“I know that now,” she said. “But I didn’t always trust it.”
I closed my eyes briefly, then looked at her again. “Did Gideon always know you were here?”
“Yes,” she said. “He always has.”
“And?”
“And we don’t speak,” she replied. “Not really. Not about what matters.”
I believed her. That somehow made it worse. “Until recently.”
“True.”
“So when you told me you didn’t know where he’d go,” I said, “that was true.”
“Yes,” she said. “But I know what he’ll be tempted by.”
“Which is?” I asked.
“Relevance,” she said. “Control. The belief that he still has a role to play.”
I felt a chill trace my spine. “And Shadowick gives him that.”
“Shadowick gives everyone that,” Luna replied. “That’s its danger, but Stonewick can offer the same.”
Silence fell again, heavy but honest now.
Finally, I stood. “Thank you for telling me.”
Her eyes searched my face. “Are you angry?”
“Yes,” I said. “But not in a way that means I won’t listen. I’m not mad that you’re from Shadowick. I’m upset that our bond wasn’t strong enough that you felt you could tell me.”
Relief flickered across her features.
“I need you to understand something,” I continued. “My daughter can’t be collateral in anyone’s family history. Not yours. Not mine. Not the Priestess’s.”
“I understand,” Luna said immediately. “Truly.”
I nodded once. “Good. Because if Gideon moves toward Shadowick again, or toward anything that puts her in danger, I need to know. Immediately.”
“You will,” she promised.
I moved toward the door, then paused with my hand on the handle. “One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“You didn’t fail your family by refusing Shadowick,” I said. “You survived them.”
Her breath caught, and I left the shop as the truth sat heavy in my chest, but it was better than shadows.
Gideon wasn’t just unmoored.
He was tied to a history that refused to stay buried.
And now, so was I.
Chapter Twenty-One
