Page 219 of Magical Mission

But my body had gone entirely still.

Moonbeam.

My heart thudded once, hard.

I hadn’t heard that word spoken aloud, only seen it in pages, tucked into the edges of the Academy’s most arcane tomes. A once-a-decade celestial event so deeply tied to the ancient magic of our world that even the Academy itself went quiet for days before and after its arrival.

But I hadn’t connected the calendar. I’d been too preoccupied. The Wards, the shadows, Celeste, Krina, and Mys—

And now Lady Limora was saying the words I hadn’t dared think.

I took a careful step forward. “Are you certain?”

Lady Limora turned her gaze on me. “The signs are here. The wind changes. The crystal pools have begun to ripple even when still. The vines at the edge of the eastern wall are blooming out of season. The old magics are stirring.”

Stella stepped closer beside me. “I saw the herbs flowering too. The marigolds never open this early, unless they’re in the Butterfly Ward.”

Nova gave a soft nod. “I felt it last night. A pull in the air. Like everything is waiting.”

Ember’s fingers twitched at her side, already mapping calculations in her mind.

And I—my chest was tight.

Because I remembered.

I remembered what the Moonbeam event meant. It wasn’t just a natural occurrence. It was a thinning. A weakening of the barriers between realms, realms like Shadowick and ours. The first crack in the Academy’s protective veil had formed a century ago on a Moonbeam. Gideon had cast his curse on Moonbeam.

And this time, I was headmistress.

This time, I had a role to play.

Keegan stepped to my side. “Maeve?”

I met his gaze, the air around me buzzing.

“It’s not just the shadow we found,” I said. “It’swhenwe found it. The veil is thinning. And the closer we get to the Moonbeam, the easier it will be for shadow magic to slip through.”

Lady Limora nodded. “Gideon knows this.”

My stomach twisted. “Of course he does.”

Because, of course, he would time it this way. Of course, he would send an essence, a whisper, just ahead of the convergence. He was testing the boundaries. Seeing how close he could get before we noticed.

And I had let it happen under my watch.

“I need to go to Shadowick,” I said aloud, my voice firmer than I expected. “On the eve of the Moonbeam.”

The murmurs rose again, higher this time.

Nova stiffened. “Maeve—”

“I don’t think I have a choice,” I said. “If we wait, he’ll come here. If we act after, it will be too late. But the eve of Moonbeam... the door opens.”

Keegan’s expression darkened. “And it could close behind you.”

“I know.”

Stella looked at me, eyes wide with worry. “Maeve, you just—”