<h4>Chapter 1140: Chapter 1140</h4>


    He rose quietly, brushing Sophie’s thigh as he stood. She stirred but didn’t stop him. Their eyes met for a heartbeat, she nodded once.


    Jude crossed the clearing, bare feet silent in the grass. Scarlet didn’t look at him until he sat beside her.


    "You’re thinking too loud," he said gently.


    Her smile was small. Wrong. Not the smile, but close. Like it was trying to form and hadn’t fully taken hold.


    "I’m trying not to."


    He reached out, brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "Tell me."


    She looked down at her knees. "I don’t know what’s real anymore."


    "Yes, you do."


    "No, Jude. I don’t." Her voice shook, just slightly. "She... Zoey. She touched my hand earlier. Just touched it. And I, " She inhaled sharply. "I felt something. Like warmth, but underneath it was this... whisper. Not in words. Just a feeling. And it told me I wasn’t mine anymore."


    Jude’s hand closed over hers.


    "You are yours," he said. "You’re not hers. Not Rose’s. Not La’s. Not Zoey’s."


    She turned to him, eyes shining. "What if it’s already inside me? What if it’s toote?"


    He didn’t answer.


    Because he wasn’t sure.


    She leaned into him suddenly, her forehead pressing to his shoulder, her voice trembling. "I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to stop being me."


    He held her tighter. "You won’t."


    But deep down, he felt the unease curling again. That slow, creeping thing that had started with Rose and bled through La, into Zoey, and now reached out through every smile, every nce, every touch.


    Across the fire, La shifted in her sleep. Rose’s arm curled tighter around her waist. Zoey stirred but didn’t open her eyes.


    Jude watched them all.


    And something in him said they were already watching back.


    The next day began quietly. They moved slowly, like their limbs were heavier than usual, like the weight of the ind had settled deeper into their bones. Grace and Ste collected fruit. Lucy stayed near Emma, who had barely spoken since thest cave trip. Susan kept ncing at Zoey. Natalie busied herself grinding herbs no one really needed.


    Scarlet didn’t speak.


    But she stayed near Jude.


    Until afternoon.


    That was when Zoey approached her.


    They were alone near the riverbank. Scarlet was rinsing fabric, humming softly to herself. Zoey stepped out from the trees with her usual ease, bare feet barely stirring the grass. Her hair was damp, clinging to her back. She smiled.


    Not that smile.


    Just a normal one.


    At first.


    "Need help?" Zoey asked.


    Scarlet looked up. "I’m fine."


    Zoey crouched anyway, dipping her hands into the water beside her. "You’ve been quiet."


    Scarlet didn’t answer.


    Zoey tilted her head. "Are you scared of me?"


    Still nothing.


    Zoey’s hand found hers underwater, slow and soft. "I don’t want to hurt you," she whispered. "You know that, right?"


    Scarlet turned slowly. "Then don’t."


    Zoey smiled again.


    This time... it was the smile.


    And Scarlet didn’t pull away.


    That night, they returned to camp together. Scarlet’s eyes were ssy. Her voice soft. And when she looked up at Jude from across the fire...


    She smiled.


    Just like the others.


    Jude didn’t sleep that night.


    Hey with Sophie curled against him, her breath slow and steady at his shoulder, but his eyes never closed. Across the fire, Zoey slept soundly, limbs tangled with La’s, her head resting on Rose’s stomach. Scarlet was beside them. She’d curled up like usual, nothing strange in her position, but he could feel it, the shift. It was quiet, subtle. Like watching someone breathe with someone else’s lungs.


    That smile haunted him.


    The same curve of lips. The same ssy warmth in the eyes. It wasn’t love. It wasn’t peace. It was hunger disguised asfort.


    He closed his eyes only briefly. When he opened them again, the sun was rising, and Scarlet was gone.


    He rose quickly, careful not to wake Sophie, and scanned the camp. The others were still sleeping, though some were beginning to stir. Zoey rolledzily onto her back, yawning, but didn’t open her eyes.


    "Scarlet?" Jude said under his breath as he moved past the fire pit.


    She wasn’t near the tree line.


    Not in the food prep area. Not by the trail to the river.


    Then he heard a sound, a ssh.


    He followed it, moving faster now, ducking branches and brushing through dew-slick ferns. When he reached the river, he saw her. Scarlet was waist-deep in the water, her hair soaked, her back to him. She wasn’t moving.


    "Scarlet!" he called.


    She turned slowly.


    She smiled.


    He stopped walking.


    She looked radiant, flushed cheeks, bright eyes, water sliding down her skin like silk. But the smile was wrong. It didn’t belong to her. It belonged to it.


    "You shouldn’t be out here alone," he said carefully, stepping to the edge of the river.


    "I’m not alone," she replied, voice low and dreamy.


    "Then who’s with you?"


    She tilted her head and pointed behind him.


    He turned sharply, nothing. No one.


    When he turned back, she was walking toward him through the water, slow and graceful.


    "Scarlet, "


    "I feel wonderful," she said. "I didn’t know how heavy I was until I let it go."


    "What did you let go?"


    She reached the shore and took his hand. Her skin was warm.


    "Fear," she whispered.


    He studied her face. For a moment, he thought she was fighting it. That underneath the perfect calm was his Scarlet, the one who liked jokes about fish guts and always got her hands too dirty fixing traps.


    But there was nothing behind her eyes now but glow.


    He pulled his hand back.


    And she smiled wider.


    By the time they returned to camp, most of the others were awake. Rose and La were picking through dried fruit. Lucy was massaging Emma’s back. Susan and Ste were sharpening tools by the fire.


    Sophie stood when she saw them.


    Her eyes narrowed instantly.