Page 77 of Magical Moonbeam
He caught up to me, his gaze searching. “You’re serious about this.”
“I need to be ready, Keegan. Moonbeam’s Eve is practically breathing down our necks, and I can’t afford to be caught off guard when Gideon shows.”
His jaw tightened at the name. That didn’t surprise me. He never liked hearing it. Honestly, neither did I.
“I just thought,” I added softly, “that it wouldn’t hurt to walk the streets again. Let the illusion settle into my bones. See if anything new comes to me.”
Keegan didn’t respond right away. His expression had shifted. It went from skeptical to something more complicated, and his mouth tugged downward, but not in disapproval. It was more thoughtful and calculating.
Then he sighed, shaking his head slowly. “I’d prefer if you didn’t go at all.”
I arched a brow. “Is that your official shifter opinion or your overly protective male opinion?”
He smirked. “Both.”
I nudged him with my elbow. “Noted. But I’m still going.”
Another beat of silence passed before he said, “Then I’m coming with you.”
My heart jumped. “You don’t have to—”
“I know I don’t,” he said, cutting me off gently. “But I will.”
Something in his tone softened the knot of nerves I hadn’t even realized was tightening in my chest.
“I didn’t mean for this to be a thing,” I said. “Just a quick walk through our illusion. A little solo brooding. Maybe a dramatic monologue.”
He rolled his eyes. “You want dramatic? You should’ve let Skonk lead the exercise.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Keegan fell quiet for a moment, then said, “You sure you’re up for it tonight? You look like you’ve fought off three sprites and half a cauldron of boiling anxiety.”
I shrugged. “Only two sprites. The third got a memory about my first kiss.”
His eyes widened. “Should I be jealous?”
“It was sixth grade. He cried.”
Keegan chuckled low in his throat. “Guess that answers that.”
I looked up at him again, this time more seriously. “You don’t have to come, you know. I’m not doing anything risky.”
“You’re walking into a place built from your worst fears and your strongest memories,” he said. “Even if it’s just an illusion, that’s dangerous magic. You don’t need to face that alone.”
I swallowed hard. “I think I need to do this by myself.”
The first time I stepped into that conjured Shadowick, I felt like itknewme. The fog, the way the buildings tilted just so, the shadow-thick air, it all hummed with too much familiarity. Too much truth. And truth was slippery in a place like that.
Keegan nodded and finally responded. “I respect that.”
We walked back toward the alleyway that no longer hid from me, leading back to the Butterfly Ward and the Academy.
I felt Keegan’s fingers brush against mine. It wasn’t a full handhold, just enough contact to let me know he was still there.
“I’ve been thinking about that kiss,” he said suddenly, voice low.
I blinked. “Which one?”
