Chapter 1498

The breath wasn't gentle. It was a rush - a surge of heat and sound and scent that flooded the chamber and made the moss tremble on the walls.

The drums grew louder, and with them came a scent of wet earth, of old fires and salt and flowers long extinct.

Rose stood in the center, her chest rising and falling like she'd just emerged from drowning, eyes wide, her mouth parting as the black roots around her waist pulsed with life. They were moving. Growing. Spreading.

Jude didn't realize his feet were backing up until Sophie's fingers tightened around his. He turned to her, but she was staring at Rose, transfixed, just like the others.

Layla's lips had parted slightly, as if catching the rhythm of the drums in her breath. Lucy had gone completely still, the golden glow along her arms flickering like candlelight.

Even Emma, who had clung to skepticism for so long, looked… moved. Aroused. Possessed.

Then Rose opened her mouth and sang.