“Your family,” I said quietly. “They’re connected to Gideon.”
Her shoulders sagged, just a little. “He’s my cousin.”
The room seemed to tilt, the coziness of the shop suddenly threaded with something darker and sharper.
Gideon.
Luna.
Shadowick. All the quiet overlaps I’d noticed but dismissed. The reasons she didn’t want to teachinthe Academy and always kept one foot out of our tight-knit circle.
“You knew,” I said.
“I knew what he was capable of,” she replied. “When I was young, I didn’t know who he would become or what his choices would be.”
I pressed my palms against my knees, grounding myself.
“And when he came to Stonewick?”
“I hoped he wouldn’t,” she admitted. “And when he did, I hoped he’d pass through.”
“He didn’t,” I said.
“No,” she agreed. “He never does.”
I stared at the yarn-lined walls, at the softness she’d built so deliberately around herself.
“So the magic your family wanted you to do,” I said slowly, “had nothing to do with knitting.”
A faint, sad smile touched her lips. “Knitting is what I chose instead.”
“To anchor yourself,” I murmured.
“To remember who I am,” she corrected.
Anger flared hot and sudden. It wasn’t exactly at Luna, but at the heaviness of everything she’d kept from me.
“You let me walk into this blind,” I said. “You could have given us more direction.”
Her expression tightened. “I have no direction to give. I severed my ties with Shadowick and, moreover, Gideon. He’s a loose cannon, always has been.”
“That’s not the point,” I snapped, then softened my tone. “You should’ve told me.”
“Yes,” she said quietly. “I should have.”
“Why didn’t you?”
She hesitated, and for the first time since I’d known her, she looked afraid.
“Because I was afraid that if I said it out loud, Stonewick would decide I was part of the problem. Or worse, you would.”
The words landed hard.
“I chose this town,” she went on. “I chose this life. I chose to stay small and quiet and useful in ways that didn’t harm anyone. I thought that was enough.”
I leaned back, letting that settle.
“Stonewick doesn’t punish people for where they come from,” I said slowly. “It punishes people for what they do with it.”
