Chapter 1458

She took his hand and placed it on her breast. Her heart beat beneath it - steady, strong, electric. "Feel it. Not just me. All of it. Every root. Every drop. Every breath."

And as he closed his eyes, he did.

He saw the forest pulsing in rhythm with their hearts.

He saw the others - Lucy, Sophie, Emma, Grace, Stella, Zoey, Layla, Susan, Natalie, Scarlet - moving through the trees like priestesses. Lovers. Wives. And something more.

He felt their connection deepen.

And the song rose once again, louder now, drawing them forward.

Toward whatever came next.