Page 147 of Magical Mission
I swallowed. “Yes.”
A silence followed, but it wasn’t the heavy kind. He was merely giving me the space to say more or the peace not to if I chose.
So I started.
“Miora walked one once. She told me tonight. She said calling paths don’t take. They show. And Elira said… they only appear when something inside you has already reached for them.”
Keegan leaned back, processing. His fingers tapped once against the mug.
Then, casually, but not without weight, he said, “I want to go with you.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I want to walk it with you.”
I stared at him.
Not because I didn’t believe him, but because I did.
Because he wasn’t offering out of protection or pride.
He was offering becausehe knew me.
And maybe because he’d seen the same things I had. The shadows, circles, and choices that didn’t come with instructions, but I always landed squarely in my way.
“I thought I was supposed to go alone,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper.
He shrugged lightly. “Maybe most people do. But you’re not most people.”
Those were almost the exact words Miora had said.
I felt something unfurl inside me, something tight and uncertain loosening, making room for something new.
“You don’t even know what’s in there,” I murmured.
He held my gaze. “I don’t need to, and neither do you.”
I let out a long, shaky breath and smiled.
“Okay,” I said. “You can come.”
Twobble made a choked sound from the armchair. “If he turns into a tree or gets stuck in a mirror dimension, I’mnotexplaining it to the rest of Stonewick.”
Keegan smirked. “I’ll sign a waiver.”
I laughed then, full and real, the sound bouncing gently against the walls of the cottage that had once held only silence.
He reached for more tea, and our fingers brushed briefly across the tabletop.
Maybe a small moment to some, but everything felt different now.
The path was still waiting, but I wouldn’t face it alone.
And that, somehow, made all the difference.
Chapter Thirty-Four
The Academy’s lanterns had dimmed by the time we returned, casting everything in soft amber and blue shadows. The great stone corridors echoed with the gentle hum of sleeping enchantments. Apparently, it was a common thread to keep midlife women asleep.
