Page 157 of Magical Mischief

“The fae?” Keegan asked.

I nodded.

“And the first is Bella’s?” Keegan asked.

“Yup.”

“And when the Academy spoke to me, I felt like I was in some ethereal plane.”

“Are you allowed to tell us more?” Keegan asked.

“I think so.” I nodded. “It’s light. Not just sunlit.Light. Like the air carries memory. There are colorful cushions everywhere, like a place for people to sit and listen. A pedestal at the center that fits my hand perfectly. But the voice was so…otherworldly.”

Stella stared for a long moment, then blew out a breath. “Well, hell.”

Keegan laughed. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“Exactly.” I chuckled.

“And the Academy said the first student would be the sign?” Keegan asked. “That what? It’s officially open?”

I nodded. “Once that student steps onto the threshold, it means the Academy is officially up and running. Not just preparing.Open.Until then, it’s all warm-up.”

“And Nova…” Stella said, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully, “She’s fully in now?”

“She’s not only in,” I said, grinning, “she’s glowing. She looked like she’d found the place she was always meant to be.”

“That makes my heart hurt in a good way,” Stella said, brushing a crumb off her shawl. “She’s waited too long for that.”

“She has,” I agreed. “And now it’s happening. Slowly. But it’sreal.And the Academy’s making room for it.”

Keegan nodded, and for a moment we just sat there, all of us letting the news soak in, like tea in hot water.

But the excitement still fluttered behind my ribs. There was more.

“Oh,” I added, like I’d just remembered my shoes were on fire. “Also. Turns out I’m a hedge witch.”

Stella choked on her tea. Keegan blinked, but didn’t look entirely surprised.

“A what?” Stella managed once she’d stopped coughing.

“Hedge witch,” I repeated. “Apparently, it means I walk between worlds. Not just magically, but… intrinsically. I don’t even have to think about it. I’ve been doing it without realizing—crossing boundaries, slipping between spaces.”

“Well,” Stella said, rubbing her chest with one hand and eyeing me with the other, “that explains why you can never find your keys. You’re never really here.”

I laughed. “I know, right? But I mean… it makes so much sense now. I kept ending up in places I shouldn’t have been able to reach. The signs were there. I just didn’t know what I was looking at.”

“Did your grandma know?” Keegan asked gently.

I hesitated. “She suspected. She said she didn’t want to label it too early or put that weight on me until I was ready. But I don’t know… sometimes it feels like maybe more peopledidknow and just didn’t say anything.”

Stella made a soft noise in the back of her throat. “I’ve never liked labels.”

I looked at her.

“They feel like jars people want to screw the lid onto too tight,” she said, shrugging. “They keep you from spilling, but they also keep you from growing.”

“That sounds like something you read on a teabag,” Keegan said.