My birthmark warmed faintly, and he brought his gaze back to mine. I knew there was so much more than that, and we needed answers.
“The orcs were meant to break first and go with her. It was supposed to be the beginning of the end.”
Keegan took a step forward. “And you stopped that.”
“I’d say we all delayed it,” Gideon answered Keegan, but he kept his gaze on me. “That day on the field shifted things, changed what was possible, but it didn’t make her goals impossible.”
“And now she’s after you because you ruined her pacing? Put up a hurdle?”
“Because I reminded her that she doesn’t control everything. Not yet.”
Keegan made a low sound. I couldn’t tell if it was disbelief or disdain, maybe both.
In the distance, an owl called, and I heard stone scraping on the cottage as the gargoyles kept watch. The wolves held their formation. The Ward pulsed beneath us, steady and awake. Now it was my job not to slip up.
“You said in the dream you didn’t want to come too close…to the cottage, to the Ward.”
Gideon’s gaze flicked briefly toward the porch, toward the warm light spilling through the windows, toward Karvey’s silhouette above.
“Yes,” he said.
“But here you are.” My brows lifted. “What changed in a matter of hours?”
“Your mother distracted her. I knew now was my opportunity.”
His words were like a punch to the gut. He hadn’t meant to sound careless with his answer, but the truth echoed through the air.
She chose to go to the Priestess, and that, in fact, would have taken her by surprise.
“I figured that I had a very short window to speak with you,” he continued.
“Then say what you came to say,” I said softly.
“There’s so much at stake, Maeve. More than you could even understand.”
I didn’t like how he was circling, so I stepped forward and narrowed my eyes to make a point.
“In my dream, you wanted to give me something…had something to tell me.” I studied Gideon, waiting for him to answer.
“Yes.” He slowly reached into his coat pocket, knowing how quickly wolves would react to sudden movement. I could already feel them getting unsettled behind me.
“Maeve, careful,” Keegan murmured.
I nodded as Gideon’s hand emerged, holding something small and dark.
It wasn’t a weapon or a blade, not a vial or charm.
It was a stone.
At least, that’s what it looked like at first.
My birthmark warmed again, stronger this time.
The item sat in his palm. It was a small, dark, glossy stone with thin silver veins running through it.
Gideon lifted the stone slightly so we could all see it. He wasn’t offering it yet. Just letting it exist between us.
“This,” he said quietly, “is why she’s hunting me.”
