Page 132 of Magical Mayhem

When they reached me, it was my mother who spoke first.

“Maeve,” she said, her voice pitched low enough that only I could hear. Her eyes flicked once toward the students, then back to me. “We need to talk.”

The way she said it made my skin prickle.

It wasn’t her usual sharpness, the tone that made me feel twelve years old again. It was steadier, graver as if the weight in my chest had found its echo in hers.

I drew a slow breath, steadying myself. “About what?”

But she didn’t answer. Not yet.

She only held my gaze, and beside her, Keegan’s mother’s expression gave away nothing.

I felt the walls of the Academy hum around us, like even the stone was listening.

And in that moment, I knew: whatever this was, it mattered.

It mattered more than I was ready to admit.

I didn’t trust the heaviness in my mother’s voice, or the way Keegan’s mother stood beside her like a shadow that had decided, finally, to step into the light. But the look in their eyes told me this wasn’t a conversation that could be shrugged off.

“All right,” I said, my voice steady even though my stomach was anything but. “We’ll talk.”

Before I let myself be pulled into whatever this was, I glanced across the room where Stella stood fussing with her group, tying lavender sprigs into charms. She caught my look immediately, of course she did, and stalked over, shawl swishing like a war banner.

“You need me, darling?”

“Yes,” I said, lowering my voice. “I need you to take a team to Gideon. He can’t be left alone, not while Malore’s pressing this hard. Take Skonk and Twobble, and…” My eyes found the trio of vampire ladies, Opal, Vivienne, and Mara, lounging near the far table with teacups in hand like the sky wasn’t splitting above us. “The rest of the vamp gals. If anyone can keep watch without flinching, it’s them.”

Vivienne raised her brows at me across the hall, clearly having heard her name, and tapped the rim of her teacup in a way that saidWe’ll see.Opal smirked, and Mara stretched like a cat who’d been waiting for precisely this sort of trouble.

Stella pressed her lips together. “Gideon. Always Gideon. You’re certain this isn’t just one more disaster to trip into?”

“I’m certain he’s part of this, whether we want him to be or not,” I said. “And I need to know he’s watched by people I trust.”

She leaned closer, lowering her voice so only I could hear. “Don’t forget to breathe while you’re playing Commander, Maeve. No one likes a fainting heroine.”

I almost laughed, almost, but nodded my thanks. “Keep him safe.”

Stella’s shawl flared as she turned, snapping her fingers at Skonk and Twobble, who scrambled to catch up. The vampire trio glided after them, muttering and giggling like this was a social call instead of a watch over a fallen mage. I exhaled once they were gone.

When I turned back, my gaze snagged on Grandma Elira.

She stood at one of the tall windows, her form more fragile than I wanted to admit. Her eyes dimmed against the angry churn of the skies outside. The fog swirled thick, shot through with lightning that never quite struck the earth. Elira’s expression was far away, distant, as though she saw something none of us could stop. Her lips moved faintly, but no sound came.

She’d always been full of secrets.

My chest tightened. She had lived through this once before. She knew what it looked like when Stonewick was about to split.

And I think she thought we were standing on the edge of it again.

I dragged my attention back before despair rooted me where I stood. My mother was watching me closely, and Keegan’s mother’s eyes, so like his, were tracking my every move.

“All right,” I said, squaring my shoulders. “I’m listening. What is it you needed to tell me?”

My mother’s gaze flickered toward Keegan’s mother, then back to me.

“It isn’t simple,” she said carefully. “And I need you to hear it all before you…”