<h4>Chapter 1206: Chapter 1206</h4>


    Rose stepped toward the fire, stretching like a cat, bare feet pressing into moss and ash. "It’s a beautiful morning," she said. "We should go back to the waterfall today."


    "We just came from there," Jude replied, trying not to sound too pointed.


    "But we didn’t look closely." Her gaze flicked toward La, and Jude caught the faintest glimmer of something in her eyes. Agreement? Command?


    "Let’s talk first," Sophie said quickly. "There’s something - "


    "I’m hungry," La interrupted, already pulling fruit from a satchel and biting into it with unnatural calm. "Let’s eat, then go."


    The women gathered around the fire slowly, but the usual warmth of the circle was absent. There were no morning kisses, no shared jokes, no teasing. Just chewing. Watching. Waiting.


    Zoey sat near Scarlet but kept her eyes on La and Rose the entire time. Her fingers never left the hilt of the small de she always carried at her hip.


    As they began packing, Jude stepped away toward the edge of the trees, motioning subtly for Sophie to follow. Once they were just out of earshot, he turned to her.


    "This isn’t just us anymore," he whispered. "La’s changed too. And Rose... she’s spreading something. Through them."


    Sophie’s face was pale, but resolute. "I’ve been watching it happen. The moment La kissed her by the pool, it started. There’s something in the intimacy, Jude. Something passed."


    Jude clenched his jaw. "So what are we saying? That whatever came out of that river with Rose... it’s using her?"


    Sophie nodded slowly. "Or she’s letting it."


    They stood together in silence, the trees pressing close. A distant ssh echoed down from the direction of the waterfall. It felt like a warning. Or maybe an invitation.


    When they returned, the group was already moving. Rose and La led the way now, smiling and humming in unison. Grace followed close behind, her eyes ssy, her hands loosely at her sides. Jude felt his stomach twist.


    He motioned for Zoey to fall back and walk beside him. She nced around carefully before stepping close.


    "I saw themst night," she whispered. "La went into the woods with Rose. And when they came back... she wasn’t La anymore. Notpletely."


    "I know," Jude said. "It’s like something’s copying itself. A pattern."


    Zoey nodded grimly. "Like a spiral."


    They walked for hours, the forest growing darker with every step, despite the sun rising higher. The trail to the waterfall was winding, unfamiliar now. Trees they’d passed before looked wrong somehow. The moss grew in perfect swirls along their trunks. Vines shaped like coils dangled from branches above. Even the birdsong had changed - sharp, fragmented, unnatural.


    By midday they reached the ledge above the waterfall. The mist rose around them in thick curtains. Rose stood at the edge, her arms wide, as if weing something unseen.


    La stood beside her.


    And now Grace walked up between them.


    "Grace?" Jude called.


    She didn’t turn.


    He took a step forward, but Sophie caught his arm.


    "Watch," she whispered. "Just watch."


    Rose reached out and touched Grace’s face, her fingers gentle, reverent. La did the same from the other side.


    Grace shivered.


    Then smiled.


    The same smile.


    Too perfect. Too wide. Too still.


    Jude felt his heartbeat quicken.


    Scarlet gasped behind him. Natalie stumbled back into Ste’s arms. Susan took a step away, her face full of dawning horror. Emma’s hand dropped to her de.


    And Zoey whispered, "We’re losing them."


    The three women at the ledge turned in perfect unison.


    Rose. La. Grace.


    Their eyes gleamed with something ancient. Something that had risen from water and earth and shadow.


    And they smiled.


    Jude’s breath caught in his throat. That smile - he’d seen it on Rose, then La, and now Grace. It wasn’t just a gesture. It was a mask. A mark. A signature of something not entirely human threading its way through them. It was too aligned, too eerie. Like something watching from behind their eyes had decided to y human, and the only expression it had learned was that impossibly calm, unsettling smile.


    Zoey took a half-step in front of Scarlet, shielding her instinctively, but her eyes flicked to Grace. "No," she whispered. "Not her."


    Grace was the gentle one. The softest touch, the quiet warmth in the group’s chaos. Watching her stand there now, frozen and wless, felt like watching a candle go out with no wind - just silence.


    "Grace?" Susan’s voice broke like a wave over the ledge. She took a shaky step forward. "Baby, what’s going on?"


    Grace turned her head slowly toward Susan. That smile didn’t waver.


    "I feel good," Grace said. Her voice was soft. Dreamy. "Better than I’ve ever felt."


    La’s arm slipped around her waist from behind, like they’d rehearsed it. Rose rested her chin on Grace’s shoulder, her fingers curling against her chest, drawing her closer. The three of them stood like one shape now, like a sculpture carved in wet stone.


    Emma moved to Jude’s side without a word, her eyes cold and locked on Rose. Jude felt Sophie tense behind him, and when he nced back, Susan was gripping Natalie’s arm hard enough to leave marks.


    "We have to do something," Zoey muttered, fists clenched. "They’re pulling them in one by one."


    "Not now," Emma said sharply, eyes still on Rose. "Not here. Not when it’s three against all of us."


    "She’s right," Jude said. "We don’t know how far it’s gone. We don’t know what happens if we push."


    But even as he said it, Grace’s smile widened just a little. Enough to know she’d heard him. Enough to know she understood.


    "I think we should head down to the base," Rose said to the group, her tone smooth and coaxing. "There’s a ce behind the falls. I saw it in a dream."


    Sophie’s eyes narrowed. "We didn’te here to dream."


    Rose met her gaze. "But we all did."


    No one moved.


    Finally, Lucy stepped forward. "You three go ahead. We’lle behind you."