Page 25 of Magical Melee (Stonewick Magical Midlife Witch Academy #1)

The cellar was cold and still, just like I’d left it.

The faint glow of the pedestal in the center of the room drew me, but I promised myself not to answer its call.

Its surface twinkled dimly, and the runes carved into the stone glowed with a soft, rhythmic pulse. It felt alive, as though it were waiting for me.

Instead of moving toward it, I sat on a step and stared at my phone. How did I start this message?

You better say yes, or I’ll place a hex?

I chuckled and shook my head.

No. I was growing as a human being. I wouldn’t stoop to magical shenanigans. Like some of the passages I read overnight, I couldn’t get caught up in the lives of people who no longer got caught up in mine.

With that thought, I drew a deep breath, stared at the keyboard, and punched in the first few letters.

I have a favor to ask. Can you please include our daughter in your Thanksgiving plans? My life is a little uncertain, and I want her to feel like life is normal for her or as normal as it can be when her two parents divorce at a big moment in her life.

He wrote back almost instantly.

I’m headed to Hawaii.

I rolled my eyes.

“Of course you are,” I muttered and wrote back the obvious.

Then take her with you. I don’t want to have to remind you that you didn’t help to move her on her big day at college.

A few seconds later, I received his text.

Fine. I’ll be in touch with her this afternoon once my assistant gives me the flight details for her.

See? We can be civil. I slid over the emojis, picked the perfect one, and smiled as my thumb quickly accepted and sent it.

An instant message appeared from him.

Nice, Maeve. Grow up.

I gasped at his response.

Grow up?

I’d been the mature one in the relationship our entire marriage.

Grow up?

Who the heck did he think he was?

And then I saw it. My traitor of a thumb sent him the one-finger salute.

But that was impossible. That emoji wasn’t in my recently used. I never sent that to anyone.

I stood and walked over to the pedestal, trying to catch the light to see my screen better. That emoji wasn’t in my current rotation. It was at least four pages back in the emoji bin.

I chuckled, feeling an odd sense of accomplishment.

Was it magic?

No, it couldn’t be that simple…could it?

I keep thinking about things and other things happen.

Although I thought long and hard about Nova and Stella last night, and they showed up.

Maybe I was onto something.

I quickly responded with a quick apology, saying that I never meant to send that particular emoji and hoped for the best.

But it got me thinking.

I would have had to have searched it out, yet it landed with ease and grace in a message to my lying, cheating, son-of-an ex.

Be the magic.

Oh, my God! I might actually be the magic.

By golly.

I’d take it.

The pedestal pulsed a faint glow, and I hesitated momentarily before stepping closer. My hands ran along the edge.

As I traced the lines of the runes, a subtle warmth spread through my hands, traveling up my arms and settling in my chest.

“Okay,” I murmured to myself. “Show me what you’ve got.”

The pedestal flared to life. The runes brightened more than ever before, casting a kaleidoscope of colors across the dull stone walls around me.

Beneath my hands, the wooden surface shifted, revealing a faint outline of a keyhole that shimmered before disappearing into a fog of butterflies.

I leaned in to see my breathing fog the glass before I peered into the depths, into…prisms?

What I saw took my breath away.

The mirror blended into an image beyond the glass.

A vast and sprawling library filled with books stretched endlessly into the distance. The vibrant book spines nearly glowed in colors richer than I knew possible. My heart skipped a beat at the sight.

Some titles glowed softly on the spines, while others had been etched in sparkling gold and silver. Even more books were bound in materials that shimmered like starlight. The actual shelves were carved from dark wood that seemed almost alive, their edges curling like vines and wrapping the books in comforting embraces.

It reminded me of Nova’s chair back at the tarot shop.

The place was mesmerizing and so grand that it was hard to comprehend fully.

But what struck me most was how badly I wanted to be there. It was like a magnet pulling at my heart tightly.

When I pulled my gaze away from the bookshelves, I took in the library's architecture. The design was bold, beautiful, and eerie. The domed ceiling unfolded into the distance and met stained-glass windows.

The tall, arched windows let in streams of colored light, though I couldn’t see what lay beyond them. The floor was tiled in a mosaic of deep greens and royal blues with splashes of red. When I focused on them, the shapes looked to expand and shift, like a functioning kaleidoscope.

Despite its grandiosity, the library felt warm and inviting. It wasn’t just a place of knowledge. This space felt like a sanctuary, a refuge for those who sought answers and solace in equal measure. And I needed both. The weight of its history pressed gently against me, filling me with a sense of belonging.

I needed those answers so severely that my bones ached.

Closing my eyes, I sighed and placed both hands flat against the glass, feeling the pedestal sing beneath my touch. The warmth intensified. It was as if the library itself was acknowledging me, recognizing my presence, and welcoming me into its fold.

Or was it only my wishful thinking?

“What are you?” I whispered, my voice barely audible in the stillness. “Where are you?”

The swirling light within the glass shifted, and for a brief moment, I thought I saw shapes moving between the shelves, not quite like last night, but something ethereal.

I focused carefully on what was happening beyond the glass, and my heart raced as I watched figures cloaked in shadows, their faces obscured, moving purposefully between the aisles. Their hands slid over the spines of books as if searching for something.

Or someone.

This had to be Stonewick’s library…right?

The soft creak of footsteps above snapped me out of my daydream. I glanced toward the cellar door as my heart pounded.

Had someone besides Frank noticed that I was gone?

I waited for a few seconds, but the door remained closed.

This felt too private, and I suddenly felt like a schoolgirl about to get caught kissing under the bleachers.

When I turned back to the pedestal, the light had dimmed. The shapes withered from view as I traced the edges of the glass one last time, committing the image to memory. This was a place I would return to, a resource I would need. But for now, I had to leave it undisturbed.

