<h4>Chapter 1150: Chapter 1150</h4>


    "She’s fighting me," Rose whispered. "I, I’m still here, but she, she knows now."


    "Then hold on to me," Jude said. "Hold on."


    Behind them, Sophie’s voice rang out. "She’s pushing through the others! They’re in pain!"


    "Lucy, watch the circle!" Zoey shouted. "Don’t let them break the formation!"


    Ste and Emma had already darted toward the archways, de and fists ready, nking the circle where roots had begun to creep upward through the floor again, curling toward the group like curious fingers. Above them, the pulse of light from the watcher stone filtered faintly down the spiral. The wives they’d left outside, Susan, Grace, Natalie, La, and Scarlet, were screaming into the sky, their bodies arching, glowing with the same furious energy the ind now pulsed with.


    "She’s trying to take them back," Rose whispered, tears streaking her cheeks now. "She’s angry you pulled me away."


    "Then let her be angry," Jude said, cupping her face. "But she doesn’t get you. Not now."


    Rose let out a shuddering breath. "I can feel the others... the things she made me do. I remember La. Her smile. The way she looked at me after we kissed. I pulled her in. I seduced her. I didn’t even fight. I wanted you so badly, I let her use me as bait."


    "It wasn’t you," Jude said. "It was her."


    "It was both of us," Rose said, brokenly. "I loved you so much, I became the easiest door for her to walk through."


    He held her tighter. "We’ll get them back. We’re going to break this."


    Rose nodded weakly, and that was when her body arched, suddenly, violently, and she screamed. Not with her voice, but hers. The thing inside.


    The entire cavern began to twist. The bone gates cracked fully now, groaning as the thirteenth arch erupted with a st of roots, smoke, and ck tendrils of wind. The air thickened. The light dimmed. Rose copsed against Jude, her eyes rolling back, her mouth opening wide in a silent cry.


    And the thing inside her stepped forward.


    It wasn’t a creature. Not fully. It didn’t have limbs or eyes or skin. It had presence. It was a mass of memory and hunger, formed of mist and scent and whisper. It oozed out of Rose like a second soul, floating just above the ground, pulsing with stolen kisses and murmured desires,ughter twisted into lubies of seduction.


    "Give. Her. Back," the voice said, not in Rose’s voice. Not even in a voice. It filled their heads like smoke.


    Sophie shed at the nearest vine. "We’re not giving anyone to you!"


    "You invited me," it purred. "You fed me. You worshipped me under stars and under him. I am born from your longing."


    Lucy stared up at it, shaking. "We didn’t want you, we wanted each other."


    The mist hissed, furious now.


    It expanded.


    Rose copsed, limp in Jude’s arms.


    Sophie ran forward, kneeling at her side. "She’s still in there. She’s alive."


    "She has a root anchor," Zoey shouted. "It’s inside her chest! I can see it, under her skin!"


    Judeid Rose back, gently. "Then we get it out."


    The mist howled. The walls cracked.


    But Jude grabbed his knife and pressed it to Rose’s corbone, just above the glowing ck lines spreading down her sternum. "I’m sorry," he whispered.


    And he cut.


    Rose didn’t scream, but the ind did.


    A shriek echoed through the cavern, through the spiral, through the watcher stone itself. The wives above staggered. Susan fell to her knees. Grace copsed, clutching her chest. Natalie sobbed openly, confused and gasping. La dropped whatever bone she had been holding. Scarlet trembled and stared at her own hands.


    The root in Rose’s chest twisted like a living serpent, ck, veined, bleeding, and Jude yanked it free.


    It came out like a thorn from the ind’s heart.


    Rose gasped.


    And then she breathed.


    Her body went still.


    And the mist above screamed one final time.


    It twisted violently, no longer human, no longer seductive. Just a mass of rage and rejection. Itunched toward Jude, teeth and tendrils and memory des reaching for his heart.


    Sophie was faster.


    She hurled the root at the watcher stone’s runes.


    It ignited.


    The chamber erupted in blinding light.


    The watcher stone pulsed one final time.


    And the mist,


    , vanished.


    Silence fell.


    Rosey still but breathing.


    The others slowly rose to their feet, blinking. Natalie sat up first. Then Susan. Then La and Grace. Scarlet was thest, her hands shaking as she whispered Jude’s name.


    The light above faded.


    The cavern was whole again.


    Emma let out a breath. "Is it over?"


    Sophie copsed beside Jude, burying her face in his chest.


    "I think so," he whispered.


    Rose opened her eyes.


    And smiled.


    This time, there was nothing wicked in it. Nothing twisted.


    Just warmth.


    She reached for Jude’s face. "I’m sorry."


    He kissed her brow. "You came back."


    They held her there, surrounded by the others. For the first time in what felt like forever, it was quiet. Just breathing. Just them.


    Twelve wives.


    And Jude.


    Together.


    The morning came with birdsong, a sound that felt strangely normal after everything they’d faced. The light filtering through the trees was golden and soft, not harsh or ominous. It felt like a new beginning, one they weren’t sure they could trust yet, but one they’d earned.


    Jude woke with Rose beside him, her breathing steady against his shoulder. Her body, still bruised and tired from what she’d endured, was warm and real. She hadn’t spoken much since they’d returned from the watcher cavern. None of them had. Everyone was recovering in their own way.


    But when she stirred, opened her eyes, and looked up at him, her smile was quiet. Peaceful.


    "I’m still me," she said softly.


    He brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I know."


    She pressed a kiss to his chest, and for a moment, they justy there, silent, hearts syncing slowly like two fires remembering how to burn together.