Page 52 of Magical Moonbeam
But I had no idea if we were going to make it out of this shadow with anything still whole.
Chapter Thirteen
The fog had thickened since we walked the alleyways. It drifted around the mansion at the far end of the conjured Shadowick like a living thing. The air pulsed with tension, the way it always did when we got too close to talking about Gideon.
The real Gideon.
Not the nightmare versions I saw in dreams, or the whisper I still sometimes heard in the Hedge, or the memories that curled in the corners of my mind like smoke.
No,him.
I stared up at the spectral mansion now, its silhouette looming behind curls of gray. Even though I knew it wasn’t real, my chest tightened at the sight of it.
“That’s where I’ll stand,” I murmured, and this time I got no pushback.
The others looked from me to the building behind.
Keegan stiffened again, but didn’t speak.
Twobble squinted up the hill, his hands on his hips. “A bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
“It’s supposed to be,” I said. “Gideon loves his theatrics.”
Stella arched a brow. “That sounds familiar.”
I didn’t take my eyes off the hill. “I need to feel it. The weight. The shape of how this might actually happen.”
The mood had dipped again. Everyone was quiet, their boots shifting on the cobblestones, eyes darting along the fake village’s skyline.
Then came a voice from behind me.
“Well then, if you want Gideon…”
I turned just in time to see Twobble pluck one of Nova’s black scarves from a bench and dramatically wrap it around his shoulders like a high-collared cloak.
“I shallbeGideon.”
Skonk, from a rooftop perch, shouted down, “You’ll need darker circles under your eyes and a whole lot more emotional damage!”
“Hush, you crypt goblin,” Twobble snapped. Then he straightened his spine, narrowed his eyes, and let his voice drop into something low and cold.
“Maeve Bellemore,” he intoned, stepping forward slowly. “Did youreallythink you could outmaneuver me?”
“Oh no,” I said with a smile I couldn’t help. “What are you doing?”
He continued, stalking toward me with dramatic flair, head tilted slightly and fingers steepled as if he were contemplating my demise.
“You may walk the Hedge, but Iamthe Hedge.”
“Lord,” Bella muttered, her voice dry. “We’ve created a monster.”
Twobble stomped up the slight incline toward the mansion, cape flaring with every exaggerated step. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment, Maeve? The Moonbeam bends forme.”
Nova, watching nearby, murmured to Ardetia, “I thought I was the dramatic one.”
“He’s not far off,” I admitted, shaking my head but laughing. A real laugh. The first since this entire simulation began.
Twobble threw one arm toward the mansion. “I have cursed your father! Haunted your thoughts! Crashed your tea party!”
