Page 7 of Magical Melee (Stonewick Magical Midlife Witch Academy #1)

It had been nearly forty years since that photo had been taken.

I stared at Nova. She didn’t look a day older than when the picture was taken.

Not one day.

I rubbed my temples and thought back to Stella, who hadn’t aged at all, either. Granted, her starting point was a bit heftier, but still.

I let out a deep breath. “Stella was in the photo, too.”

She ignored my observations and pressed on, looking at me. “Your father’s a good man.”

“You knew him well?” My stomach clenched with a deep ache. There were times when I realized just how many people knew my father better than me.

“Yes.” She took a few steps forward and rested her fingers on the gate. “And your mother.”

My brows lifted in surprise. “I got the distinct feeling she hated this village. She wouldn’t even let me go on a class field trip here.”

Nova nodded with a soft understanding in her expression. She stepped closer to me, her gaze drifting over the symbols on the buildings.

“I doubt she wanted to be reminded of this town.” Her eyes connected with mine. “I don’t blame her.”

“Well, she’s floating on some cruise ship now with my stepdad.” I shrugged. “So, she’s gotten over it.”

Frank growled and turned to face the building. I bent down and scratched his ears, which seemed to calm him down.

“What is this building?”

“It’s one of our wards,” she said, gesturing to the building. “Each one protects a different part of Stonewick, maintaining the balance of energies here. Most visitors don’t even notice them, but you… you seem drawn to it.”

I frowned, realizing she was back into her part again. I let out a sigh and shrugged. “Okay, whatever. You don’t want to tell me the truth. Is it like storage or something?”

Nova’s smile deepened, and she looked at me with that same unnerving intensity she’d had earlier in the tarot room. “Sometimes, knowledge isn’t passed down by words. It’s in the blood, in the soul. Stonewick may have been hidden from you, but part of you belongs to it.”

I swallowed, my mind racing with questions. “Did you spend a lot of time with my dad?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

She looked away for a moment as if considering her words carefully. “Your father was a kind man, quiet and thoughtful. He was… drawn here, just like you are. But he chose to protect you from a life tied to this place.” She met my eyes again, her expression solemn. “But Stonewick has a way of calling its own back.”

We stood there in silence, the weight of her words settling over me like a cloak. I looked down the empty street, feeling a strange mixture of dread and longing. There was so much about my family, about myself, that I suddenly didn’t understand.

And Celeste.

Would she think I went off my rocker?

I was in my mid-forties, teetering on the belief of something nonsensical.

“Your daughter is your blood. Your father’s blood. She will always have an open mind when it concerns you.” Nova placed a gentle hand on my shoulder as I trembled with the knowledge that she just read my mind.

“Come with me,” she said softly. “There’s something you should see.”

I hesitated but found myself nodding.

Curiosity and a deep sense of trust guided my steps. I turned from the towering building and back down the sidewalk past the tea shop until we hit a small, narrow alley.

The stones underfoot were slick and worn smooth by countless footsteps, but I didn’t sense it was from the tourists. At the end of the alley was another tiny iron gate, half-hidden behind creeping vines. The lock had a butterfly sculpted similarly to the candle.

Nova pushed it open with a creak, revealing a garden bathed in moonlight.

The space was unlike any garden I’d ever seen. Tall, shadowy plants with dark leaves that should have dropped long ago shielded strange blossoms that bloomed with perfectly lush petals.

“It’s fall in Wisconsin,” I said quietly, looking over at Nova. “Leaves have long since dried up, and blooms have withered away.”

“Yes.”

She didn’t offer an explanation, but Frank sat down on my foot.

I appreciated the familiarity of the bulldog more than ever. He was the only thing keeping me grounded.

As herbs and flowers revealed themselves, I stepped deeper into the garden, the leaves nearly sparkling from the moonlight. Plants that I didn’t recognize filled the air with a sweet, earthy scent.

And Frank stayed by my side with each step forward.

Stone statues stood at intervals, each worn with age, their faces serene and watchful.

But they weren’t human figures, not completely.

“This is the heart of Stonewick,” Nova said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “A sanctuary, hidden from the outside world. The garden has been here for centuries, tended by those who understand its secrets.”

I stepped around, moving in a circle as my gaze drifted over the statues and flowers, feeling the buzz of energy that pulsed through the air. I stopped in front of a particular statue—a woman with a gentle, wise face, her hand extended as if offering something unseen. Something about her felt achingly familiar. Sharp and pointy ears peeked through the long, swirling hair.

“This statue…” I said, glancing at Nova. “It feels like… I know her, but she’s not…human.”

Nova nodded, her eyes soft. “That’s Miora, a guardian of the town’s magic. She kept Stonewick safe long ago and passed her knowledge down through her descendants. Your father once stood here, Maeve, in this exact spot and felt the same recognition.”

A chill ran through me, and I reached out, my fingers brushing the cool stone of Miora’s hand. “So my family… we’re connected to her? To Stonewick?”

“Yes,” Nova said, her voice a mixture of pride and sorrow. “Your family carries the legacy of the guardians. But not everyone embraces that legacy. Your father… he tried.” She didn’t finish. “And your mother, she tried to keep you from it. But it’s in you, Maeve, waiting to be awakened.”

I dropped my hand, the weight of this revelation settling over me like a blanket of fog. The idea that I had a history here, that Stonewick’s secrets were intertwined with my own, felt both terrifying and exhilarating.

