Page 6 of Little Witch

The whispers had gone silent, but they hadn't left. The forest was still watching. Still full of something dark I didn't understand yet.

I needed to find out what was causing this, and soon, because whatever those things were, they weren't good. Weren't kind, or peaceful, or anything close to harmless.

I wondered if they were what had taken my brother and never given him back.

I wondered if Cian had become one of them.

"Well, don't you look thrilled to be home."

The voice came from directly behind me — too close, no footsteps to warn me it was coming.

I didn't jump.

Twenty-three years of having a twin meant I'd stopped flinching at that particular trick of his a long time ago.

"Hello, little brother," Orias said, appearing at my shoulder like he'd been poured out of the shadows himself, grin already in place. "Nice of you to bring your ugly face back here again."

I rolled my eyes. We were identical. Insulting my face was, technically, insulting his own.

"You're an idiot." I sighed. "And you're three minutes older than me."

"I'm your idiot." He fell into step beside me, hands shoved in his pockets, gaze flicking toward the treeline with an ease that didn't quite reach his eyes. The humor slipped, just for a second. "They're getting louder, Ro. The whispers. I can hear them clearer every day now — not just at the treeline anymore. In town. In my own damn kitchen."

"Same," I ran my hand over my face. "They keep calling to me, and I... I think they want something."

"I know what they want." Orias stared at me, jaw set firm. "We're not the only ones hearing the voices."

Something flickered behind his eyes, gone before I could name it.

I froze.

"Amber?" My voice was ice. "Is she hearing the voices too?"

Chapter Three

I stood outside the bakery, arms folded against the early evening chill, watching the last of the customers trickle out of Halloway's Hearth. The sun had dipped low behind the trees, throwing long shadows across Main Street, and the storefront lights flickered on one by one, bathing the town in a warm amber glow.

It should have been peaceful.

The unease that had settled in my chest that morning still hadn't let go.

I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear and tapped my foot against the cobblestones, waiting for Orias to finish locking up. The dream from last night had sat heavy on my mind all day, and no amount of cinnamon-scented distraction had managed to shake it loose. The whispers had felt real. Close. And the pull — the same one from my dream — had stayed with me all day, a thread tugging at the back of my mind, getting worse with every hour that passed.

I wasn't sure I was fully awake anymore. My brain had gone somewhere between the whispers and the dream and never quite come back.

The worst part was how familiar it felt. Like the pull I used to feel as a kid whenever Rowan and Orias were around — that same shimmering thread of magic under their skin that I'd always been drawn to and never understood. I didn't let myself finish that thought.

I took a breath, trying to clear my head. Leaves stirred on the street, a soft rustle that sent a shiver down my spine. I pulled my jacket tighter and glanced toward the edge of town, where the Pines stood like dark sentinels, branches swaying in the breeze. They looked farther away than they actually were, like the forest was keeping its distance on purpose. But I could feel it anyway. The pull. The invitation.

I shook my head at myself. This was ridiculous. I wasn't some girl in a fairy tale, drawn into dark woods by mysterious whispers. I was tired. Too many long hours, too many late nights getting ready for the festival. That was all this was.

Still, the feeling lingered.

The bell above the door jingled, and Orias stepped out, pulling his jacket over his shoulders. He locked the door behind him and turned to me with that familiar half-grin, though something sharper flickered under it tonight.

"You good?" he asked, glancing between me and the treeline in the distance.

I forced a smile I didn't fully feel. "Yeah. Just thinking."