby.


    "You’re tense," she purred.


    "I’m cautious," Jude replied, trying to shift away.


    Her lips brushed his ear. "Don’t you trust me?"


    He forced a smile. "I trust my instincts."


    "And do they tell you I’m dangerous?" She tilted her head, her dark hair falling over her shoulder like a curtain. Her smile was soft, seductive, and something else, something unnatural underneath.


    "They tell me something changed when you came out of that water."


    She didn’t flinch. She only leaned in and whispered, "Everything changes, eventually."


    Then she turned and walked away, her hips swaying, calling La over to help her pick a strange violet fruit from a high branch.


    Jude stood still for a long moment, the cool breeze brushing against his sweat-damp shirt. Sophie came beside him without a word, touching his elbow. He didn’t need to exin. Her hand said she already knew.


    On the way back, the forest seemed to close in around them. Vines hung lower, the trees tighter. Jude had walked this path a hundred times, but something was off. The light shifted strangely, shadows stretching too long, like the sun was moving faster than it should.


    Then they saw it again.


    In the clearing to their left, just for a sh, too fast to be sure, it was there. The tall figure, standing motionless.


    Zoey stopped in her tracks, her breath catching.


    Jude turned to look at her. "You saw it too?"


    Zoey hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Yeah."


    La and Rose walked ahead, not even looking back. Grace followed them silently, her gaze unreadable.


    Zoey swallowed. "It’s been following us."


    Jude looked at Sophie, then at Zoey. "Don’t say anything. Not yet. Not until we know what it wants."


    That night, after the fire died down, Jude couldn’t sleep. The others had drifted off, most curled together in couples or threes. Rose had wrapped herself around La in one hammock, their legs tangled, arms around each other. Zoey slept nearby, her expression peaceful for once.


    Jude stepped out into the night and walked toward the river, needing the sound of water to clear his head. Sophie found him there minutester, joining him on a rock near the bank.


    "I saw it again," she said softly.


    "I know."


    "It doesn’t attack. It just watches."


    Jude nodded. "That’s what scares me."


    Sophie leaned against him. "Do you think it’s connected to the gate?"


    "Maybe. Or maybe it’s what the gate keeps out."


    They sat in silence for a long time, the sound of the riverpping against stone and the soft rustle of night animals moving in the bushes. The moonlight painted Sophie’s skin silver, her body warm against his.


    "I don’t know what’s happening to them," she whispered.


    "We’ll find out," Jude promised.


    She kissed his shoulder. "And if it’s toote?"


    He turned to her, brushing her hair back. "Then I’ll still fight for you."


    She smiled, then kissed him. This time it wasn’t soft or uncertain. It was full of fear and desire and the need to feel something real. They made love slowly, in the moonlight, not speaking, just breathing each other in like it was thest time.


    Afterward, Sophiey with her head on his chest, tracing circles on his skin. "We have to act soon."


    "We will. Tomorrow."


    "Not just the two of us."


    "No," Jude agreed. "We’ll find someone else who still sees clearly."


    In the morning, everything looked peaceful again. The sun rose through golden trees, the camp smelled like cooked fish and crushed berries. Emma and Ste were fixing their, Susan was gathering firewood.


    Jude stepped into the clearing and saw Rose, La, and Zoey sitting together, whispering, their hands brushing, smiles growing wide.


    Grace sat across the fire, quiet and alone.


    She looked up and met his eyes.


    And didn’t smile.


    Jude felt a cold wave spread through his chest.


    Maybe she still saw it too.


    Maybe she hadn’t fallen yet.


    But behind him, Sophie whispered, "It’s getting stronger."


    And Jude knew the time to act was running out.


    The morning mist curled around the trees like soft fingers, brushing across the camp with a quiet gentleness that almost felt like a lie. Jude awoke to the warmth of Sophie’s body against his, her breathing steady, lips parted in the afterglow of a dream. For a few moments, everything felt normal, just the way it used to be. Birds chirped, the scent of river-washed clothes hung in the air, and someone was stoking the fire at the center of the clearing.


    But that warmth dissolved the moment Jude’s eyesnded on Rose, La, and Zoey. They were already awake, sitting far too close together near the fire, sharing berries with their fingers, whispering words that curled intoughter too synchronized to be normal. Rose brushed a lock of La’s hair behind her ear, and La leaned in to kiss her cheek with an ease that looked rehearsed. Then Zoey tugged Rose toward herp, and the three copsed into a tangle of limbs and breathless giggles that pulled a few amused nces from the others, but nothing more.


    Nothing suspicious. Not yet.


    Jude stood slowly and stretched, shaking the sleep from his muscles, trying not to show the tension building in his chest. Sophie stirred behind him and sat up, wrapping the nket around herself as her eyes followed his gaze. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t need to.