“And I would like it on the record that in several centuries of being undead, dramatically powerful, and extremely difficult to impress, I have never felt anything like that.”
Everyone looked at her.
Stella folded her arms. “It wasn’t magic as we understand it. It wasn’t blood magic, or fae craft, or even old Academy shenanigans. It felt…” She shivered once, sharp and quick. “Personal. It was as if the land itself put a hand on our backs and said, Absolutely not. You will not go with the Priestess. You’re protected now.”
Bella’s mouth curved into a small, pleased smile. “Stonewick does have opinions.”
“This was more than opinion,” Stella said. “It was insistence, and it wasn’t just Stonewick.”
Keegan nodded. “The Priestess was mid-incantation. She was pulling, hard. I could feel the burning shooting through me like hooks under my ribs, trying to drag us sideways out of the world. And then—” He snapped his fingers softly. “Gone.”
“Gone?” I whispered.
“Pushed,” he corrected. “She didn’t retreat. She was forced back. Like magnets flipped the wrong way, and she fell backward.”
Stella pointed at him. “That. Exactly that. I felt anchored and rooted while the Priestess was flung from us and blocked.”
Nova had gone very still.
When she finally spoke, her voice was quieter than usual, threaded with something like reverence. “The Glacial Hollows.”
The place settled into the hall like a soft bell toll.
Twobble blinked. “Oh.”
I looked between them. “What?”
Nova inclined her head. “The Hollows are not guardians in the way gargoyles are. They don’t patrol. They don’t warn. They intervene only when a vow has been made, and the balance is at risk of being undone.”
Keegan frowned slightly. “I didn’t see anything.”
“You wouldn’t,” Nova said. “It exists between the things we name. Between promise and consequence.”
Stella grimaced. “Well, I’m grateful for whoever or whatever stepped in. These fangs can only do so much.”
“The Hollows hold some of the oldest vows magic has,” Nova continued. “Older than the Academy. Older than the Wards.”
Twobble rocked back on his heels. “I didn’t think the Hollows chose sides.”
“It’s upholding a vow, not a side,” Nova agreed.
My heart thudded, slow and heavy. “You’re saying it stepped in simply because—”
“Because Gideon agreed,” Nova said gently.
The room went very quiet.
Keegan exhaled and nodded. “That tracks.”
Bella’s ears flicked, just barely visible before she smoothed them away.
Nova’s gaze met mine. “He vowed to close the circle, and the Hollows didn’t want anyone interfering.”
The words sent a familiar ripple through me. Once again, magic was about choice and recognition.
“The Hollows doesn’t care about motive,” Nova went on. “Only consent. Gideon agreed to the terms, even if he believes he can outsmart them. And once that vow was acknowledged, the Hollows ensured the conditions remained intact.”
Stella let out a soft, incredulous laugh. “So the Priestess tried to pull us out of play, and magic itself said, not on our watch.”
