Twobble froze with a fork halfway to his mouth. Stella’s teacup paused just short of her lips. My dad straightened, shoulders squaring, and Bella’s smile vanished as her eyes flicked instinctively toward Gideon.
Keegan didn’t move at all.
Gideon, for his part, lifted his head slowly, brows knitting together in what looked very much like genuine surprise.
“Well,” he said lightly, “is someone expecting company?”
No one laughed.
The chime rang again.
This time, the sound carried intent.
“Oh, absolutely not,” Stella said sharply, setting her cup down with deliberate care. “We have just finished unmaking an ancient, world-eating hunger curse. We’re not entertaining guests.”
Twobble slid off the bench and whispered loudly, “This is how horror stories start.”
Bella crossed her arms. “Tell me that’s not one of his friends.”
Every gaze snapped to Gideon.
He lifted both hands slowly, palms out.
“I haven’t summoned anyone. I swear it on whatever fragile goodwill I’ve earned in the last hour.”
“That’s not comforting,” my dad muttered.
The chime rang a third time.
The Academy’s response was immediate. The long corridor beyond the kitchen straightened, doors sliding into alignment, lanterns flaring brighter along a clear, unmistakable path toward the front entrance. The message was obvious.
Someone was there, and the Academy intended to let them in.
Keegan turned to me, his expression hard. “If this is a trap—”
“I know,” I said quietly.
My pulse was already racing, my magic stirring in response to the shift. I felt the Wards moving, not in defense, not in welcome, but inevaluation. Whatever stood on the other side of those doors wasn’t being rejected. That alone sent a chill through me.
Stella rose to her feet.
“If you’ve brought the Priestess to our doorstep,” she said to Gideon in a voice like sharpened silk, “I will personally—”
“It’s not her,” Gideon cut in, just as sharp, something flickering through his gaze. “If it were, you’d already know.”
That stopped us all.
Nova appeared at the edge of the room, her staff dim but steady, her eyes unfocused in that way that meant she was seeing further than the rest of us. “This presence is… unexpected,” she said slowly.
“Unexpected bad or unexpected catastrophic?” Twobble asked.
She didn’t answer him.
The Academy hummed, a low, anticipatory sound that settled deep in my chest.
“I’ll go,” I said.
“No,” Keegan replied immediately. “We’ll go.”
