Chapter 1713

Sophie stood, her silhouette glowing in the filtered morning light, the golden freckles on her bare skin sparkling like stardust. "So what does it want next?"

Jude sat up slowly. Every muscle ached, but it was the delicious kind of ache - the kind that came from too much pleasure, too much sensation, too much beauty to contain. He looked around at them all, then toward the flowers, which were now closed, their energy spent.

He whispered, "It wants to build."

Zoey perked up. "Build what?"

"A future," said Lucy. "A place where we don't just survive the island. We shape it."

Sophie frowned slightly. "And if we refuse?"

Rose turned her eyes to her. "Then Aeva slumbers again. But we'll always carry the hunger. The ache of what could have been."

Silence fell.

Not uncomfortable - just thoughtful. The kind of silence that held depth. Meaning.