Chapter 1259

There, in the moonlight, he saw them.

Rose. Layla. And now Natalie.

They stood in a circle, hands linked. Their bodies moved slowly, swaying in a rhythm Jude couldn't hear. Their eyes were closed, their faces blissful, their smiles too wide.

And they were humming.

It was the same melody Rose had been weaving all day. But now it was different - layered, deeper, almost echoing. It vibrated through the trees. It made the hair on Jude's arms rise.

He stepped back silently, his heartbeat loud in his ears. When he returned to the fire, Lucy stirred.

"Jude?" she murmured.

"Just checking the trees," he whispered, settling beside her. "All's fine."

She smiled sleepily and curled into him again.

But Jude didn't sleep that night.

Because the peace hadn't been a lie.

It had been the beginning.