Page 84 of Magical Moonbeam

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“Okay,” I whispered, backing up a step. “This is fine. It’s still mine.”

But I didn’t believe it.

Not completely.

And that was the problem.

I turned, scanning the buildings more carefully now. Not just admiring them for their oddness or decay.Searching.

I needed to know what else might be slipping through. What else had followed me in, or worse, beaten me here?

And yet, even as my nerves flared, a new thought struck me.

If somethingcouldslip through… it meant the Veil was even thinner than we thought.

Which meant Moonbeam’s Eve wasn’t going to be just a reckoning.

It was going to beraw.

Unforgiving.

Open.

I clenched my fists to ground myself.

Still, no shadows moved.

Still, no voice whispered.

But the illusion had shifted.

I wasn’t alone.

And whether that meant the illusion was evolving…

…orsomeonehad learned how to tamper with it…

I wasn’t sure yet.

But I would find out.

And I would be ready.

Even if I had to burn the pastries down to the crumbs to prove it.

I turned from the church and headed back toward the edge of the illusion. My feet moved faster now. The fog didn’t pull so hard. The cold didn’t bite quite so deep.

At the gate, I paused and looked back.

This version of Shadowick, crooked, conjured, and humming with secrets, still felt too close. But I hadn’t flinched.

Not really.

And that had to count for something.

I stepped through the Veil and back into the still night of Stonewick. The warmth of its magic brushed against me like a sigh. Somewhere, an owl called once and fell silent.

The Academy waited ahead, lights still glowing, as if it had known I’d be back before the stars had fully risen.

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