Chapter 1548

Below, streetlamps flickered. Some went out entirely. In their place, vines grew - actual green tendrils spiraling up the metal poles, blooming with soft golden flowers. People stared, frozen mid-step, phones forgotten in their hands. One woman dropped hers entirely, letting it shatter on the pavement as she knelt to touch a vine wrapping around her ankle.

Jude stood, helping Elara up with him. She didn't reach for her scrubs. She stood there naked and unashamed, her curves bathed in silver and gold. "Where do we go now?"

"Where they need us most," Zoey said, already moving toward the fire escape.

They descended the building in silence, a procession of beauty and bare skin glowing in the dark. They didn't hide. Didn't run. As they walked down empty streets, more and more people began to follow. Some hesitated. Some wept. Others reached out with trembling fingers, just to brush a shoulder, a hip, a glowing arm.

And each one that touched them… changed.