Page 209 of Magical Mission
Darren turned to me. “Hi, Ms. Bellemore. Thank you for… letting me crash the trip.”
I gave him a polite nod, heart still sorting itself out. “Well, you certainly surprised her.”
“I’d like to steal her for a bit, if that’s okay.”
Celeste turned to me, her expression both hopeful and a little sheepish.
“Go,” I said softly. “Just be back before the stars come out.”
Celeste grinned and kissed my cheek. “You’re the best.”
Skye gave me a look as Celeste and Darren slipped through the door, laughing and talking fast. I saw him reach for her hand as they stepped back onto the sidewalk, already turning down Birch Street.
And then he glanced over his shoulder.
Right at me.
His grin held, perfectly charming, effortlessly warm.
But something in it cracked the light.
There was a flicker behind his eyes. A glint that didn’t belong. It wasn’t malicious. It wasn’t cruelty.
It wasrecognition.
My blood chilled.
Not because he looked familiar.
Because the look he gave medid.
A look I’d seen before.
A look I’d feared before.
And in that quiet second, one heartbeat long, I realized something in me had awakened. The dragon vow pulsed in my chest. The butterfly mark burned faintly beneath my collar.
He wasn’t just a boy surprising his girlfriend.
He was something else.
And I had just let my daughter walk away beside him.
Chapter Forty-Nine
The second the door shut behind Celeste and Darren, I bolted to my feet.
Skye looked up from her menu, startled. “Maeve?”
“ I-I just need a minute,” I said, already weaving between tables, my pulse crashing through my ears.
I burst out into the street, the late afternoon light slanting across the stones, and turned my head in both directions. Birch Street was still crowded, but there was no sign of them. The spot they had stood in not thirty seconds ago was empty.
I started walking quickly, trying not to appear as if I were running. Shop windows blurred past. I peeked down alleys, scanned the faces of every couple, every cluster of students or townsfolk strolling toward dinner.
Nothing.
They were gone.
