Chapter 1419

Jude came with Emma slowly, her voice a soft chant in his ear, her arms locked tight around him. He stayed inside her, still moving, as the others joined - every kiss, every cry, every climax becoming a thread in something larger than sex.

It was ceremony.

And when it was done - when they were spent and still and floating together in the warm violet water - the shrine around them shimmered with soft light.

The flower had followed them.

One of its petals now floated on the surface between them, and at its tip, a single drop of golden nectar glowed.

Sophie reached for it and brought it to her lips.

She swallowed.

And smiled.

"It's ready," she said. "We're ready."

Jude didn't know what it meant.

But he knew the next bloom was already beginning.