Skonk nodded. “I’ll go to the UnderSoot, and you head to the UnderLoom.”
Twobble jumped from the railing. “We’ll meet you in the Wilds in under an hour.”
Lady Limora stepped closer, her gaze softer now. “Your daughter is not alone, Maeve. We’re with her in spirit and guidance.”
“No child of Stonewick remains untouched by its magic forever,” Nova said gently.
The Academy trembled beneath us again, stronger this time, and somewhere deeper in the halls, doors began opening one by one.
The gathered witches looked around nervously, and Ardetia tilted her head slightly, listening to something none of us could hear.
“It knows,” she whispered.
The Academy.
It knew about Celeste.
Magic moved strangely through grief and bloodlines and promises. I knew it. I’d seen it. And now, I was witnessing it.
I stared down the hallway at all the women gathered there. Midlife witches gripping wands with trembling hands. Vampire witches standing tall in velvet and silver. Goblins with crumbs on their jackets. Fae with ancient light in their eyes.
And suddenly, the fear inside me shifted.
Because this was no longer only about rescue.
The Priestess had escalated something in a way her cold heart could never understand.
My phone buzzed again, but this time, Keegan called.
I answered instantly. “Keegan.”
Wind crackled through the line along with heavy breathing.
“I found the trail,” he said roughly.
Hope surged so hard it hurt.
“Where is she?”
There was a pause.
“Keegan.”
His voice lowered. “Maeve… the trail leads northeast.”
The room went deathly still around me.
Northeast toward the compound.
Toward the Priestess.
Just like we expected.
Caleb caught my arm before I could stumble, and suddenly every face in the corridor blurred together around me beneath the lantern light.
The Priestess hadn’t just threatened my daughter.
She’d taken her.
