Keegan nodded slowly.
“You want to protect them.”
“Yeah.”
I exhaled.
“I didn’t expect all of this when I came to Stonewick.”
“Most people don’t.”
“But now that I’m here…” I hesitated. “It feels like I’m standing between two worlds sometimes.”
He slowed slightly beside me.
“You are,” he said gently.
We had reached the narrow alley that stretched for us, and Keegan’s steps slowed even more.
The Butterfly Ward shimmered faintly ahead, its soft glow moving through the air like drifting wings.
I glanced up at him.
“You feel it too, don’t you?”
He nodded.
“Always.”
We stood there for a moment, just outside the edge of the Ward, and I wondered if I should ask about his father or bring up my suspicions about everything.
And that was right when the ache in my shoulder changed.
It had been a steady throb all the way from the tea shop, the sort of soreness you try to ignore because stopping to think about it only made it worse. I’d managed to push it to the back of my mind while we walked. The night air had helped. The quiet had helped.
But now it flared and burned.
I slowed a step and lifted my hand to my shoulder without really thinking about it.
Keegan noticed immediately.
“Still bothering you?” he asked.
“A little.”
That was only half the truth.
My fingers pressed lightly over the spot where the mark sat beneath my shirt. The warmth there wasn’t new, but the feeling underneath it had shifted.
The burn returned so intensely that it nearly reminded me of being in the battle.
Except this time, it wasn’t merely pain.
It was… something else.
My hand stayed there a moment longer.
“Maeve?” Keegan said.
