"The ones who listen become. The ones who see choose. The ones who sing belong."
"They want us to sing," Zoey said.
Jude looked at her. "They want us to change."
"They already changed Rose."
He shook his head. "She chose it."
They explored deeper. The back of the cave opened into a narrow tunnel they'd never dared explore. Now it felt like the only direction left.
The passage was tight, the ceiling low, the air filled with moisture and a strange sweetness like crushed flowers. They emerged into a hidden chamber, smaller than the first, but more alive. Moss glowed faintly on the walls. Water trickled down the sides in thin, endless threads. And in the center sat something new.
A tree.
Small, twisted, black as obsidian, growing directly from the stone.
Zoey exhaled slowly. "It's the same kind of tree from my dream."
Jude approached it carefully. "It's growing underground. Fed by something down here."