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"Yeah," I say, smiling against Rhett's sweat-slicked skin. "I think it worked."

The Earth pulses beneath us, sated and satisfied, and somewhere in the corn, three red ribbons sink into the soil, gone forever.

Heat pours into the ground beneath us.

The Harvest screams.

Nobody stops.

Malakai presses his palm into the soil. “It's changing.”

Rhett looks up. “What?”

“The roots.”

“How?”

“They're leaving Mercy.”

I freeze. “What?”

Malakai's eyes turn black then widen.

“Sage.” Mercy calls out.

I look toward the edge of the circle. She stands there.

And for the first time… she has feet. Human feet bare against the dirt. The roots beneath her body are withdrawing.

She looks down. A sob tears from her. “Malakai.”

He smiles.

“Hello again.” She takes one step then another.

The Harvest convulses.

Its hands claw at its own body as every mouth tears open at once, unleashing a scream that shakes the field.

But the Communion keeps spreading.

Through the soil.

Through the corn.

Through every root buried beneath Ward Farm.

Feeding the land.

Without an anchor.

Without a sacrifice.

Without a Bride rotting underground.

My eyes find Mercy.

The Harvest doesn’t need her.