Page 101 of Magical Mischief

She turned toward me fully. “The Academy doesn’t open its rooms lightly. Not just because a door is unsealed or a hallway shifts. It listens. It waits. And when it senses readiness and feels the balance begin to shift, it answers.”

“So it’s saying yes.” I looked around the beautiful room.

“To your work,” she said. “To your presence here. To the changes you’ve started. The curse hasn’t lifted, no. But the Academy isn’t sleeping anymore.”

Bella let out a slow breath, then finally dropped into one of the chairs. It adjusted beneath her with a wobble and a soft, musical chime. She laughed again, that unguarded laugh that made the corners of my mouth lift even though I hadn’t meant to smile.

I crossed the room and pressed my hand to the side of a thick book floating off a shelf. It landed at the nearest table. It didn’t open. Just waited.

“Do you think more rooms will appear?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” my grandma said. “But the first step has always been trust. And today… the Academy took a step toward us.”

I sat beside Bella. Neither of us said anything for a bit. We just breathed the scent of old wood and dried mint, the hush of magic alive again.

A candle flickered on the table between us. I hadn’t seen it light itself, but it had.

I looked at the flame, small and steady.

“We’re closer,” I said.

“Yes,” My grandma replied from behind me. “Closer than we've been in a very long time.”

I stood and wandered over to the teacher’s desk, noticed a bronze nameplate, and gasped.

Turning to Bella, I smiled and said, “The wait is over, Bella. This is your classroom.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

The Academy’s silence stretched as I walked through the hallways.

I had meant to leave an hour ago to fill in Nova and everyone.

Halfway down a narrow corridor that smelled faintly of mint and old paper, I remembered something else.

My mother.

She was still in Stonewick. I’d nearly forgotten she’d come to visit.

Still staying in the hotel in downtown Stonewick, wrapped in floral shirts and giving me those looks that said she knew more than she let on.

I shook my head, still trying to fathom why she came here after so long. I probably would be less concerned if Gideon had not implanted those visions, but I hated to think she was somehow wrapped up in all this.

She was probably wondering what happened to me, though. My mom liked to be remembered. More so, she liked toremain the focus of all attention. But she wouldn’t panic at my absence, not my mother. She was too practical for that.

I just didn’t like her wondering and waiting, especially now.

And Nova…I needed to tell her about what I’d encountered.

About the silhouette. About the stirring magic.

She’d have thoughts.

Always did. She noticed things the rest of us missed. I needed that.

I stopped in the hall and glanced out the window, halfway expecting to see the visitor again.

“Okay,” I whispered to myself. “Enough waiting.”