“But this place is just a tourist destination,” I said, shaking my head.

She smiled coyly. “If that’s what you believe, why are you here?”

“Because I couldn’t sleep.”

“And why is that?”

Her eyes stayed locked on mine.

“Because I wanted answers.”

“Because you knew there was more to this town than meets the eye.”

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, looking back at Nova. “Why now?”

“If not now, when?” She gave me a sad smile. “Because you’re ready to hear it. Regardless of what Keegan says, I have a duty.”

I straightened and stared at Nova. “What does Keegan say?”

“He’s a bit of a control freak.” She chuckled. “He felt strongly that I overstepped my bounds with Skye and that I might influence you too much…before you’re ready.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Ready for what?”

“All in good time.”

Frowning, I glanced down at Frank before looking back at Nova.

“So, you’ll tell me a little of something but not much ofanything?”

“You wouldn’t believe it if I told you. Strange things have been happening in our village, and the guardians have always played a role in keeping Stonewick safe.”

I glanced around the garden, feeling the pull of the place as though the very ground beneath my feet was asking something of me.

“I don’t know the first thing about being a guardian,” I said, my voice wavering. A lush vine slowly edged over my foot, and panic set in. If I didn’t know better, I was about to be tied up by a wandering plant.

“You wouldn’t. That’s not your role.”

“My role?” The vine slowly fell away, and my pulse slowed.

“We all have a role to play.”

I bit my lip and glanced down at Frank, and then it hit me.

“Is this like a job interview?”

She chuckled. “Of sorts.”

It never occurred to me that I could work at Stonewick, but I bet it would be a lot of fun. “What kind of openings are there? Do they pay well?”

Nova smiled and shook her head. “It’s not quite like that, Maeve.”

I let out a sigh. “That’s too bad because I’m kind of looking for a new career. You know, the divorce and all.”

Nova looked as if she were keeping something from me.

“So, if I were to play along…”

Her brows raised. “Yes?”

“There’s a role of a guardian, but what are you?”

“A seer,” she said simply. “And I see that Stonewick needs you now, perhaps more than ever. There’s a balance here, one that’s been disrupted.” Nova placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “You don’t have to know everything right away. The path will reveal itself, bit by bit. Trust yourself, trust the connection you feel. You’re not alone—there are others here who can guide you, myself included.”

I took a deep breath, feeling the night air fill my lungs and ground me.

For the first time, I felt a strange sense of purpose, like I was part of something bigger, something beyond myself. A vine swirled around Nova’s ankle before wilting into the ground, and she caught my gaze.

“We tend to ignore most of the living world, but life comes in all forms.”

“Even the plants.” It took until my mid-forties, but damn. I finally felt like someone got me. This place understood me.

“Our world communicates with us in many ways, but some of us are too busy to listen.” She curled her fingers around a glistening orange flower. “And others don’t want to hear what they’re being told.”

The mysteries of Stonewick, the secrets of my family—all of it was beginning to make a strange kind of sense.

Or I was just so desperately lost that I was grasping at anything and everything.

The truth was that I never had a great marriage to Alex, but I had an incredible family. Celeste made my world spin, and now she was at college.

As it should be.

But I certainly didn’t prepare for the flood of emotions that the move would bring.

I felt lost and like a drifting spirit.

Until I let myself play a little pretend and believe in the magic surrounding me.

I almost didn’t care that this was a mirage of magic. If anything, I could see myself here, working with Stella in her teashop or arranging crystals to sell to tourists with Nova.

Maybe I was delirious from being dehydrated earlier.

Who knew?

I certainly didn’t, but I wanted more of what this town offered.

Real or pretend.

Nova stepped back, her gaze steady. “Go back to your friend, Maeve. Rest. And tomorrow will be a new day.”

“I’m meeting Keegan for coffee tomorrow,” I offered.

Nova smiled wider. “He’ll know about tonight’s meeting.”

“You’re going to tell him? Didn’t he get after you about revealing Skye’s pregnancy?”

She eyed me with a twinkle in her gaze. “Keegan might stalk around here scaring some, but I’m not one of them. I won’t be telling him, but I’m sure someone else will.”

I glanced around, seeing absolutely nobody. “Like who?”

“You’d be surprised.”

I chuckled, thinking back to my childhood friend. “Is Keegan always that broody and…”

“Moody?”

I laughed and nodded. “I was going to say mysterious, but yeah.”

“Pretty much.” She glanced at Frank. “Go back to your hotel and get a wonderful sleep. You deserve it.”

I nodded, feeling the weight of her words settle comfortably.

As I turned to leave, I glanced back one last time at the statue of Miora, feeling a spark of recognition, of kinship. Frank trotted next to me, and I realized Nova had no intention of following.

I slipped out of the garden, retracing my steps toward the alley and my hotel. The town was silent but alive. I could feel Stonewick’s presence all around me as if it were watching and waiting. I glanced up at the gargoyles and shook my head.

There was something about this trip I needed, even if I never returned here again.

As I walked through the lobby and up the stairs with Frank by my side, I quietly crept into the hotel room. Frank wouldn’t come in. He just turned around and sat next to the door again.

I shook my head and smiled.

But it wasn’t until my eyes flew open and I was staring at the ceiling that I realized it had all been a dream.