Page 69 of Magical Mayhem
The night air was heavy, charged, the shadows overhead rippling as though laughing at us. The cobblestones glistened faintly with lanterns bobbing above on their iron hooks like nervous sentries.
Keegan’s inn glowed at the end of the street with windows lit and gargoyles perched and on standby.
I realized, with a sharp pang, how strange it felt to come here for Gideon instead of Keegan. The irony was cruel.
Twobble didn’t slow. He slipped through the side door, holding it just long enough for Nova and me to follow. The hallways felt familiar, but beneath it, the air vibrated in an unsettling way.
We climbed the back staircase, and Twobble spun around in front of us. “In there. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
We pushed open the door.
The sight inside stopped me cold.
Gideon lay on the bed, his face pale, lips parted, chest rising in shallow jerks. His eyes were closed, but shadows leaked across his temples like bruises.
The quilt Ember had chosen was tangled and kicked off.
Stella stood at the bedside, her shawl thrown back, bracelets flashing as she pressed both hands over his chest. Her lips moved quickly, incantations spilling out with a mixture of authority and irritation, like she was scolding the shadows themselves.
“You said to keep him kicking, and by golly, we’re trying,” she muttered in between pushes.
Bella knelt near his feet as she held a stone against his ankle.
Skonk, of course, perched on the arm of a chair, waving what looked suspiciously like a frying pan as if he were ready to whack Gideon back into unconsciousness if it came to that.
The room buzzed with a current I could feel in my teeth.
I froze in the doorway. This wasn’t just dangerous. The ancient magic stirring was colossal, old, raw. Way beyond me.
“This,” I said before my brain caught up with my mouth, “is way above my pay grade.”
The room stilled.
Stella’s head snapped up, eyes narrowing. “Excuse me?”
My cheeks flamed. “Did I… say that out loud?”
“Yes,” Bella said dryly.
Skonk smirked. “She’s not wrong. This is at least three paygrades above goblin standard.”
“Helpful,” Stella snapped. “Everyone, hush.”
Nova brushed past me, moving to Gideon’s side. Her staff pulsed faintly, green light running down its length, and for the first time since we entered, the shadows recoiled. She laid a hand on Stella’s arm. “Let me.”
Stella stepped back, muttering something about backseat spellcasters.
I edged closer, the sight of Gideon making my stomach twist. His lashes fluttered, though his eyes didn’t open, and his lips formed a shape that might have been my name or might have been another curse waiting to spill.
My pulse skittered. I didn’t belong here. Not caught between Stella’s muttering, Bella’s vigilance, Skonk’s frying pan, and Nova’s calm. Not hovering over Gideon when Keegan lay sick only streets away.
And yet, here I was.
Nova’s voice rose, low and steady, words flowing into the air like silk. The shadows on Gideon’s temples danced and hissed before sinking back slightly and curling into the quilt as though subdued. The room eased, just a fraction.
Stella exhaled dramatically, wiping her brow. “Well. That was exhausting.”
Bella glanced up at me then, her golden eyes sharp. “You’d better decide quickly, Maeve. This balancing act can’t last forever.”
