<h4>Chapter 1099: Chapter 1099</h4>


    They moved quickly now, heartbeats thudding like war drums in the close space. The cave narrowed before opening into a chamber lit by faint bioluminescence. In the center, the roots formed a cradle of sorts, woven vines and thick tendrils wrapped around a pulsing cocoon. Rose stood beside it, her hands resting on the outer edge.


    "This is the heart," she said without turning. "It’s alive. It knows us. It listens."


    Jude’s voice cracked. "What is it?"


    "The ind," Rose whispered. "Its voice. Its memory. It chose me first."


    Emma strode forward, raising her de, but the roots reacted instantly,shing out like snakes. She barely dodged one, rolling across the slick stone.


    "Careful," Rose warned. "It defends its children."


    Sophie nced at Jude. "If we destroy that thing, "


    "It might sever the connection," he finished.


    Natalie ran to Emma’s side, helping her up. "Then we have to try."


    They spread out, surrounding the cocoon. Rose backed away, watching with calm eyes. She didn’t move to stop them, but she didn’t need to.


    The cave itself began to rumble.


    Stctites shook above them. The walls wept water. The roots thrashed harder, sensing the threat.


    Sophie lunged forward, jamming her torch into the base of the cocoon. The me red, and the roots recoiled with a scream-like groan. Rose flinched.


    "No," she whispered. "Don’t hurt it."


    Emma struck with her de, cutting through one of the thick vines. Greenish sap spilled out, hissing as it touched the stone.


    The cocoon pulsed harder now, its heartbeat echoing in their ears. Another strike. Then another.


    Rose stumbled, clutching her side. "You don’t understand, if you kill it, you kill them."


    Jude froze. "What?"


    She turned to him, eyes wild now. "They’re tied to it. Each one that joined, it linked to them. You sever it now, you sever them too."


    He hesitated. "Are you lying?"


    "Would I lie about that?" she asked, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Do you think I’d let you kill them without trying to stop you? I love them. I love you."


    The group faltered.


    "What do we do?" Natalie asked.


    Sophie pulled her torch back, heart pounding. "We find another way."


    Emma sheathed her de reluctantly. "Then we need to learn how this works."


    They backed away, and Rose copsed to her knees, panting.


    "I told you," she whispered. "You’re not ready."


    Jude stared at her, his own thoughts a storm. There was no denying it now, whatever Rose had be, she wasn’t entirely human anymore. But she wasn’t entirely gone, either.


    They returned to camp silently. The moon had risen high, and the rest of the wives were asleep, or pretending to be.


    The next morning, everything seemed eerily normal. Breakfast cooked. Birds sang. The girlsughed.


    But Jude watched La and Zoey as they braided Lucy’s hair. All three wore that same smile.


    And he knew the time was running out.


    Jude sat near the fire, watching the early morning mist curl between the trees like quiet breath, his thoughts spinning tighter with every passing second. The warmth of the mes did little to calm the chill that had settled inside him. Rose’s words echoed too vividly, looping like a song he couldn’t forget. "They’re tied to it... you sever it, you sever them too." He didn’t know whether it was the truth or another twisted maniption, but the fear of losing any of them had stalled him like a de caught halfway in its strike.


    Across the camp, Rose moved easily through the others, greeting each with a soft kiss or a gentle touch. She looked more radiant than ever, flushed with energy, luminous beneath the dappled sunlight, as if something within her glowed just beneath the skin. Sheughed with Zoey, whispered to La, leaned into Lucy’s shoulder like they shared a private joke. There was no sign of fatigue, no sign of threat. And yet everything about her set Jude’s nerves on fire.


    Sophie sat beside him, her fingers digging into the edge of a carved wooden bowl, her eyes locked on Rose’s every move.


    "She’s speeding up," Sophie said softly. "She wants to pull them all in."


    "She knows we’re resisting," Jude replied. "She’s trying to close the circle."


    "She’s almost there. Emma’s the only one left who hasn’t been touched." Sophie nced sideways at him. "And me."


    He nodded. "And you."


    "And you," she added, watching his face.


    Jude hesitated, his stomach twisting. "I don’t think she wants me the same way. Not anymore. I think she wants me to witness it. To feel it. Until I break."


    Sophie’s jaw clenched. "She’s not going to get that satisfaction."


    But Rose was already moving again, slow and sinuous like a dance, weaving through camp. She brushed her lips against Natalie’s ear, who giggled and leaned closer. She plucked a berry from Grace’s hand and fed it to her with fingers that lingered on her lips. She tangled her arms around Susan’s waist from behind, whispering something that made Susan gasp and blush.


    It was maic. Even knowing what was behind it, the way Rose moved, the sheer weight of her presence, pulled at Jude. She was more than alluring, she was a current dragging them all out to sea.


    Later that afternoon, he walked into the clearing where the others were gathered. Lucy and Grace were lounging together, whispering to each other and sharing slices of roasted fruit. Lay sprawled across Zoey’sp, while Natalie and Susan yed in the river shallows, theirughter ringing across the trees. Emma was sharpening a spear again, watching the others with a quiet wariness. She was still herself, for now, but even she was drawn to the sounds ofughter, to the smell of rosewater that hung like a spell around Rose.


    Sophie joined Jude under a tree, the shade a smallfort from the intensity outside of it.


    "Did you talk to Emma?" he asked.


    "She’s noticing things," Sophie said. "She doesn’t trust them. But she doesn’t know what to do yet."