Page 153 of Magical Mischief

Grandma Elira and I stepped out of the room together, our footsteps quiet against the smooth stone floor.

The soft magic of the place clung to my skin like the last warmth of bathwater before the chill set in. I kept glancing over my shoulder, half expecting the room to vanish when I left it, like a dream that dissolved as soon as you woke. But the door remained, quiet and waiting, tucked neatly into the corridor like it had always been there.

Maybe it had. Maybe I just hadn’t been ready to see it.

The hallway ahead was dimmer, but not cold. The sconces flickered in welcome, sensing my grandma’s presence or mine. The magic in the Academy had begun to feel like an old friend who couldn’t speak but always answered.

My grandmother walked beside me with her hands tucked behind her back, humming something low and tuneless under her breath.

She looked lighter, somehow. The conversation we’d shared inside that strange, airy room had also loosened something in her chest. Neither of us spoke. We didn’t need to.

It wasn’t until we turned a corner that I saw them.

Nova stood at the intersection of two corridors, her dark hair falling in wild waves over her shoulders. Her shawl had slipped down to one elbow, and she was moving her hands animatedly as she spoke. Bella stood across from her, grinning widely, her cheeks flushed pink from whatever trouble they were cooking between them. Ardetia, ever composed, leaned back against the wall, arms folded, her eyes flicking between them like she was onlypretendingto be uninterested.

Their voices echoed softly against the stone walls, but I couldn’t make out the words.

Nova was the first to notice me.

“There she is,” she said, smiling as she pushed off the wall and came toward me. “Back from the land of whispers?”

I returned her smile. “You could say that.”

Bella stepped beside her, with bright eyes. “You’ve got that look.”

“What look?”

“The one people get when the Academy speaks to them,” she said, giving me a gentle elbow to the ribs. “You’re practically glowing. Don’t try to deny it.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I said.

Ardetia straightened and offered me a nod, her face unreadable as always, but there was something in the set of her mouth, a small quirk at the corner, that felt like approval.

My grandma touched my arm. “I’ll leave you to it. I need a few minutes with my tea and my heating stones. My knees tell me we’ve had enough excitement for one day.”

“Of course,” I said, watching her go with a quiet fondness.

When she was out of sight, Nova turned to me again. “So? What did it say?”

“The Academy?” I hesitated, then nodded. “It said the time has come.”

The words were simple, but their weight pressed against all of us. Even Ardetia tilted her head slightly, her gaze sharp.

“It said more than that,” I added. “It told me the Academy is opening. For real.”

Nova exhaled, her shoulders dropping. Bella’s hands fluttered up to her mouth in something like awe, and Ardetia murmured something under her breath I couldn’t quite catch.

“It also said students would come,” I continued.

Bella’s grin spread.

Nova nodded, eyes softening. “Well, who better to teach them than a group of troublemakers who’ve all had to rebuild themselves from the ground up?”

Ardetia gave a short nod. “Then we’ll need to make sure the classrooms are ready.”

Nova turned toward the nearest hall. “Should we go look again?”

Bella looped her arm through mine. “We’d be ridiculous not to.”