Page 6 of Magical Melee (Stonewick Magical Midlife Witch Academy #1)

“I’m pregnant.” The squeal shattered all sound barriers as Frank jumped, and Keegan straightened from the wall.

Skye bounded into the hall, looking delirious. “Can you believe it? Nova was right.”

Keegan glanced at me before looking at Skye. “Nova told you this?”

Skye nodded happily as I hugged her, but I noticed Keegan’s jaw clenched slightly.

“I have to tell my husband. He’s going to fall over.” She squeezed my arms and dashed into the hotel room.

“They’ve been trying for years,” I explained.

Keegan’s eyes met mine, and I noticed a storm brewing behind his gaze.

“Everything okay?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah. Things are fine. Listen, I have some stuff I need to attend to, but I’m glad you like the photo.”

“Hey, can we grab some coffee or tea tomorrow? Maybe?” I asked. “It just seems like you remember more than I do and…”

“Let’s do it. Just tell the front desk what time, and they’ll track me down.” He started off down the hallway, and my heart fell a little bit.

I glanced down at Frank, who wasn’t moving a muscle. “Hey, don’t you want your dog?”

He laughed and shook his head. “There is no owning Frank in this town. He does what he wants.”

And with that, Keegan vanished down the hallway. I reached down and patted Frank’s head and went back into the hotel room, spinning with even more questions than I’d had before.

Skye was animatedly talking to her husband, and I couldn’t help but notice how the excitement was bubbling through her. She saw me, told him she loved him, and hung up.

“Can you believe it?” she asked, shaking her head. “Maybe that woman knows her stuff.”

“Kind of looks like it.” I nodded, sitting in front of my cheeseburger.

She narrowed her eyes on me. “So, what did she tell you .”

I shook my head and laughed. “We never really got to that point in the reading. She was still explaining the cards.”

Skye smiled, looking worlds away, but she answered. “You’ve always had a flare for the dramatic.”

I chuckled and nodded. “True. I’m sure I’ve embarrassed Celeste more times than I’d like to admit.”

“But she knows she’s loved,” Skye said gently. “You’re an amazing Mom.”

“And you are, too.” I smiled, looking at the bliss running through my best friend. “So, what did hubby say?”

“He can’t wait for me to come home to celebrate.”

“I bet.” I glanced around the room, and my eyes landed on the photo. The urge to explore Stonewick and talk to Keegan was hard to ignore. I brought my gaze back to Skye. “You know, if you want to go home early. I totally understand.”

“I wouldn’t abandon you,” she gasped.

I chuckled and nodded. “No, I know. You never would, but this isn’t like abandoning me. I can tell your guy needs you at home, and Keegan told me some stuff that makes me want to explore the town a little more.”

Her brows quirked. “Really? What did he tell you?”

I laughed. “I guess it’s more what he didn’t tell me. But I did find out that it was my mom taking that photo, and apparently, we spent all of our time hanging around Stonewick.”

She cocked her head slightly. “I thought your mom wasn’t into this town.”

“She wasn’t.” I shrugged. “I’m hoping to talk to Keegan some more tomorrow.”

She wiggled her brows. “Oh, yeah?”

I grinned and shook my head. “Not like that, Skye. Thanks, though.”

“He’s so hot in that dark and brooding way.”

“I think your hormones are going crazy.”

A few minutes of silence sat between us, and we both ate some of our meal.

“What if she’s right?”

“Who?” I asked.

“Nova. What if I’m having twins?”

“That would be incredible.”

“But twice? Two sets of twins?”

“Nothing would surprise me with you,” I said between bites of the cheeseburger. “But I’ll be amazed if Nova predicted it.”

She nodded with a smile. “Are you going to go back to see her?”

“I think I will.” I shrugged. “I’m just puzzled why I supposedly spent a lot of time here when my dad was around, and then I was told this place was a tourist trap and horrible to come to after he died.”

“Maybe it was too painful for your mom. Lots of memories or something?”

“You could be right.”

She ran her finger along the table in a circle. “So, you wouldn’t mind if I went home early?”

Mind it? I would love it.

I shook my head. “You’re going to think I’m nuts, but this place has felt so familiar and inviting. I think I kind of just need some time to wander.”

“Really?” She shot up from the seat and squeezed me. “You’re the best.”

“No, you’re the best for knowing I needed something like this after Alex.”

