Page 34 of Magical Moonbeam
He shrugged. “Doesn’t have to be.”
We stood there in a stretch of stillness, and for a flicker of a moment, something passed over his face. It wasn’t mischief or smugness.
It was something closer to wariness.
“If you came to warn me,” I said carefully, “say it plainly.”
“Oh no. I came because I wasinvited.”
I blinked. “Invited bywhom?”
He tapped his temple. “Your dream magic’s a leaky thing. Doesn’t always stay tucked in at night. And there are lots of... eager ears listening when a certain someone slithers into your sleep.”
My mouth went dry.
“You mean Gideon.”
“I mean,” he said, brushing imaginary lint from his sleeve, “that some very old things are watching. And you, my dear headmistress, are blinking your pretty green eyes into a world that doesn’tplay nice.”
I bristled. “You think I don’t know that?”
“I think youdo.And I think you still want to fix it.” He gave a mock sigh. “So noble. So tired. So ready to be disappointed.”
“I don’t need your cynicism, Skonk.”
“Of course you do,” he said brightly. “It’s seasoning.”
I exhaled through my nose, hard. “You said you had expertise.”
“I do.” He bounced slightly on his heels. “Shadowick expertise. Places that twist wrong. Roads that double back.Creatures that forget youaren’ttheirs. You want to walk in on Moonbeam Eve? You’ll want someone who knows where not to step.”
“And you’re offering that?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether you stop acting like you’ve already figured it all out.” He cocked his head, that annoying grin returning. “You’re brave. You’ve got that whole light-witch-defying-darkness thing going. Very inspiring. But you don’tknowwhat you’re walking into. Not really.”
I studied him. “And you do.”
He gave a small, two-shoulder shrug. “I know more than Twobble does.”
I narrowed my eyes. “That’s not exactly hard. Shadowick hasn’t been inviting over the years.”
“Still counts.”
The breeze kicked up, rustling the leaves overhead. For a moment, the world held its breath.
Then I asked the question that had been slowly unraveling in the back of my mind since I opened the door:
“Whynow,Skonk?”
His smile didn’t fade, but the light in his eyes changed. “Because things are about to tip, Maeve. And not everyone wants the shadows to win.”
That stopped me cold.
I didn’t trust him. Not entirely.
