Page 125 of Magical Moonbeam

“I do.” He tilted his head. His eyes, that strange silver-blue, glinted in the haze. “You’ve walked the Hedge. You’ve danced on the edge of two worlds. You ache in places others don’t even feel.”

The ground trembled slightly. Subtle, but it was there. The curse knew we were talking. The shadow dancers would be near again soon. Watching. Listening.

I steadied my voice. “Why did you curse Stonewick?”

He smiled. It was slow and wrong. “Because they told me I couldn’t. They told me I was imagining things. Because I asked to change the system, and they laughed. So I broke it instead.”

“Who are they?”

“Perhaps that’s for you to learn the hard way.”

I took a step back. “You destroyed lives. Families.”

“They were already ruined,” he snapped, and just like that, the mask cracked. “Stonewick and its perfect order, always choosing the same bloodlines, the same traditions. Magic passed to the ones already in power. The rest of us waited in the dark. If anyone should understand that, it’s you. Look how they turned their backs on your dad.”

“But you cursed him to stay that way.”

“To remind everyone what they did.”

“Don’t try to make yourself sound noble,” I shot back, trying to control my anger.

“You cursed more than a town,” I said quietly. “You cursed yourself, and you can’t even see it.”

His expression darkened. “And yet, here I stand. Stronger than I’ve ever been.”

I could feel it. The magic coiled in him wasn’t natural. It didn’t move like the wind or the flame or the song of the forest. It pulsed like something starved and spiteful. Shadow-fed. Twisting.

“You’ve aligned yourself with something ancient,” I whispered. “Something even you can’t control.”

A ripple of amusement moved through him. “Control is an illusion, Maeve. Influence, that’s what matters.”

He circled me now, slow as the fog. “Tell me something. Do your friends know? The way you still wonder if I can be saved?”

I flinched, and that gave him more pleasure than it should have.

“They don’t know what you dream about,” he said softly. “They don’t feel what I do in the tether between us. The part of you that is still curious, still unsure. Do they know why you’re curious?”

I clenched my fists. “You manipulated me—”

“Imetyou.” He stepped closer. “In the only place you were ever honest. Inside your thoughts.”

His hand lifted, hovering just inches from my face. The cold radiating off him was a presence, sharp and unbearable. “You feel it too. That ache. That crack in the world. Why not join me and mend it in our image?”

My stomach turned. “Because I still believe in healing what can be saved, not burning it down.”

His gaze turned solemn. “Then you’re weaker than I thought.”

A movement behind him caught my eye, a flicker of motion near the edge of the square. I couldn’t see who it was. Just thefaintest silhouette. Maybe one of mine. Maybe not. But the panic that rose in my throat wasn’t for me.

They weren’t supposed to move. If Gideon noticed…

I forced my gaze back to his. “You said you wanted me here. I’m here. But I didn’t come to stand beside you.”

The air around us grew thicker. The fog pressed against my skin like it wanted to peel it back.

“You’re going to make me kill you, aren’t you?” Gideon asked softly.

“No,” I said, voice steady despite the fear curdling my spine. “You’re going to make a choice. Right here. Right now.”