“Alex. Schmalex. Keegan could take him down with one hit.”

A low grumble of appreciation rumbled from my gut, and I smiled at my best friend. “How do you always know what I need?”

“That’s what friends are for.” She winked at me and let out a happy sigh as she sat down and polished off the food.

“I signed us up for a knitting class tomorrow at eleven o’clock. I don’t want to miss that. So, maybe I’ll just have my hubby pick me up, and then you keep the car?”

“That class will be great.” It sounded like a lot of fun, and I always told myself I’d try knitting one day.

She nodded and stretched toward the ceiling. “Is it lame that I’m already tired?”

I chuckled and glanced at the clock. “It’s midnight somewhere, and there is nothing wrong with sneaking under the covers before it’s nine o’clock.”

Skye grinned at me and fished out two pairs of pajamas with witches. “I thought we needed matching jammies. You get the purple ones, and I get the black ones.”

“You are too sweet.” I snatched the pajamas and watched my friend wander toward the bathroom. I heard the sink turn on and quickly changed into my pajamas before finishing the cheese curds and pretzels.

Skye came back looking refreshed and ready for bed. “You want the television on or…”

I shook my head and stacked our empty plates. “I’m fine. I’ll just put this in the hallway.”

When I opened the door, I stopped to see Frank just like I’d left him. It looked like he’d drank some water, but everything else was unchanged.

“Frank, you’re a mystery.” I smiled at the English bulldog-turned-gargoyle and went back into my room.

Skye was already tucked under the sheets, and I flipped off the lights. Within minutes, my friend was out like a log.

Hours went by, and the noise from the busy streets quieted. The room was dark except for a silver ray of moonlight that streamed through the curtains. A ghostly shadow slowly bobbed against the wall whenever the curtain moved with the air from the heater.

Skye’s rhythmic breathing was a soft reminder of the day’s adventures and discoveries. The biggest one was that my friend would have another baby, possibly twins, if Nova was right.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

What had gotten into me?

This had to be a coincidence. People couldn’t look at cards and predict the future.

Could they?

I opened my eyes and lay on my bed with my gaze fixed on the ceiling as my mind raced. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something in Stonewick was calling to me. My dad’s face, his smile in that old photo, lingered in my mind, a gentle but persistent tug at something deep inside.

Turning to look at Skye, I chuckled. Her arm was flung over her face, her mouth open, and the long breaths edged on snoring. Her husband and she always had a dispute about whether or not she snored.

Judging by tonight, I’d say yes.

Against my better judgment, I slid out of bed, snuck over to my jacket, and pulled it on over my pajamas.

I hadn’t told Skye everything about what I’d felt in town today—the subtle whispers, the prickle at the back of my neck, the feeling that this place had somehow been waiting for me.

I almost didn’t believe it myself.

I tiptoed through the room and ran smack into the corner, banging my head on the wall with a hiss. I backed up and rubbed the sore spot as Skye snorted and turned over. Making my way to the door, I opened it slowly and closed it softly with a click.

Frank was right where I left him, but now, he stood. His eyes met mine, and I smiled as I started down the hall.

I heard a few pants and huffs and realized Frank was right on my tail.

I stopped.

He stopped.

I moved.

He moved.

“Oh, Frank. You are a kick.”

I crept down the grand staircase as the thick carpet muffled our steps. When we reached the lobby, I looked over to see Ember studying me.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked with a smile.

I shook my head. “No. Lots on my mind.”

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?”

“Because I revealed something private about Skye, and she’s a friend of yours. He didn’t like that I was trying to establish trust with you through her.”

“Is that what you were doing?”

“Yes.”

I frowned and spun around. “Why would that matter to him.”

“He’s got his rules, and I have mine,” she said matter-of-factly.

I folded my arms to keep the chill at bay. “Why does it matter what he thinks?”

A smirk spread across her features, and I realized they must be together.

“Oh, you’re with him?”

She hissed and shook her head. “Never. No, we’ve never been together.”

“There’s so much about this place I just don’t understand. If it’s a tourist destination, why do so many things feel…genuine?” I didn’t expect her to answer the question and continued. “Keegan gifted me a photo of my dad and me from when I was a little girl, and we were here. It’s funny. I looked so happy. Probably the happiest of any of my childhood photos, and I didn’t remember a bit of it until I saw the picture.”

Nova tilted her head slightly.

I eyed her. “You were in it too.”

And then it hit me.