Page 140 of Magical Moonbeam

Darren’s eyes narrowed as I approached. He stepped in front of her, one hand raised like he was the one protectingher.

“Maeve,” he said smoothly, “I think you’re upset. Maybe we should—”

“Move,” I said, breathless.

Celeste blinked. “Mom, what are you doing?”

“I have to tell you something,” I said, ignoring Darren’s presence entirely now. “Something I should’ve told you the moment I found out.”

Darren didn’t budge. His grip on her hand tightened.

“I think you’re confused. Maybe we should go get some air—”

“We’realreadyin the air,” I snapped, glaring at him before turning back to my daughter. “Celeste, please. Listen to me.”

“Mom…”

Her voice trembled.

She could feel it. The edge beneath us. The heaviness in the air. The truth that was just out of reach, like it had been crouching nearby for months, waiting to be acknowledged.

“I didn’t want to drag you into this,” I said. “I didn’t want you to evenknowthis part of me. I’m still learning it myself.”

Darren made a soft scoffing noise.

“You hear yourself, Maeve? You soundinsane. See what I told you? She’s not in her right mind.”

“Shut up,” I growled, my voice full of steel. “You don’t get to talk right now.”

He blinked that calm, collected mask of his, and it faltered for just a second. A glimmer of something older.

He wasn’t afraid, but he was annoyed.

“You lied to her,” I said, looking straight at him. “You’ve been lying since the day you met her.”

“I didn’t—” he began, but Celeste was already looking at me.

“Mom,” she said, her voice thinner now. “What’s going on? What’s happening?”

I took a breath.

This wasn’t how I wanted it to happen. Not in this cursed town, not beneath the moon, not with the shadows circling and time fraying around the edges. But maybe it had to be here. Maybe this was the only way she’d believe me.

“Celeste,” I said, my voice steady despite the panic in my veins. “Stonewick isn’t just a tourist town. It’s real. The magic. The history. There’s even an Academy. Everything. It’s all real. And you—” I reached for her hand, but Darren tugged her back half a step. “You’re part of it.”

She frowned. “Part of what?”

“Magic runs through you,” I said. “Through our whole line. I didn’t want it to affect you. I tried to shield you from it, but—”

“Magic?” she echoed, her brows drawn together. “You mean… like real magic?”

Darren laughed then. Sharp and theatrical. “Oh, comeon.”

But Celeste didn’t laugh. She just stared at me, searching my face.

“Why wouldn’t you tell me this before?”

“Because I was trying to give you a normal life,” I said. “Because I was scared. And I didn’t think you’d believe me if I said it in your dorm room or over the phone. But this—” I waved a hand at the buildings, the fog, the pulsing air. “This is proof.”