Page 46 of Magical Mayhem (Stonewick Magical Midlife Witch Academy #7)

The night had finally quieted.

No more roaring shadows, no more thunderous strikes rattling the stones. Only the warm hush of summer air pressing soft against our skin, a strange, unexpected balm after so much fury. The sky glittered with stars, clear and steady, as if the storm had never existed.

Students and teachers sprawled across the courtyard steps, leaning against one another in tired heaps.

Keegan’s arm was firm around my shoulders, steadying me, though I knew he was barely holding himself upright.

My father sat with his torch extinguished, its blackened tip across his knees.

My mother had both arms wrapped around him, and for once, he didn’t squirm away.

Even the Silver Wolf, back in her human form now, stood near enough to let the glow of her presence warm the air.

Silence lingered, heavy but not empty. It wrapped around us tenderly

Twobble sniffled. Loudly. He rubbed his palm down his nose, muttering in that way that made you want to roll your eyes and hug him all at once.

“She was one hell of a woman,” he said, clearing his throat. “One hell of a woman.”

The solemnity cracked. Something inside me broke open, and before I could stop it, I was laughing.

My dad laughed too, the sound booming and ragged. He slapped his knee, shaking his head, and for once, my mother didn’t scold him for being “undignified.”

I hugged Twobble, burying my face against his small shoulder as Keegan’s arm tightened around me. Laughter spilled from me like water breaking through stone, hot with tears but bright too.

We had survived.

Malore was gone.

But it wasn’t over.

We still had the circle to complete. We still had a village to rebuild. The shadows might scatter, but the scars would linger. And yet here, in this moment, laughter wasn’t treason. It was medicine.

“You know,” Twobble sniffed again, patting my back awkwardly, “I’m impressed by my bravery.’

“Bravery?” Skonk snorted from a few steps down, his grin devilish even under soot. “You hid under Frank’s elbow for half the fight.”

“Strategic cover,” Twobble corrected, sniffing again. “Very advanced maneuver. You wouldn’t understand.”

I couldn’t help it, I grinned.

Keegan leaned closer, his hazel eyes soft, the corners crinkling. “Only in midlife could cracked wands and sprained wrists look this proud.”

I tilted my head against his shoulder, exhaustion tugging at my bones. “Magic in midlife isn’t the end. It’s the start. They’re proving it.”

He kissed the top of my head, his arm tightening. “So are you.”

I swallowed hard, the lump in my throat refusing to ease.

Twobble sniffed again, breaking the moment. “If anyone’s passing out medals, I’d like mine shaped like a pie. Apple, preferably.”

Skonk groaned, but a few of the students perked up.

“Pie actually sounds good,” one witch murmured.

My father leaned back, wiping his face with his sleeve. “You all fought like hell. Stonewick will remember this day.”

“Stonewick will rebuild,” my mother said firmly, squeezing his hand. “And so will we.”

I nodded, though my chest tightened at the memory of Grandma Elira. “She told me her purpose was something else. She always said she’d know when the time was right. I never understood it, and I never stopped asking. And all along, she carried that burden.”

Keegan pressed his lips to my temple, whispering, “She carried it so you wouldn’t have to.”

Twobble, unhelpful but sweet, added, “She probably also carried snacks in her sleeves. And poof. Gone, just like that.”

That drew out another round of broken, tear-streaked laughter. My dad chuckled so hard he wheezed, my mother wiped at her eyes, and even Keegan let out a low laugh despite the weight in his chest.

We sat there sprawled across the regal Academy’s steps. The grandeur of its carved stone columns and shimmering spells seemed softer now, as if it were holding us close instead of towering above us.

Students compared burns, bruises, and broken wands.

Another joked that she’d frame the splintered remains of her wand as proof she’d lived a little.

And through it all, pride glowed brighter than the stars.

Because magic in midlife wasn’t the fading of power.

It was the beginning.

The start of something we were only just beginning to understand.

The laughter around us was still humming when Twobble tilted his head at Skonk. He squinted, his nose wrinkling as if he smelled something strange. Then his eyes widened, and he jabbed a stubby finger toward the goblin.

“Hey,” Twobble said, squinting harder. “Weren’t you supposed to be guarding Gideon?” His voice rose like a suspicious parent. “And why do you have yarn stuck in your four strands of hair?”

