Chapter 1212

Jude stepped in front of the others instinctively, his body shielding Sophie and Rose even as his eyes searched the dark for the source of the whisper. The voice lingered like smoke - Susan's tone, Stella's cadence, Layla's soft curl of mischief - all layered with something ancient and watching, something wrong . It came from no clear direction. It came from everywhere .

The trees didn't rustle. They simply bent. The wind didn't blow. The air was pulled - like breath before a scream.

"Back," Emma growled, drawing her blade. "Everyone. Tight circle."

The women obeyed immediately, their instincts kicking in, forming a ring around the fire in the clearing. Jude stood near its center, one hand on Rose's shoulder, the other gripping a sharpened branch he'd snatched from the undergrowth. Not a weapon. Not really. But it would have to do.

The whisper came again.

You were always mine.