Chapter 1742

The tremble beneath their feet became a thrum, then a hum, then something so deep and slow it could've been mistaken for breath. The ground no longer simply supported them - it sang to them, through them. The moss beneath their toes glowed with golden veins, pulsing to match the rhythm in Jude's chest. He could feel the seed he had taken into himself unfurling now, not just in his body, but in the space between them all. It stitched their spirits together like thread through sacred cloth.

Rose stepped forward, her eyes glowing with that radiant knowing. "The seed isn't just in you, Jude. It's in all of us now."

He could feel it. She was right. Whatever had been planted was spreading. It reached through their thoughts, their memories, their longing. It warmed Lucy's laughter, deepened Sophie's gaze, filled Susan's breath with purpose. Every glance they exchanged sparked something more - a connection beyond words or flesh.