Page 40 of Magical Melee

I sighed, frustrated but unwilling to give up. “Fine. You can keep your distance. Just don’t expect me to stop asking questions.”

Keegan chuckled, though there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

For the rest of the meal, we settled into a tense truce, carefully avoiding the deeper topics that had hung between us from the start. I couldn’t deny there was something magneticabout him—a pull that left me simultaneously annoyed and intrigued. But I wasn’t here for games, and the last thing I needed was another man in my life who couldn’t be straight with me.

As we finished our food, I set my napkin down, studying him. “Keegan, are you going to give me a straight answer about anything? Or am I just wasting my time?”

He met my gaze, and his eyes softened slightly, but his expression remained closed off. “You’re not wasting your time. Stonewick has a way of revealing things when you’re ready. Just… don’t rush it.”

“Easy for you to say,” I muttered, folding my napkin and leaning back in my chair. “Why was I here with my dad?”

“You lived here.”

The revelation shot a cold wedge of ice through me.

He looked at me thoughtfully as if trying to decide whether or not to go on.

“Maeve,” he said, his voice low and serious, “there are things about this town that are… dangerous. Things that people like Nova and Stella have spent their lives protecting people from. I’m not saying this to scare you, but you should be careful. Some of the answers you’re looking for might not bring you peace. Life here is a balance.”

The warning sent a chill down my spine, and for a moment, I felt the gravity of what he was saying. But I couldn’t ignore the pull, the strange connection I felt.

“I can handle it,” I said, trying to sound braver than I felt. “Whatever’s in my family history, whatever connection I have to Stonewick… I’m not running away from it.”

He nodded slowly as if he’d expected nothing less. “Just… take it one step at a time. And if you need help…” He hesitated, glancing away before finishing, “You know where to find me.”

I wanted to press him for more, to make him tell me what he was so clearly holding back. But I could sense the wall around him was too strong for me to break down in one lunch. Still, I wasn’t ready to give up, not by a long shot.

As we stood up to leave, frustration and anticipation washed over me. Keegan walked me back to the hotel, where he stopped. His hand lingered at his side as if he wanted to reach out but couldn’t bring himself to.

He started toward the hotel’s doors, and I turned in the other direction.

“Take care, Maeve,” he said, his voice softer than I’d heard it all day.

“You too,” I replied, holding his gaze a moment longer before turning and walking away.

I could see he had expected me to go inside the hotel, but I’d gotten tired of holding myself to people’s expectations.

The urge to look back was strong, but I forced myself to keep walking, each step a reminder that I was on a path I wasn’t ready to abandon.

Stonewick’s mysterieswere just beginning to unravel, and I knew I was intoo deep to turn back now.

Chapter Ten

I wandered aimlessly, my mind drifting back to the dream. Or was it a memory? The details were too sharp, too specific to dismiss. And the more I thought about it, the more confident I became that I hadn’t simply imagined it. Something had happened last night.

As I walked, my steps led me back to the familiar towering building from the night before.

The iron gate stood in front of me, and the tall building reached toward the sky. The random stained-glass windows sparkled in the sunlight. Today, it didn’t look imposing.

My fingers rested on the cold metal bathed in sunlight.

“Back so soon?”

The voice startled me, and I saw Nova standing inside the gate.

Her expression was both amused and unsurprised.

Her green eyes shone in the sunlight, but she looked no different from last night.