Page 29 of Magical Melee

She nodded sympathetically. “It’s always a lovely time of the night to stroll in Stonewick.”

I realized I didn’t even know what time it was until my eyes landed on an ornate clock behind Ember. It was nearly two in the morning.

“Let me know if you need anything when you return,” she said.

I nodded and slipped through the front door with Frank.

The quiet town was cloaked in a silvery light. The ornate streetlights pooled spots of amber onto the cobblestones as dark shadows stretched along the old buildings.

A faint light glowed from inside the tea shop, and a familiar ache surfaced when I thought about that place.

And the photograph.

I wandered down the main street with Frank trotting by my side without a tourist in sight. I didn’t know where I was walking or why I needed to be outside. I paused outside the tea shop and peered inside through the glass, half-expecting to see Stella’s face appear out of the darkness, but the shop remained silent and still.

As I moved further into the heart of town, I began noticing things I hadn’t seen in the daylight: strange symbols carved into the bricks of certain buildings or architecture older than anything in Wisconsin should be.

And each time I stopped to study architecture, so did Frank.

“What do you think, Frank? You like this place?” I pointed at a building that had a wrought-iron gate out front in the center of the building.

It felt like I was standing in the middle of something ancient and out of place in the middle of Wisconsin. But I also recognized that this town made money by being on-brand.

As I stood staring at the gate, I noticed a symbol of a candle with an ignited flame welded into the lock.

I looked up at the building and guessed it to be six or seven stories. There were few windows, and none of them in a row that would make sense. Most were made from stained glass. I brought my gaze back down and looked through the wrought-iron gate to see a stone path.

My fingers traced along the flame, and I felt a faint pulse underneath my fingertips.

“Curious, aren’t they?” The voice startled me, and I spun around to see Nova standing just behind me, her green eyes glinting in the dim moonlight.

She was wrapped in a shawl that seemed to blend into the shadows, making her appear almost spectral. A small, knowing smile played on her lips.

“Nova,” I stammered, trying to steady my breathing. “What are you doing here? You scared me half to death.”

She tilted her head, her eyes fixed on me. “I could ask you the same thing, Maeve.”

I shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep. What about you?”

“Night is the most peaceful time around here.” She smiled and glanced behind me. “When the crowds die off, I can finally focus again.”

“Do you ever get tired of it?”

“Of what?”

“Having to play the part of a mystic or whatever.”

A knowing look crossed her features. “I heard that Skye tested to see if she was pregnant.”

“Yeah, she did.” I nodded. “That was a good guess.”

“It was no guess.”

I smiled and turned around slowly to look at the gate. “Of course, it wasn’t.”

She took a few steps forward and stood behind me. “Keegan wasn’t happy with me.”

The mere mention of his name made my tummy tighten. “Why’s that?”