Chapter 1744

They began to build.

Not with tools, not with pain. With will. With breath. With touch.

Scarlet laid a palm to a stone and it lifted.

Zoey whispered to the vines and they wove into walls.

Sophie danced through the glade, and wherever her feet touched, the ground formed paths of living light.

Stella laughed and chased Natalie in circles, leaving blooming flowers in their wake.

Susan and Grace shaped beds of moss and cloth from golden leaves.

Emma stood by Jude, watching him. "You were always going to lead," she said.

"I never wanted to," he replied.

"That's why you had to."

Rose kissed the back of his neck, slow and warm. "And you're not alone."

The day passed in a blur of golden energy, of skin and light and breath. They built not a home, but a sanctuary. A place made of desire and devotion. A place made of them.