“Hello to you too.” Her voice came out steadier than expected. Happier. The house hummed in response.
The turquoise light didn’t stop at the inn’s walls. It raced outward, following paths Avine couldn’t see—down the cliff, through the town, across the harbor. The ward lines of Haven Shores, dormant for decades, waking all at once.
She didn’t know that across town, every magical being registered the surge. Candles flared in Spellbound Lights, their wicks igniting without match or spell. At Moonrise Mixology, a row of potions bubbled over simultaneously, spilling across the worktable in a rainbow of enchanted liquids. In the Wolf Moon Brewery, wolves paused mid-sentence, heads turning toward the cliffs, instincts screaming that the world had changed.
She didn’t know that the Elder Council would spend the next hour fielding panicked calls. That the gossip network was already mobilizing, seagulls and cats and foxes carrying the news faster than any cell signal. That her name was already being whispered in every shop and home in Haven Shores:Sue Tidewell’s great-niece. The one who left. The one who came back.
All Avine knew was the certainty spreading through her, the sense of being exactly where she was supposed to be.
“Well.” She dusted off her jeans, which accomplished absolutely nothing. “That was dramatic.”
A floorboard groaned beneath her feet. It sounded almost like agreement.
I’m talking to a building. The building is answering. And this is the most at home I’ve ever been.
Movement outside the window caught her attention. A seagull—the same one that had dive-bombed her car, she’d bet money on it—had landed on the porch railing. It watched her with beady black eyes that held far too much intelligence for a bird.
Avine stared back. “I know you’re going to tell everyone everything. At least let me unpack first.”
The seagull tilted its head. Then, with a ruffling of feathers that conveyed smugness, it launched itself into the evening sky.
“Great. Judged by a bird.” She shook her head and turned back to the kitchen.
She found the welcome basket on the dining room table—wicker, stuffed with local treats and a bottle of wine that looked expensive. The note was written in her Great-Aunt Sue’s elegant, old-fashioned script:
Dearest Avine,
The third stair squeaks—it’snot a structural problem, personality only. The ghost in the attic is harmless; her name was Eleanor, and she never got around to leaving. The roses will try to get into the guest rooms if you don’t prune them back by the new moon.
Welcome home,dear.
xo Aunt Sue
Avine read the note twice.Three times. Then she set it down with exaggerated care.
“Heaven forbid anything in my life be straightforward.”
She tucked the note into her pocket, grabbed the wine—she was going to need it—and went to survey her domain.
The Siren’s Rest was everything the listing had promised and nothing it had prepared her for. Twelve guest rooms, each named after a moon phase, each in a different state of disrepair. The Waxing Crescent had a hole in the ceiling that showed the stars—which she was choosing to view as a skylight. The Full Moon Suite’s four-poster bed had seen better centuries. TheNew Moon Room’s wallpaper depicted a seascape that Avine could have sworn moved when she wasn’t looking directly at it.
“Charming.” She narrowed her eyes at the wallpaper. “That’s not creepy at all.”
But she was grinning as she said it. This place was ridiculous. Impossible.Hers.
The third stair squeaked, as promised. Avine stepped on it twice more to confirm. Personality, indeed.
The attic held dust, old furniture covered in drop cloths, and a cold spot near the dormer window that was distinctly occupied. Avine nodded politely to it. “Eleanor, I presume. I’m Avine. Try not to scare off the guests when I get around to having them. Also, if you could avoid manifesting while I’m in the bath, that would be great. I’ve had enough surprises for one lifetime.”
The cold spot eased. Approval, maybe. Or amusement.
Here, surrounded by old magic that didn’t apologize for existing, a wall inside her gave way. A wall she’d built so long ago she’d almost forgotten it was there.
The air in the inn was light. Recognition. Encouragement.
Not too much. Exactly right.
“Great. Now a house is giving me therapy.” She sounded lighter than she had in years. “This is my life now. Emotional support architecture.”
