Chapter Nineteen
As we pulled into Stonewick, the familiar sights of the town should have made me feel safe. The twinkling holiday lights strung across the storefronts, the cobbled streets dusted in snow, the glow of the streetlights—everything about this place had become home. But with the memory of Gideon’s piercing stare still seared into my mind, it didn’t bring the usual comfort.
I gripped the steering wheel as I turned onto Main Street. “I don’t see why I can’t just go home.”
Keegan let out a slow breath through his nose like he was mentally preparing for a battle he had already won.
“Because,” he said, like I was the most exhausting person alive, “you just saw Gideon. With your own two eyes. Which means he saw you.”
I bit my lip but kept my gaze on the road. “That doesn’t mean he followed us. I mean, he knows where we’re headed back to, so…”
Keegan let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, sure. Maybe he just happened to be at a train station two hours away at the exact moment you were there, for no reason at all.”
I scowled and drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. “I don’t like your tone.”
“I don’t like your stubbornness,” he shot back. “You’re going to the hotel.”
I huffed. “But I already have a home.”
“And I already have a headache.”
I clenched my jaw. “Keegan—”
He turned to me, cutting me off with a look.
The one that made my spine straighten. The one that said he wasn’t budging, and if I tried, I’d lose. I hated that look. Probably because it worked. It brought the facts back to the table, not the least being that I put others besides myself in danger.
I sighed dramatically, making sure it was loud enough to be heard.
“Fine. But I don’t like it.”
Keegan smirked, his eyes flashing with amusement. “Noted.”
I grumbled as I turned toward Keegan’s boutique hotel near the town square. The lurking gargoyles eyed the streets below.
It wasn’t a bad place…it was an amazing hotel, but it wasn’t my cottage. It didn’t have Karvey, Twobble, the books, or my couch that somehow molded perfectly to my body like a well-worn hug.
I pulled into the parking area and immediately frowned.
“You didn’t tell me I’d have to parallel park.”
Keegan crossed his arms. “You’ll live.”
“I barely passed my driver’s test because of parallel parking.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
I turned to him, eyes narrowing.
“Did you just insult my driving?”
“I think your driving insulted itself.”
I gasped, feigning deep offense.
“That’s rich coming from someone who drives like a demon is chasing him.”
Keegan gave me a look. “In case you forgot, I usually am.”
I scrunched my nose and turned back to the parking space, gripping the wheel.
“All right, just… don’t watch me do this.”
Keegan leaned back in his seat, clearly enjoying himself. “Oh, I’m watching.”
I glared at him. “Keegan.”
“I’m just saying, it’s like watching a baby deer try to walk for the first time.”
“I hope you know that when I get out of this car, I’m shoving you into a snowbank.”
“Good luck with that.” His lips twitched. “Focus, Maeve. You’re drifting.”
I gritted my teeth and straightened out. With a deep breath and maybe a little too much effort, I finally squeezed the car into the space. It was… crooked, but technically within the lines.
Keegan peered out the window, his expression neutral. “I mean. It’s parked.”
I threw the car into park and unbuckled my seatbelt aggressively. “I don’t need your commentary.”
“Sure you don’t,” he muttered under his breath. “Oh, and you know you could have just done valet.”
I glared at him and opened the door before stepping out into the cold air, tightening my coat around me. Keegan followed suit, stretching his arms above his head like he hadn’t just mentally tormented me for the last five minutes.
But the worst part was that I loved every second of it.
The hotel looked cozy enough, with its stone exterior and warm glow from the windows. Inside, there was a fireplace crackling in the lobby and a charmingly old elevator that made noises it shouldn’t. But one of my favorite places was the grand staircase with a wall full of ancient photographs.
I turned to Keegan and crossed my arms. “Are you staying here too?”
He shook his head. “No.”
I blinked. “Oh. So you get to go to your home, but I have to stay in a hotel?”
“Yes.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Now you’re catching on.”
I glared at him. “And what am I supposed to do here? Watch cable and order room service?”
“That’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.”
I groaned and ran a hand through my hair. “Keegan, I—”
He leveled me with a look as Frank walked by my side.
“Just for tonight. Until I can make sure the cottage grounds are secure. Ever since the battle, the Wards have been slow to rebuild. The Stone Ward and Butterfly Ward are nearly perfect, but the others aren’t at full capacity yet. Why chance it?”
I frowned. I wanted to argue. I wanted to tell him I could protect myself. But after what I saw at the train station, I wasn’t so sure anymore.
Gideon had been right there.
For how long?
Who knows. I’d been too preoccupied with my daughter and her boyfriend.
And I had played right into his hands by leaving Stonewick.
A cold shiver crawled down my spine, and I sighed in defeat.
“Fine. But I’m getting room service and charging it to you.”
Keegan smirked. “Order extra fries.”
I rolled my eyes and turned toward the entrance. As I stepped through the doors, the warmth of the lobby welcomed me, but I still felt chilled.
