Chapter 1724

The surrender to pleasure so deep it shattered all meaning of time.

When Jude could no longer breathe, when his body ached in the most beautiful way, when every part of him had been touched, kissed, taken - the flower beside them split open.

Not into petals.

Into light.

A beam of it shot upward, piercing the sky.

And from that beam came a shape.

A new tree.

Smaller than the first. Sleeker. Its branches were crystalline, its leaves pure gold, its base glowing with the same marks that still traced Jude's skin.

The others stared, panting, glowing, overwhelmed.

Scarlet whispered, "Is it… ours?"

Rose's eyes glimmered. "It's us."

The tree pulsed, and from its base, small buds began to grow - like fruit, but not. They shimmered like glass. Suspended in golden sap. Inside each… a flicker of light. A heartbeat.

The island had responded.

Creation was not metaphor.

It was literal.