Jude rose slowly, not bothering to dress, not needing to. His body was still warm from Grace, from Lucy, from all of them - but this was different. Scarlet wasn't humming. She wasn't glowing.
She was waiting.
"Scarlet," he said gently, his voice low, almost reverent.
She took one step forward. "I heard you."
"Just now?" Lucy asked, propped up on one elbow, her voice still heavy with lust.
"No." Scarlet's gaze flicked to her. "All night. I didn't sleep. I sat near the old fire and I heard everything. Every cry. Every gasp. I felt it. Through the roots. Through my bones."
She took another step, her feet bare, her body pale and smooth in the early sun.
"I thought I was afraid," she said. "I thought I'd resist longer than the others. But when I heard Grace... I knew I wasn't supposed to stand outside this."
Susan rose, wrapping herself in a dark blue cloth and walking forward. "You don't have to choose fast."