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“What the fuck is happening?”
Malakai grabs me and drags me backward.
“It isn’t feeding.”
“What?”
“It isn’t feeding anymore.”
“But we gave it the Communion!”
“No.”
His black eyes find mine.
“We fed the land.”
Coldness spreads through me.
Because suddenly I understand.
Those are not the same fucking thing.
The creature collapses completely.
The last twisted branch disappears beneath the soil.
The crack seals behind it.
Silence falls over Ward Farm.
No screaming.
No whispering corn.
No roots moving beneath our feet.
Nothing.
Then something underneath us inhales.
Deep.
Slow.
Enormous.
The entire farm rises beneath our feet.
One inch.
Then falls.
Like a chest taking its first breath.
Ezra whispers, “The Harvest wasn't the land.”
Mercy looks at him. Horror spreads across her face. “No.”
