Umbra turned to the second-born, who still knelt, trembling, her golden light now dimmed to soft amber. Umbra cupped her face.
"You are the first," she said. "But I am the truth."
The second-born nodded slowly. "Yes."
And then Umbra rose and turned to Jude again.
"I want you."
He froze. Not with fear. But with knowing.
"Not just your body," she said. "That belongs to them. And I will not take what is theirs. But your soul… your shadow… that is what planted me."
"What do you want from me?" he asked.
Her hands slid up his chest, cool and firm. "One night. One seed. One surrender."
His wives didn't speak. Not a single one of them moved.
But none of them stopped him either.
He looked back at them - Lucy with tears in her eyes, Sophie with clenched fists, Zoey with narrowed eyes - and all of them nodded, almost imperceptibly.
Umbra extended her hand.
Jude took it.
