Keegan’s gaze held mine without flinching. “Yes.”
“I’m afraid,” he continued, voice quieter now, “because I know what she does with people who walk into her reach believing they can bargain. You even had to rescue Gideon from her compound, and you want to show up there…what, tonight? Bargain a little?”
Keegan didn’t toss that word around. If he saidafraid, he meant it.
I swallowed. “I wouldn’t bargain.”
“You don’t have to,” he said. “She’ll bargain for you.”
The fire cracked again, and the cottage’s warmth suddenly didn’t feel like enough.
I closed my eyes, imagining the aftermath when it turned out my quick decisiveness was exactly what she’d been waiting for.
Keegan reached for my hand then. His fingers threaded through mine, and he studied me.
“You don’t have to prove anything,” he said softly. “Not to her. Not to Stonewick. Not to anyone. Don’t lose sight of that. She’s been haunting Stonewick longer than any of us has been alive. There’s no rush.”
“I’m not trying to prove anything,” I whispered.
“You are. You keep thinking that if you can meet the threat head-on, you can keep everyone safe. That you can stop the Priestess just by showing up.”
My throat tightened, and I looked up at him. “Can’t I?”
Keegan’s eyes softened, and I felt a ripple of cold air through the cottage.
“You don’t want to walk into the mouth of the very thing that wants to swallow you, even if it’s your grandmother.”
I nodded, listening to his words and truly hearing them.
“I know how much is at stake,” he continued. “The Academy. The town. Your students. Your father. The Wards. All of it.” His voice dipped. “And I know you’d trade yourself for all of them without thinking.”
I opened my mouth to deny it, then stopped because we both knew it was true.
Keegan’s jaw flexed, and when he spoke again, there was something rawer under the steadiness.
“And selfishly,” he said, “I can’t bear it.”
I stared at him, feeling tears prick my eyes. “Keegan…”
He didn’t look away. “I can’t bear to think of you in her hands. I can’t bear to think of you thinking you’re doing the right thing and realizing too late you walked into a trap.” His voice roughened just slightly. “I can’t bear losing you.”
My chest ached, fluttered, and twisted into something I hadn’t felt for so long.
Needed.
“So, we play smart.”
“Yes,” he said immediately. “We play together, and we don’t give her the piece she wants most.”
I swallowed. “And if she comes here?”
Keegan’s gaze sharpened again, the softness pulling back into something protective.
“Then she finds out Stonewick doesn’t fold just because she stares at it or raises her wand.”
I squeezed his hand once, and it felt like a promise I could keep.
“I hate that she makes me feel like every choice is a trap,” I admitted.
