Chapter 1411: Chapter 1411

The glade erupted in golden blossoms.

Flowers bloomed open around them, petals trembling with invisible wind. The water glowed brighter, humming in harmony with their breathing. And for a long while, they simply lay there, bodies tangled, chests rising and falling as one.

Eventually, they stirred again.

Emma kissed Jude softly and whispered, "We’ve never made love like that."

"It wasn’t just us," he said, voice rough.

"No," Rose agreed. "It was the island through us."

Stella sat back on her heels, her fingers tracing the golden shimmer still glowing on her skin. "One more fruit."

All eyes turned back to the pedestal.

The violet fruit pulsed now.

A deeper rhythm.

Lower.

Darker.

Scarlet stood. "This one’s mine."

No one stopped her.

She walked with slow, deliberate steps, her body radiating confidence and mystery, her gaze locked on the fruit as if it had whispered a secret only she could hear.

She bit.

And this time, the grove went silent.

Utter silence.

No wind.

No hum.

No breath.

Scarlet’s eyes fluttered open - purple now. Dark and deep and endless.

She turned to them.

Her voice was different.

Lower.

Richer.

"The path of shadow," she said. "Come with me."

And without waiting, she turned and disappeared into the trees.

They followed.

Because they had to.

Because the song wasn’t over.

Not yet.

The trees closed in behind them, thick and close, as if the island itself wanted to keep this path secret. Jude followed Scarlet deeper into the shadows, his skin tingling with the sensation of passing through something invisible - a veil or membrane that separated the grove from wherever they were going now. The air grew cooler, damper, and it smelled of earth, rain, and something older, like incense and forgotten dreams.

Scarlet moved like smoke, barely disturbing the ground as she glided ahead, her violet-glowing eyes flicking back to them occasionally. She didn’t smile, didn’t speak. Her naked body gleamed in the low light, not golden like Stella’s or burning like Zoey’s, but shadowed in curves and edges, like she was being carved anew by the darkness itself.

They came into a clearing ringed with obsidian stones, their surfaces slick with moisture and etched in spirals that pulsed with violet light. At the center stood a pool - still, mirrorlike, impossibly black. Not a reflection. A hole into somewhere else.

"This is the path of the unknown," Scarlet said, finally. Her voice echoed oddly, as if the trees were listening closely. "This is surrender. Not to pleasure or hunger, but to mystery. To what we hide even from ourselves."

Jude stepped forward, but she raised her hand. "No. You don’t come to me. I come to you."

She turned to Lucy first, her movements slow and purposeful. "You want control. You wrap yourself around him like a shield. But you ache to be unmade."

Lucy’s breath caught.

Scarlet touched her cheek, and Lucy trembled.

Then Scarlet leaned in and kissed her - not a soft kiss, but deep and slow and dominating, like she was claiming her mouth, her breath, her very soul. Lucy moaned, knees buckling slightly, and Jude caught her from behind, holding her as Scarlet slid down to her knees in front of her.

Fingers brushed between Lucy’s thighs. A tongue flicked. Lucy’s gasp turned to a whimper as Scarlet devoured her without mercy, without pause, pulling every moan and tremor from her body until she came hard against Jude’s chest, sobbing his name through clenched teeth.

Scarlet stood again, licking her lips, her violet eyes glowing brighter.

"One by one," she whispered, turning to Natalie. "You first hid. Now you want to be seen."

She pulled Natalie to the ground, kissing her, unbuttoning her slowly, even though she wore no clothes. Every touch felt like ceremony. Natalie writhed beneath her, helpless and beautiful, her legs wrapped around Scarlet’s hips as she was kissed, bitten, possessed.

Jude couldn’t look away.

Neither could the others.

Stella pressed against him, her hand slipping over his abs, down, stroking him slowly. "This is part of the path. Watching. Accepting. Giving in to things we fear to name."

Scarlet made love to Natalie like it was a ritual of unveiling, and when Natalie cried out in release, the stones around them pulsed with deeper color, responding like a heartbeat. Violet light surged through the pool, and the surface rippled for the first time.

Sophie stepped forward. "Me next."

Scarlet smiled - barely. "You always hide behind fire. Come see the dark."

Jude wanted to step in, to protect her, but Sophie shook her head at him. She walked toward Scarlet, dropped to her knees without being asked, and kissed her first.

Their kiss was raw, teeth and breath and tongue, the kind of kiss that left bruises. Scarlet spun Sophie around and pulled her back against her chest, one hand teasing her breasts while the other slipped between her legs. Sophie moaned loudly, her head falling back on Scarlet’s shoulder as her body bucked with every stroke.

But she didn’t come easily. She fought it. She trembled. She bit her lip until it bled.

Scarlet whispered something none of them could hear.

And then Sophie broke.

Her scream echoed through the trees as her body released in violent waves, collapsing into Scarlet’s arms.

The pool turned brighter.

Rose touched Jude’s shoulder. "Now you."

He turned slowly, uncertain.

Scarlet stood alone again. Waiting. Her arms open, her body flush with satisfaction and still glistening with the essence of every woman she’d touched.

Jude stepped toward her.

She met him halfway.

Their kiss was slow, but not soft. It was consuming. A kiss that didn’t ask for permission, but took what it wanted. He moaned into her mouth, and she pushed him down onto the moss-covered stone near the pool.

She straddled him, teasing him with her hips, grinding slow, rolling her body in ways that made him throb with need.

"You want to be in control," she whispered against his lips. "But here, you surrender."

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