"She wasn’t one of us," Jude finally said, breath still tight in his chest. "She looked like us, but she wasn’t human anymore."
Lucy didn’t move. "How many?"
"Five. Maybe more," he replied.
Sophie stopped pacing. "Then we’re not dealing with possession anymore. We’re dealing with a species."
Emma’s jaw clenched. "Or a hive."
Natalie, pale but clear-headed for the first ti in days, stood near the back, arms crossed, shivering despite the heat. "If the island made them... why now?"
"They’ve been waiting," Lucy said. "We weakened it. Burned its root. Now it’s retaliating."
Susan slowly stood from the floor, where she’d been sitting beside Grace. "What if they’re not here to attack?"
Everyone turned to her.
She shrugged, arms hugging herself. "I don’t know. What if they’re here to... spread?"
Zoey’s grip on her knife tightened. "No. Hell no. We stop it here."
"They were won," Jude added quietly. "But not any of the wives. Not anyone we knew. Their eyes were black. Entirely black. And the way they moved..."
"They moved like Rose did," Sophie finished for him.
No one needed more detail.
Stella, who had barely spoken since being freed, finally broke her silence. "Do you think she’s with them?"
Jude t her gaze. "I think she’s part of them."
They decided quickly. Defenses needed to be reinforced. Watches would rotate. No one would leave camp alone. And under no circumstances was anyone to enter the jungle at night.
But night ca fast, and so did the whispers.
They began as subtle murmurs beneath the wind. Too soft to understand, but just clear enough to feel personal. Like the voice of a lost lover just beyond hearing. By midnight, the temperature had dropped unnaturally. Dew clung to the walls, and the scent of wet earth and smoke filled the treehouse.
Emma stayed closest to Jude, her body tucked against his side beneath the furs as if his heartbeat grounded her. Sophie remained near the window, bow still in hand but no longer aid. Even she seed rattled. Lucy sat with her knees to her chest, head resting lightly on Jude’s shoulder, eyes open and unblinking. Susan and Natalie had taken watch outside with Zoey, while Stella and Grace slept curled together, murmuring fragnts of dreams too vivid to be coincidence.
And sowhere out there, past the reach of firelight, sothing watched.
Morning ca like a blade of rcy. Thin light cut through the mist, turning the world silver and cold. Jude rose before the others, careful not to wake the won pressed against him. He stepped outside to find Zoey still on the edge of the watch line, crouched, eyes sharp.
"Anything?" he asked softly.
She shook her head. "They didn’t co closer. But they were there. I saw them in the trees. Not moving. Just... watching."
"You think they know we saw them?"
"They wanted us to," she said.
Sophie joined them shortly, her expression unreadable. "We’re not going to be able to hide here forever. If they’re spreading, we need to know how far. We should scout."
Jude frowned. "Not alone."
"No. We go in pairs. Quiet. Map the periter. If there’s more of those won - or whatever they are - we need to find out before they co to us."
They agreed on three teams. Jude would go with Lucy. Sophie with Zoey. Emma and Natalie would sweep the eastern trails. The others stayed to guard the camp, reinforce traps, and prepare for anything.
Jude and Lucy moved silently through the woods, every footstep deliberate. The trees felt different - more twisted, more alive. The jungle had always felt mystical, but now it felt inhabited by sothing old and cunning. The kind of presence that watched with ancient eyes.
As they crept over the mossy trail, Lucy suddenly froze, her hand on Jude’s arm. "There," she whispered, pointing through the trees.
Jude followed her gaze and saw them.
Two won. Standing at a stream. Washing their hands. Mud and black sap streaked their bodies. Their hair hung wet and tangled, covering their faces. But their movents were too smooth, too fluid, synchronized like dancers following music only they could hear.
"They’re not attacking," Jude said under his breath.
"Because they’re not afraid," Lucy replied.
The two strangers looked up then, as if hearing them. But they didn’t flinch. Instead, they smiled.
Black eyes. Identical smiles.
Jude pulled Lucy back gently. They slipped away without being chased, but the image haunted them as they returned to camp.
Sophie and Zoey were already back, both shaken. "We saw four of them near the riverbank," Sophie reported. "They weren’t doing anything. Just... watching the water."
"Sa," Jude said. "Two at the stream."
Emma and Natalie returned shortly after, pale and silent. Emma spoke first. "We saw five. Sitting in a circle. Chanting. We couldn’t hear the words, but it sounded like... nas."
"Nas?" Zoey asked.
Natalie nodded. "Our nas."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Susan stood near the edge of the camp, arms crossed, watching the trees. "Then it’s not about control anymore. They want us."
Jude looked at her. "What do you an?"
"To join them," she said. "Not just to be taken. To beco."
Stella shook her head. "That’s what happened to Rose. She didn’t fall. She chose it."
"But why?" Lucy asked. "What could possibly make soone choose that? Tell ."
"The sa thing that made us survive here," Sophie said quietly. "The need to belong."
The words hung in the air like ash.
That night, Jude made love to Lucy under the woven canopy in the upper loft. They didn’t speak. They didn’t need to. Every movent between them was soft, deliberate, sacred in its urgency. She kissed him with heat that bordered on desperate, as though trying to morize his skin. His hands moved over her body with reverence, her moans muffled against his neck as their bodies moved in perfect sync. For that brief, beautiful ti, the fear vanished. Only connection remained.
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