Keegan had been right about Gideon.
I just hoped he wasn’t right about what came next.
The place was charming, with dark wood paneling, twinkling garlands draped along the front desk, and a towering Christmas tree in the corner decorated with delicate glass ornaments that caught the firelight. It was the kind of cozy that made you want to curl up with a book and a cup of tea and dream of a different era.
But what truly lifted my spirits was the sight of Ember standing behind the front desk, her bright eyes lighting up when she spotted me.
“Well, if it isn’t Maeve Bellemore,” she said, grinning as she leaned over the counter. “I was wondering when I’d see you again. It’s hit-and-miss over at the tea shop. You finally giving up your cottage for some turn-down service and a mint on your pillow?”
I sighed dramatically. “Against my will, might I add.”
Ember’s gaze flickered to Keegan, standing beside me, looking unreasonably smug about this whole arrangement.
“Ah,” she said knowingly, her smile widening. “So this is a Keegan-mandated check-in.”
Keegan rested his elbow on the counter, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
“Just making sure Maeve gets a good night’s sleep in a secure location.”
I shot him a glare. “My cottage is a secure location.”
Keegan didn’t even flinch.
“Your home is a cottage in the woods that anyone with half a brain and an ill-intentioned heart could walk up to.”
“I have protection,” I argued.
“You also have a dog that sleeps through everything.”
I gasped. “Frank does his best!”
Ember barely held back a snicker as she pulled a key card from behind the desk.
“Well, it just so happens we have a lovely room available for you, Maeve.” She placed the key in my hand with an amused sparkle in her eyes. “A corner suite, extra cozy. I think you’ll like it. Keegan’s best.”
I sighed again, dramatically enough to make my exasperation clear. “Fine. But only because I don’t feel like standing out in the cold arguing with Keegan all night.”
Keegan smirked. “You’d lose.”
I narrowed my eyes. “That remains to be seen.”
Ember giggled as she leaned against the counter. “Don’t feel too bad, Maeve. Some people just love to worry.”
Keegan shot her a look, but she just shrugged innocently.
I turned the key over before slipping it into my pocket. “Well, at least I know the service here is still friendly.”
“The best,” Ember agreed, beaming. “And if you need anything, just holler.”
I muttered something about preferring my bed as I grabbed my purse, but as I met Ember’s warm gaze, I had to admit—it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to have people looking out for me.
Even if one of them was Keegan, whose smug face I was already regretting being stuck with for this entire ordeal.
Okay, not really.
I sighed as I held the hotel card between my fingers, tapping it against my palm as Keegan stood beside me, arms crossed, looking far too satisfied with himself. I could already feel him thinking he’d won this round, which only made me want to dig my heels in more.
But the truth was, I needed to talk to him.
I glanced toward the stairs leading up to the guest rooms and then back at Keegan, who was watching me with his steady expression. I cleared my throat, shifting my stance, suddenly feeling awkward.
“Listen,” I started, voice softer than I intended. “I know you want me here because you think it’s safer. And I appreciate that—I do.”
His brow lifted slightly as if he wasn’t expecting me to admit that.
“But?” he prompted.
I sighed again, already feeling the incoming argument.
“But I’d like you to humor me and come up to the room for a bit to talk.”
Keegan tilted his head, studying me in a way that made me feel like he was peering straight into my thoughts.
“Talk about what?”
I made a vague motion with my hand.
“Everything. Gideon. The Academy. The way you keep looking over your shoulder every five minutes like we’re being hunted.” I exhaled sharply. “You’re tense. And when you’re tense, I get tense. And then I start overthinking and—” I stopped myself, shaking my head.
“Okay.”
“I just need to sit down and have a real conversation with you before my brain spirals into a pit of worst-case scenarios.”
Keegan watched me for a long beat. His lips pressed into a firm line. I could tell he was weighing something as if debating whether indulging me in this request was worth it.
Then, with a sigh of his own, he ran a hand through his dark hair and nodded.
“Fine,” he said, his voice quieter than before. “Let’s talk.”
I blinked, momentarily thrown by how easily he agreed. “Really?”
A wry smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “You asked nicely.”
I scoffed. “That’s all it takes?”
He smirked.
“That, and I’d rather make sure you’re not about to go off and do something reckless the moment I leave.”
I placed a hand over my chest, feigning offense. “I would never.”
Keegan just gave me a look.
I rolled my eyes and turned toward the stairs. “Come on, before I change my mind and decide I’d rather argue about this in the lobby.”
Keegan chuckled under his breath, falling into step beside me. “That’d be a first.”
I didn’t respond to that—mostly because he wasn’t wrong.
As we ascended the stairs, I felt a knot of tension start to loosen in my chest. Maybe this conversation would clear the air. Or maybe it would just make everything more complicated.
Either way, I needed to know where we stood—before everything spun even further out of control.