Page 3 of Magical Moonbeam
He stepped back, giving me space. But the warmth he left behind lingered like a half-cast spell.
“I think you’re doing a great job,” he said softly.
Something hot and fierce bloomed behind my ribs at his words.
My throat tightened with gratitude, and I chuckled, pretending to punch his arm. “You’re not just saying that because I left a positive review at your inn?”
He laughed, and the silence that followed wasn’t heavy. It hummed with comfort and possibility.
“But Iamworried,” Keegan added, voice tightening. “About Shadowick.”
I turned back to the garden, the Ward, the stillness of magic around us, and let out a sigh.
“I thought you might be.”
“You were nearly lost the last time you reached through,” he said. “The spell you cast, it wasn’t just tracking, Maeve. It was crossing Veils. And the deeper you go, the harder it’ll be to come back. I understand Moonbeam is coming up, but…”
I nodded. “I know.”
“Then why risk it?” His voice cracked slightly at the edges, and he stepped closer again. “Why now?”
I turned to face him fully, letting the truth rise like a tide in my chest.
“Because Ifeelit,” I whispered. “The Moonbeam. It’s coming. The alignment’s rare… only once every decade, if that, and I think it’s key to breaking the curse. It’s a pull I can’t ignore. You deserve this. My dad deserves this.”
Keegan frowned and sighed. “That’s a theory.”
“It’s more than that.” I touched my chest. “It’s in my bones. In my blood. Something’s waking up in the Wards, and Shadowick knows it, too. We’re racing toward something. I don’t know what, but Iknowthis next Moonbeam is the moment we need.”
He studied me for a long moment. “Do you know what will happen if you’re wrong?”
“I do,” I said. “But I also know what’ll happen if we keep waiting. If we sit andhopeGideon doesn't act. It’s not a coincidence that I’m a Hedge witch.”
Keegan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re infuriating when you’re determined.”
I smirked. “You’ve said that before.”
“Because it keeps being true.”
He turned away briefly, pacing the small path of crushed quartz near the flower bed, then turned back.
“If you go,” he said, “I’m going with you.”
I blinked. “Keegan—”
“No arguments. If you’re heading into danger, you’re not going alone. Not again.”
The butterflies above us pulsed gently, as if the Ward itself approved.
My heart twisted. “You could get hurt.”
“I’ve been hurt before,” he said. “But I’d rather be hurtwithyou than left behind wondering.”
My breath hitched.
“I’ll need a team,” I said after a moment. “A group who can stand the tethering magic and the pull of Shadowick. Nova’s still researching the effects of moonlight on weakening portions of Shadowick’s Wards. Plus, I think it’ll help stabilize the gateway if we can use as many earthbound resources as possible.”
“Agreed.”
