Rose stepped closer, her bare feet brushing the edge of the circle. The light recoiled slightly, reacting to her presence. Behind her, Zoey and Layla froze like puppets caught mid-movent. Scarlet’s mouth opened, then closed again.
"You don’t understand what she offers," Rose whispered.
"We don’t want it," Jude said.
"She brings peace."
"By taking our minds?"
Rose tilted her head. "By freeing them."
Then the forest groaned.
It wasn’t the trees. It wasn’t the wind. It was the island itself. The sound rose from beneath the ground, a deep, vibrating moan like roots straining to stretch farther than they should. The watcher stone answered with a soft hum. The two powers t, pressed against each other.
Stella gripped Lucy’s hand. "She’s testing us."
"She’s afraid," Lucy whispered.
Jude turned to Natalie. "Co inside. You can fight this."
Natalie shook her head, but her eyes were wide, flickering like candlelight in a storm.
"We miss you," Sophie said, voice cracking. "All of you."
Natalie took one step.
Rose snapped her fingers.
Natalie froze.
"No," she said firmly, voice sharp. "Not yet. Not her."
Grace whimpered.
And suddenly, Zoey surged forward.
Straight into the circle.
Jude and Sophie leapt up, ready to defend, but Zoey didn’t attack. She collapsed. Right at the center of the watcher stone’s base, falling to her knees with a gasp like she’d been underwater too long.
"Jude, " she rasped. "She’s in everything. In the trees. In the water." Her eyes filled with tears. "I didn’t want to, I just wanted to feel good again."
Lucy dropped beside her, cradling her face. "You’re okay. You’re you."
Behind them, Rose scread.
It wasn’t rage.
It was pain.
The light from the watcher stone flared, a sudden burst that knocked everyone back slightly. Rose staggered, hand to her head. The other corrupted wives cried out, doubling over or shielding their eyes.
Zoey writhed once, then went still.
Breathing.
Jude looked down at her. "You’re back."
She nodded weakly. "I can’t... I don’t know how long."
Sophie turned toward the forest. "They’re vulnerable."
Rose was shaking now. Not from fear. From fury. Her hands curled into fists, nails digging into her palms.
"You think this is victory?" she snarled. "You’ve invited sothing far worse."
Jude stepped forward. "Then we’ll face it together."
Behind Rose, Susan looked like she might cry.
Grace clutched her stomach like she was about to be sick.
Natalie fell to her knees.
Layla looked down at her hands, confused.
Scarlet turned and walked away.
One by one, they fractured.
The spell broke.
And Rose, stood alone.
Her glow faded. Her body swayed.
And then, without a word, she fled into the woods.
Jude rushed to the edge of the circle. "Don’t chase her."
Sophie helped Zoey to her feet. Lucy and Stella embraced, both trembling. Emma stood guard, scanning the trees, waiting for sothing else. But nothing ca.
Not yet.
Jude turned to Zoey. "What did she do to you?"
"She showed ," Zoey whispered. "Everything. What she wants. What she is."
Jude waited.
Zoey looked up, her eyes hollow.
"She’s not done with us."
The forest stayed quiet longer than it should have. Even after Rose vanished into the trees, even after Zoey whispered those heavy words, She’s not done with us, nothing moved. No wind. No birds. No rustle of animals. Just that deep, unnatural hush, as if the island itself had paused to breathe in and hold it.
They stood around the watcher stone like it was a fire in winter. Warmth radiated from it, but more than that, it gave them clarity. Zoey clung to Lucy, her breathing shallow, her skin pale. Stella rubbed her back, whispering soothing nonsense while Emma crouched beside her with a protective edge.
"She’s... still inside ," Zoey whispered. "Not all of her, but the pieces. The way she touches your thoughts, your mories. It’s like she crawls in and makes herself welco. Like she belongs."
"We’ve got you," Jude said gently.
"No, Jude," she said, eyes darting to his. "She wants you. She’s always wanted you."
The others looked at him.
"She talks about you in the dark," Zoey continued. "To us. In dreams. Whispering that you’re the key, that you’re the reason she woke up."
Jude’s mouth felt dry. "Why ?"
"I don’t know. But Rose... she was supposed to bring you to her. That’s why she smiles. That’s why she touches all of us first. To get to you."
Sophie took his hand. Her grip was strong, unshaking. "Then we stop her before she gets another chance."
Emma nodded. "Tonight. We track her. She’s separated now. We don’t let her gather them again."
"But we have to be careful," Stella said. "If she gets close to any of us again... we might not co back."
Zoey slowly looked up. "We need watchersong. From the old days. The deep kind. The ones we sang at the stone circle."
Lucy touched the stone again. "We don’t rember enough."
Sophie stood. "Then we rember now. Together."
They sat around the watcher stone, six of them, Jude, Sophie, Emma, Lucy, Stella, and Zoey, repeating the shapes they once traced in soil and smoke. Songs ca back slowly. Half-rembered phrases. lody fragnts. But sothing stirred in the stone with each sound.
And as they sang, the forest responded.
The trees swayed again.
The wind returned.
And above them, a faint line of blue sky broke through the unnatural black cloud overhead, just a slit, but it was real.
Jude closed his eyes. In the darkness behind his eyelids, he saw Rose’s face, softer, younger. Before the smile had changed. Before the river. Before the bones. Her lips had pressed to his that night, cold and warm at once, full of promises she hadn’t said aloud.
What if she’s still in there? he wondered.
The thought struck him deep.
But he couldn’t let it weaken him.
The mont the watcher stone’s glow pulsed again, Sophie stood. "She’ll co to the river. That’s where she first changed."
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