Page 113 of Magical Mischief

“No,” she said softly. “Not yet.”

Nova didn’t need to say anything else. Not right away. I could already see the answer hanging behind her eyes, like a curtain half-drawn over something that had waited a long time to be noticed again.

She didn’t blink, not at first. Just looked at me in that way she does, still, quiet, patient like a kettle just before it boils.

I stepped closer to the table, my hands tightening around the edge, heart pushing against my ribs in slow, steady thumps.

“Nova?”

And then, finally, a slow smile crept across her lips. Not one of amusement or relief. It was something else. Something heavier. Wistful, maybe. Worn.

She shook her head faintly and breathed like she’d been holding it for years.

“They haven’t roamed our streets in over forty years.”

I blinked.

“What?”

Her eyes dropped to the book again, but only for a second. Then she looked back at me, face unreadable.

My mouth opened, but the words didn’t come all at once. They tumbled out in pieces, as my thoughts caught up.

“You’re saying…” I trailed off, jaw slowly lowering. “You think it’s a fae?”

The weight of the word filled the room.

Nova didn’t nod. She didn’t need to.

I straightened up, still clutching the edge of the table.

“But—fae haven’t been seen since the curse. Since the Divide.”

“They’re one of the few who can walk between plains,” Nova said softly. “Slip through cracks in places where others only see walls.”

I swallowed. My mind reeled back to the figure in the Butterfly Ward—the shimmering, fleeting form, the whisper that might’ve been my name. I remembered the sensation that followed. Not fear. Not malice. Just something watching, cautious, holding its breath.

“You said it felt timid,” I murmured. “Possibly shy.”

Nova tilted her head. “It didn’t come to flaunt itself. That much I’m sure of.”

I nodded slowly, the pieces falling into place. “So it’s not here to cause harm. It’s here to… test us.”

“Maybe.”

“To see if the Academy is safe again,” I whispered. “If those within it, if I, might be hostile.”

Nova’s gaze dropped, thoughtful. “When the curse took hold and the Wards fractured, the fae were the first to disappear.”

“They were seen as deserters,” I said. “People still talk about it in whispers, like some old betrayal that never got washed out of the stone.”

Nova met my eyes again. “Maybe it’s not here to reopen old wounds. Maybe it’s here to see if anything’s changed.”

Maybe we had.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

It took me several moments before I could find words again. The silence wasn’t awkward. It felt full and fragile, as if even speaking might disturb something that had only begun to settle.