Chapter 1169

Jude sank to his knees, the weight of it all crashing down on him, his breath coming hard and fast. Sophie knelt beside him, wrapping her arms around him, holding him as the storm within him broke.

"We'll find a way," she whispered, her voice fierce and sure. "We'll bring her back. I promise."

And Jude clung to that promise, because it was all they had left.

The night air hung heavy with rain and salt, the storm's fury now a distant rumble that echoed across the restless sea. Jude stayed on his knees, his fingers dug into the wet earth, as if holding on to the island itself could keep him from breaking apart. Sophie stayed with him, her arms tight around his shoulders, her warmth the only steady thing in a world that felt like it might crumble beneath them at any moment. The others stood silent in the dark, their faces pale and streaked with rain, their breaths visible in the cold air.

No one spoke. There was nothing to say.