Chapter Thirty-Four
Keegan found me in the small courtyard out back near the Wilds. I’d gone there without thinking, drawn by the need for air and space and something living that didn’t expect answers from me.
He didn’t speak right away. He never did when he knew I was balancing something fragile.
“I don’t like it,” he said finally.
I smiled faintly, still staring up at the branches overhead.
“You’re going to have to be more specific.” I laughed. “Do you miss my ex? Do the halls feel emptier without him?”
“That would never happen.” He stepped closer, folding his arms. “No, I mean about you wanting to go talk to the orcs.”
“Ah, that. “I didn’t think you’d like it.”
“They’re dangerous,” he said simply. “Especially to strangers. Especially to people who walk in carrying magic and intention and no clear allegiance.”
“That makes sense, which is why I won’t be going alone.”
His brow furrowed. “So you’re not planning to sneak off in the dead of the night without us?”
“Why would I ever do that?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Because that would be very on brand.”
“I’m offended,” I said, chuckling harder and knowing he’s absolutely right.
Keegan exhaled slowly, looking out toward the treeline beyond the Academy grounds.
“Neutral ground is never really neutral,” he said. “Especially where the Hollows are concerned.”
“I’m figuring that out.”
“The orcs might not give you answers,” he continued. “They might not even listen. They could just trample you.”
“You’re just full of rainbows and unicorns today,” I teased.
“If they get agitated, and the clans respond, someone misreads a move, and suddenly it’s not a conversation anymore.”
My pulse quickened because he was right in all the ways that mattered.
“Then it escalates,” I said quietly.
“And if it escalates,” he went on, voice low, “they’ll be pushed again. But east toward Shadowick.”
The word settled heavily between us.
“Who will welcome them,” I said softly, “with open arms and bad intentions.”
Keegan nodded. “Exactly.”
I studied his face, the concern there unguarded and sincere.
“But what’s the alternative?” I asked. “We wait? We let them keep moving, keep being displaced, until they’re desperate enough to take whatever deal they’re offered?
I know this is full of risk, but I want to welcome them to Stonewick before Shadowick ever gets their teeth into them, and if the shifters are looking for the same… ”
He didn’t answer right away and paced in front of me.
“You’re asking to step into the middle of something volatile.”
“I already am,” I said. “Whether I want to be or not. We all are, and now that my daughter’s magic has started to awaken, I can’t afford to let a darkness invade Stonewick or any other place it chooses because she’ll be the one left to clean it up, long after I’m gone.”
“You know, most people would hear orcs marching toward an ancient threshold and think time to hide.”
“I’m not most people, and when I did try hiding, it didn’t work,” I said dryly.
That earned me one of Keegan’s precious smiles that was small but real.
“So,” he said slowly, “you want to welcome them to Stonewick first.”
I laughed, the tension in my shoulders loosening just a bit. “Maybe not invite them to dinner right away.”
“Smart,” he agreed.
“But yes,” I said. “Something like that, or at least let them know Stonewick sees them. We hear their worries, and we share them. They need to know that we understand they’re not marching because they want to.”
Keegan studied me for a long moment, his expression thoughtful now rather than purely protective. “You realize what that makes you.”
I shrugged. “Optimistic?”
“Political,” he said. “Whether you like it or not.”
I grimaced. “I was hoping to avoid that.”
“Too late,” he said gently. “You’re already a point of contact between factions and worlds.”
The maple leaves rustled overhead, a soft whisper that sounded suspiciously like agreement.
I crossed my arms, grounding myself in the feel of my sleeves beneath my fingers.
“If the Priestess is pushing them out of their homelands,” I said, “then she’s counting on them not being heard anywhere else.”
“And you want to ruin that plan,” Keegan said.
“Yes.”
“I know you’re choosing the right path,” he said quietly. “I just don’t like the idea of you being in the middle of it.”
“You’re always in the middle of it too.”
