I stood alone, the buzz of the town muffled around me. Laughter drifted faintly from somewhere nearby, but it felt like another world.
I’d been so sure.
So certain it was Darren. That he’d brought danger to Celeste. That he was part of Gideon’s twisted web.
But it wasn’t him.
It was them.
Krina and Mys. Together. And that thing between them, it wasn’t attacking. It wasresponding.Drawn to something in them or because of them.
And I’d let them slip away.
I leaned against the wall of the bakery, trying to catch my breath, heart hammering against my ribs with more than exertion. My mind raced through everything I knew: Krina’s story, her fear, her ex-husband’s supposed tie to shadow magic. But tonight… There had been no fear in her face.
Only certainty.
Only choice.
She wasn’t runningfromthe shadow.
She wasmoving with it.
I pulled out my phone, hands still trembling. I fired off a message to Keegan.
On the back side of the bakery. I lost them. Krina and Mys. There was shadow magic. Not an attack. Something else.
I didn’t even hit send before I heard footsteps approaching.
Keegan rounded the corner a second later, face sharp, coat flapping behind him. His eyes scanned me, then the empty space behind.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I said. “But I think I was wrong about Celeste’s boyfriend.”
He blinked. “What?”
“It wasn’t him. It wasn’tthat.”
I pointed behind me. “It was Krina and Mys. They were in it. And there was shadow magic with them. Not chasing them. Moving with them.”
Keegan didn’t speak. His jaw clenched, and I could see him piecing it together, the same way I was.
“I don’t know what it means,” I said. “But they ran. The second I saw them, theyran.”
“That’s not guilt,” he murmured. “That’s planning.”
“I thought they were the ones who needed help,” I said, my voice quieter now. “But they may have been hiding something from the beginning.”
Keegan looked down the alley. “Then we need to find out what. Before the shadow shows up again.”
And this time, I didn’t disagree.
Because it wasn’t waiting anymore.
It wasmoving.
By the time we got back to the cottage, Skye was slumped in the passenger seat, her hands tucked under her belly, eyes half-lidded and fluttering. The ride had lulled her into a drowsy state, and I didn’t blame her; emotionally and physically, this whole day had taken a toll.