The courtyard fell into a hush again, eyes swiveling toward Skonk.

The goblin blinked, reached up, and plucked a bright blue thread from his wiry hair. He flicked it away with a nonchalant shrug.

“Ah. That.” He cleared his throat and nodded like a man about to give an important speech. “I did guard him. Along with Stella. And Lady Limora and the rest of the vampiric tea party.”

My stomach dropped like a stone. “Skonk?”

He held up a clawed hand. “But.”

My pulse thumped in my ears. “But what?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “There was… a development.”

The beat of silence was deafening. My chest tightened. “A development?”

Skonk nodded, looking more uncomfortable than I’d ever seen him. “Yes. A development that I don’t entirely understand. Yet.”

“Skonk,” I whispered, my voice trembling with something between dread and fury. “Where is Stella?”

The goblin’s face flushed a deep shade of mossy green. He coughed, scuffed his foot against the step, and muttered, “She’s… occupied.”

I rose to my feet, every nerve in my body flaring.

“Skonk, this isn’t funny.” My voice echoed through the courtyard, louder than I meant. “Where is Stella? Where is Gideon?”

Keegan rose too, though his knees wobbled.

Skonk threw up both hands.

“All right, all right! Don’t bite my head off, witch. Here’s what happened. I was there. Stella was there. Lady Limora and her entourage of sparkly bats were there. We were holding our ground.”

He paced a little, his stubby legs carrying him back and forth, gesturing wildly as he spoke.

“But then…then the sky cracked open. Light spilled through, all dramatic-like, very pretty, if I weren’t nearly blinded.

And in that very moment,” He paused, his expression twisting into baffled disgust. “Luna burst into the hotel room.”

“Luna?” I repeated, my voice sharp.

“The yarn witch,” Skonk said, nodding solemnly. “With her bags of trickery and… fiber arts.”

Twobble’s brows shot up. “Fiber arts?”

“Yes! Don’t laugh. She had skeins of the stuff. Soft, scratchy, enchanted, who knows. Next thing we knew, Stella was tied up tighter than a roast and twirling from the ceiling fan.”

Gasps and muffled laughter rippled through the students still lingering nearby.

“And Lady Limora?” I asked low.

Skonk’s blush deepened until it looked like his whole face might ignite. “Tied to the bed. With Vivienne, Opal, and Mara. Arms out, all very dramatic, like one of those tawdry romance novels Stella hides under her shawls. Yarn everywhere. It smelled like lavender wool.”

I groaned, pressing a hand to my forehead.

“And Gideon?”

Skonk winced. “He fled with Luna. Yarn trickery still around his arms. I barely got away myself. Crawled through a window like a dignified goblin.”

Keegan swayed slightly, catching himself against the step’s railing. His face was pale, but his eyes were blazing. “You left the elderly vampires tied up in one of my hotel rooms?”

The courtyard rippled with suppressed laughter, but Keegan’s tone carried a bite that silenced it quickly.

Skonk adjusted an imaginary tie at his throat, straightening with mock dignity.

“Well. When you put it that way, it doesn’t sound nearly as heroic as me coming here to get help to rescue them, does it?”

Twobble’s mouth spread into a wide, toothy grin. He shook his head in sheer delight, crumbs tumbling from his chin. “Now who’s the Twiblet?”

A roar of laughter erupted around us this time, but I couldn’t laugh.

My heart hammered too fast.

Stella. Lady Limora. Vivienne. Mara. Opal. Incapacitated.

Gideon gone with Luna of all people pulling the strings, literally.

I stared hard at Skonk, my voice tight. “You’re lucky I don’t charm you into a ball of yarn myself.”

He winced, then threw up his hands. “Hey, I didn’t plan for the yarn witch to burst in. I thought my job was just babysitting the cursed mage. Not fending off enchanted knitting circles!”

Twobble wiped his nose on his sleeve, still giggling. “You’ve got to admit, Maeve, the visual is incredible. Stella twirling from a ceiling fan? I might die happy if it didn’t mean Gideon was on the loose.”

I sat back down on the step, my head spinning, my hands trembling. The warm summer air pressed close, the stars overhead bright as ever, but it did nothing to soothe me.

Luna was gone. Gideon too.

And somehow, some way, this wasn’t over.