He smiled wryly. “Occupational hazard of falling for Stonewick’s Academy.”
“I won’t go without preparation, or without listening to every warning you want to give me.”
“That’s not the same as not going,” he said, laughing.
“No,” I agreed. “But it’s the best I can offer.”
He sighed, then nodded slowly. “In one ear and out the other as you’re listening.”
“I retain very well, thank you very much…especially when it doesn’t have to do with spellwork in the kitchen.”
He laughed. “Fine. We plan and choose the path carefully. We’ll bring people who know when to talk and when to step back.”
“And when to run,” I added.
He smirked. “Especially that.”
I smiled, the weight of the decision settling but no longer crushing. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked.
“For not trying to stop me,” I replied.
“I don’t want to stop you,” he said. “I just want you to come back.”
His eyes stayed fastened to mine for several beats, and I knew he meant it.
I nodded. “Well, that’s the plan.”
“Good.”
“Good.” We stood there for a moment longer, the quiet wrapping around us, not empty but full of possibility and risk in equal measure.
Somewhere beyond the Academy, orcs were moving, driven by forces that didn’t care who got caught in the middle.
Somewhere else, a Priestess watched and waited, her plans unfolding like a careful game.
And here, in this small pocket of calm, I allowed myself one steady breath.
We weren’t reacting anymore.
We were choosing, and that, I suspected, was exactly what she hadn’t planned for.
The courtyard felt smaller somehow, the Academy’s stone walls holding the moment gently instead of pressing in. The maple leaves overhead whispered again, a sound like encouragement, and the lantern nearest us flickered just enough to warm the space between us.
Keegan sat down next to me. Our shoulders brushed, and neither of us pulled away.
“You know,” he said after a moment, voice low, thoughtful, “I keep waiting for it to feel strange.”
“What?”
“Not carrying the curse anymore,” he said.
I turned to look at him, and his expression was open in a way I wasn’t used to seeing
“Does it?”
He glanced at his hands, flexing his fingers as if reacquainting himself with them.
“For so long, it was always there. It wasn’t always loud, but it was there for me to remember in the silence of the night, offering reminders that I was beholden to something.”
“I can’t imagine how that feels,” I said softly, but then my birthmark warmed.
“I know this is in no way what you went through, but sometimes, it feels like that with my birthmark. Before I came to Stonewick, it was just a mark on my skin, and now it feels like a homing beacon or a warning system I’m not ready for. ”
He nodded, smiling. “No, I get it.”
“I’m just so glad there’s no surprises for you any longer, wandering around wondering when your next shifting could be your last. I can’t even imagine what that felt like.”
“The last part of the curse was the worst though, the thoughts that weren’t mine, but they were inside my head…the constant chattering…”
“I’m so sorry.”
“If it wasn’t for you, they’d still be happening.”
I shook my head. “No, someone else would have figured it out.”
“Not true. I can guarantee you that no one in Stonewick would have trusted Gideon enough to ask, let alone invite him into our village, the Wilds, the Academy.” He sighed. “But you did, and you saved me.”
My chest tightened. “Thanks for thinking so highly of me, but I don’t see it that way.”
He shrugged. “It’s the truth, and now my mind is….quiet again.”
“I’m glad. It must be such an amazing change.”
“It is,” he said, then looked at me. “And terrifying.”
I laughed softly. “Of course it is. I can only imagine the thoughts that go through that brain of yours now.”
“Let me just say that having your ex hop around the halls was a true stretch for me, and my restraint was tested.”
“And I was impressed.” I rested my head on his shoulder, knowing this would possibly be one of the last quiet moments before we started again.
“I’m glad,” I said finally. “That you get this, you know…with the orcs.”
“And I thought you were going to say how good we fit together.”
“Can you say that again?” I lifted my head and turned to see him.
“Say what?” he teased. “I used to think partnership meant standing beside someone because you were bound to because of duty and expectation. It was the shifter way.”
