Chapter 1100

Rose appeared soon after, walking straight toward them, her dress clinging to her skin like a second layer of light. She knelt beside Jude and reached out to touch his arm.

"You haven't smiled all day," she said, her voice a honeyed murmur.

"I'm not in the mood to smile," he said, his tone flat.

She tilted her head. "That's sad. I used to be your reason to smile."

Jude held her gaze. "I remember a lot of things."

Her fingers traced down his arm. "Do you remember the first time you kissed me? The way your hands trembled?" She leaned in, her lips brushing against his jaw. "You told me I tasted like something forbidden."

He closed his eyes against the sudden rush of memory, heat, longing. She was using everything, every shard of his past love to bend him now.

"Don't," Sophie said sharply.

Rose turned to her, smiling. "Why? Don't you want to see him happy again?"

"He's not your toy," Sophie snapped. "Neither are the others."