“You’re steady,” Nova said. “And you can fight without needing to prove you can.”
Caleb absorbed that with a slight nod.
“And the other team?” I asked, though I already felt the answer coming.
Nova looked at me, then Bella and Ardetia.
“No,” my dad said, shaking his head.
I almost laughed, but nothing about his face invited it.
“I haven’t even said anything.” I shrugged.
“You don’t have to. I know that look.” His gaze dropped briefly to the pendant. “You’re going in to help rescue her.”
I smiled at my dad and walked toward him. “I have to.”
“You don’t.” He reached for my hand. “You can stay on the perimeter and toy with your grandmother, but you don’t need to enter the compound.”
“But I do.” My hand curled around the moonstone. “The pendant seems to block the shadow mark. The Priestess won’t expect that. She thinks she can feel me coming.”
“The element of surprise is one of the few gifts we have.” Ardetia’s eyes narrowed slightly. “We have to use this to our advantage.”
My dad shook his head. “That's not what we talked about.”
“We didn’t know her pendant muted the mark,” Nova explained.
“Dad, I know the tables have turned now, but we have to depend on each other and trust that we both can make it out with Mom.”
“I know you're right.” He let go of my hand and walked over to the window.
Bella smiled. “I can get us through the physical patrols. Foxes are good at finding paths people forget they made.”
“Very true,” Caleb agreed, and I wondered if a little something was starting between them.
I looked toward the door as if I could feel Keegan already gone, already on the road to Celeste. The thought hollowed something out in me, but it also steadied me in a strange way.
Celeste would be safe, or at least, safer.
“Keegan will hate this,” Caleb said.
“Keegan hates most plans that involve me breathing near danger.”
“He loves you,” Stella said simply.
The room went still for half a beat, and I swallowed. I never really talked about my personal life, but there was no denyingthe connection Keegan and I had. The love and respect were apparent between Keegan and me to anyone around us, so there was no point in denying it.
“Yes,” I said quietly. “And I love him. Which is why he’s protecting my daughter. I had to trust him with my life and more importantly, my daughter’s.”
Nova tapped the map. Lines of faint silver began spreading across the page, forming a crude map I didn’t recognize. Sure, I'd flown over a time or two with my broomstick, but that was quite different than understanding the intricacies.
“The compound sits beyond the old ridge where the soil thins,” she said. “As we know, it’s not fully in Shadowick.”
Twobble climbed onto the foot of my bed, scattering crumbs. “What about goblin tunnels? Would they show up on the map?”
“No,” Nova said. “Should they?”
He looked offended. “Rude. Of course they should. Do you think we've gone to all this trouble under Shadowick and Stonewick to not burrow our way under the Priestess’ compound at some point?”