“And here you are…” I smiled. “Standing beside me without anyone telling you to.”
He shrugged, but I sensed something more. “That’s the part I like.”
“The standing?” I teased.
“The choosing,” He corrected with a wry smile. “You don’t need me glued to your side. I’m not attached to your hip. You don’t need my permission. You just move forward, and I move with you. Or in many cases, I step back if that’s what you need.”
“And if I trip?”
Keegan’s smile widened, and his eyes steadied on mine. “Then I catch you.”
“And if I don’t want catching?”
“I guard the perimeter and let you fall magnificently.”
I chuckled and nodded. “I feel like we’ve experimented with that.”
“You’re an amazing woman, Maeve. You’re an amazing mom.” He smiled as I rested my head on his shoulder again. “And you’re the most enlightened witch I’ve met.”
“That’s one way of putting it, but thank you.”
“I couldn’t imagine ever standing by someone else.” He kissed the top of my head, and I melted into him like I was a teenager again.
I nodded slowly. “You know… I don’t think I’ve ever had a true partner.”
“That doesn’t surprise me with your toad of a husband,” he said, laughing.
“Right?”
“It’s funny because in the first part of the marriage, I thought I did.
But looking back…” I shook my head. “I was always compensating and explaining, and apologizing for taking up space when it didn’t align with his needs.
I wouldn’t even be able to count the times that I felt an overwhelming need to make myself smaller so he could shine. ”
“That’s not partnership,” he said quietly. “That’s the exact opposite.”
“I know,” I said. “I didn’t then.”
He brushed his hand along mine. “You don’t apologize now.”
I smiled faintly. “I’ve noticed that about myself.”
“And you don’t shrink,” he added. “And I hope you never do.”
“I think since I’ve gotten older, I realized that it’s okay to be good at things and it’s okay to be a little rusty. I don’t need to be perfect. I just need to be…”
“You’re perfectly imperfect to me. You know when to decide, when to listen, and you act.”
“If that’s the sense you’ve been getting, that’s good because I’ve been making it up as I go.”
“Everyone is,” he said. “The difference is that you don’t pretend otherwise.”
I laughed softly. “That’s not exactly comforting.”
“It is to me,” he replied.
I glanced up, caught the look in his eyes, and felt that familiar warmth spread through my chest again.
“You’re trouble,” I said lightly.
He grinned. “I’ve been told.”
“And you’re enjoying this far too much,” I added.
“Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe I just like seeing you like this.”
“Like what?”
“Here,” he said simply. “Present. Not bracing for impact.”
“That’s dangerous,” I murmured.
He chuckled. “So I’ve heard.”
I bumped his shoulder lightly. “Don’t get cocky.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” he said, then added softly, “Not with you.”
“I don’t know what comes next.”
He nodded. “Neither do I.”
“But,” I continued, “I know that when you’re around, it feels… steadier.”
“That’s not an accident.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“No,” he said. “It’s a choice.”
My breath caught. “That sounds suspiciously like commitment.”
He laughed softly. “I suppose it does.”
“And you’re okay with that?” I asked.
“I am.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because whatever comes next, I want to face it with you.”
“That might be the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
He grinned. “I’ll try not to make a habit of it.”
“Too late, but it is a nice feeling like I have someone in my corner.”
“I’ll always be in your corner.”
“You’re not afraid of this?” I asked. “Of everything that comes with me?”
He chuckled softly. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t cautious, but afraid? No.”
I playfully swatted him, and he kissed me without warning before slowly breaking away.
“I like who you are, warlock.”
His grin was slow and unmistakably pleased. “Good. I was hoping so.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever find this,” I said after a moment. “
“Neither did I,” he replied. “But I’m glad we did.”
I turned my head toward him, meeting his gaze. “So am I.”
The idea of what came next didn’t scare me because whatever it was, I knew one thing for certain.
I wouldn’t be facing it alone.