Wherever it was.

With a deep breath, I stepped back as the connection lingered in my bones. The cellar seemed darker, and the sense of magic receded like a tide.

I let out a deep sigh and started up the steps, unable to shake the feeling of wanting.

Longing.

Questioning.

I climbed back up the stairs, pushed open the door, and softly closed it behind me; the moment seemed worlds away.

The fire had been stoked in the living room, which was bathed in a fiery light. Stella looked up from her book in the kitchen as I entered, her eyes narrowing slightly with a knowing look.

“Find what you were looking for?” she asked.

I hesitated, then nodded. “More questions than answers, honestly.”

“That’s how it starts,” she said, handing me another cup of tea. “But you’ll get there.”

Not knowing where there was, I just nodded.

Nova and Keegan returned from their walk again.

Their expressions remained unreadable.

Twobble was already digging into a plate of scones. It was hard to figure out how his small frame stayed that way.

Frank wagged his stubby tail as I sat back down. As I sipped my tea, I couldn’t help but glance toward the cellar door.

The library was waiting, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before I returned.

But where was it at?

The Academy?

And what inside of it was pulling me so strongly?

“I want to go to the Academy’s grounds,” I said, setting my empty teacup down with a decisive clink. “I need to see it for myself.”

The room, buzzing with quiet conversation and the occasional crunch of a scone, fell silent. Stella, Nova, and Keegan exchanged concerned looks before turning their gazes to me.

Finally, Nova spoke with a firm voice. “The Academy’s grounds…you’ve already been there.”

I blinked. “What? When?”

“The gardens,” she said simply. “The night I found you wandering.”

Despite the biting November chill, the moonlit garden and its strange flowers were in full bloom.

The statues that had studied me with eyes that seemed far too alive.

The vines that curled over my toes.

“That was part of the Academy?” I shook my head. “But I didn’t see anything.”

Nova gave a small nod. “Yes. The gardens are the outermost part of the Academy’s grounds. A place where its magic still lingers. The fact that you didn’t ignite into a fireball gave me hope.”

My brows raised. “And what if I had?”

Keegan laughed. “Then we were wrong about you.”

I let the irony wash over me.

“I want to go back. And I want to go inside.”

“You’ve got guts, Maeve. I’ll give you that.” Nova shook her head, folding her hands in her lap.

“You’re joking about the fireball thing, right?”

Nova didn’t respond. She returned her gaze to the fireplace.

I turned to Stella, my lifeline in all this madness. “She’s joking, right?”

“Nova’s not one for jokes, darling. But she does have a flair for dramatic delivery. Let me clarify. The Academy doesn’t accept intruders lightly.”

“Maybe I’m not an intruder.”

Keegan’s voice cut in, steady and unyielding. “The fact that you made it into the gardens without the Academy rejecting you—or worse—means something. But going inside is another matter entirely.”

“Rejecting me?” I said, my throat suddenly dry. “Worse?”

Stella offered a tight smile. “It protects itself. It doesn’t allow just anyone to wander its halls.”

I frowned, trying to process this. Twobble did say he got tossed on his ears a mile away, but I didn’t take him literally.

“We’ve told you that the Academy decides. I wouldn’t rush it.” Stella pressed her lips together.

“But it decided to let me into the gardens,” I said slowly, piecing it together.

Nova nodded. “That’s a good sign. But the gardens are the Academy’s threshold, its outer shell. Beyond that… well, let’s just say the Academy isn’t known for rolling out the welcome mat. Keegan, Stella, and I are free to wander the gardens, but if we tried to step inside, we’d get blasted a mile away like Twobble…or worse.”

I leaned forward, my determination hardening.

Nova hesitated, then nodded. “It’s ancient, powerful, and overwhelming. It’s a place where time and reality shift…not unlike our town. But Maeve, the truth is, it’s not up to us. That answer is not going to change.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, glancing between them.

Keegan crossed his arms. His gaze was heavy with unspoken knowledge. “You don’t choose to enter the Academy, Maeve. It chooses you.”

My stomach tightened. “And if it doesn’t?”

“Then you’ll never set foot inside,” he said bluntly.

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “So I just have to wait for it to decide whether I’m worthy or not? And for some new headmistress or headmaster to open it right up? I could be too old to learn a thing by then.”

“It’s not about worthiness,” Stella said, her voice gentle. “It’s about readiness. The Academy opens its doors when it senses you’re ready for what’s inside. And even then, it’s not guaranteed. Not to mention, we’ve got Gideon stomping around like a toddler. The point is nothing is guaranteed.”

“Not guaranteed,” I echoed. “So this magical Academy holds all the answers I need, but it might never let me in.”

Frustration bubbled inside of me. “And in the meantime, what? I’m supposed to just sit here and hope it sends me a magical RSVP so I can help keep Shadowick at bay?”

“Welcome to magic,” Keegan said smugly. “It’s rarely convenient.”

I thought about the earlier emoji slip-up and thought it was especially convenient.

This cottage becoming available was extremely convenient, and Frank being my new BFF?

I absolutely needed his companionship at this moment in my life. Twobble was handy, too. And Karvey? There was nothing inconvenient about any of this.

And I wasn’t sure the Academy was trying to hide itself from me as much as some might think.

Nova stood, her presence commanding as always. “We’ll help you prepare, Maeve. Whether or not the Academy calls you, there’s still much to learn. The Academy is a valuable resource, but it’s not the only one.”

Stella nodded in agreement. “Your connection to Stonewick will continue to grow. The more you understand it, the more you’ll be able to navigate whatever comes your way.”

I looked at her and nodded quietly.

The Academy was watching, waiting.

And so was I.