Chapter 1737

Jude entered Zoey while Grace kissed his lips and Lucy rocked against his thigh. Natalie rode his fingers while Emma lay across his chest, whispering ancient names they hadn't known they knew. Susan cried out as he filled her, wrapped in Stella's arms, while Sophie kissed her spine and Rose held Jude's face as he came again and again - into them, through them, with them.

They were stars.

They were the city's heart.

And when the last cry faded and their bodies collapsed in one woven knot of glowing limbs, the chamber pulsed brighter.

The water in the pool shimmered, then spilled over the edge - rising like mist, like light, swirling above them. It descended not as rain, but blessing, touching each body, drawing the sweat and release into itself.

Jude gasped as it kissed his chest. So did Lucy. And Zoey. And Sophie.

Then it drifted away, glowing brighter now, coalescing above the pool once more.

"What is it doing?" Emma whispered.