"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!"
Stella and Emma had already darted toward the archways, blade and fists ready, flanking 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, Layla, and Scarlet, were screaming into the sky, their bodies arching, glowing with the same furious energy the island now pulsed with.
"She's trying to take them back," Rose whispered, tears streaking her cheeks now. "She's angry you pulled me away."