Witches Don’t Do Nervous
Tess POV
My brain throbs in my skull, and I come back to reality in stages.
First: pain. A shit load of pain.
Second: the overwhelming urge to swear. Oops, too late.
“Oh, for the love of– ” I croak, pushing myself up onto one elbow. Everything hurts. My head feels like someone used it as a football. “Next time someone says ‘quick drive through the woods,’ remind me to stay home.”
No one laughs.
Which is odd because that was objectively funny. I'm hilarious! Come on people.
I squint around the clearing. Dumb and dumber are no longer guarding me, which is odd, but a welcome surprise.
The witches are clustered together a few yards away, their heads bent in a tight circle like they’re planning a murder. Or just having a friendly chat. Hard to tell with witches.
Except, these ones look… nervous.
That’s unsettling. Very unsettling. And I'm not easily shaken! You should see me at training – I'm awesome! But even I know one thing, witches do smug. Witches do creepy as hell.
They do not do nervous.
I push myself up properly, brushing dirt and leaves off my jeans. My bones protest loudly. I feel like I've been poisoned. Oh, right – I was.
I really am a badass.
I smirk to myself before calling out.
“Hello?” I drag myself closer. “Just checking – are we still doing the ‘kidnap the teenagers’ thing, or have we moved on to phase two?”
No response. Rude.
"Hello?" I try again, louder this time.
Nothing.
They’re too busy whispering.
Which obviously means I lean a little closer. It's impolite to leave me out. And of course if someone is whispering in the woods about mysterious things, the correct response is absolutely to eavesdrop.
They're arguing amongst themselves like I'm not standing three feet away.
“…felt it too,” one of them is saying.
“The girl has awakened.”
Silence stretches between them.
Then one of the witches laughs softly.
“After all this time,” the woman murmurs.
“The surge was unmistakable.”
A cold prickle runs up my spine.
Surge?
Another witch shakes her head sharply.
“The bloodline ended years ago.”
“Then explain the energy.”
Energy? Love that for us.
I glance around automatically. Because if there’s mysterious energy surging through the woods, statistically speaking it’s probably happening to her. To my Gabi. I knew it! Didn't I say? My instincts never fail.
Except–
She isn’t here.
My stomach drops. That’s… not good. No good at all.
The witches fall silent suddenly.
One of them turns, my way. Crap.
Instead of noticing me though, she starts scanning the trees like she can feel something moving through the forest.
Her voice drops to a whisper.
“It’s him.”
Another witch stiffens.
“No.”
“Yes.”
A long, heavy pause follows.
Then one of them says quietly–
“The bond.”
I blink.
The bond?
Warmth spreads through my chest as I realise... They’re talking about Gabi. Has my girl got herself a bond?! OMG.
Apparently my best friend can’t just have a normal Tuesday like the rest of us.
No. She has to be involved in whatever weird magical conspiracy this is. And has bagged herself a mate along the way. Lucky cow.
I glance toward the dark stretch of forest beyond the clearing. The air feels… off. Charged maybe? Like a storm is building under the ground.
The ground beneath my palms gives a faint tremor. Like the earth itself just… woke up.
And suddenly I know. In that gut-deep way you just know things. Gabi isn’t just in the woods. Someone in the woods has found her first.
One of the witches inhales sharply. “Find the girl.”
“If the Alpha realises what she is… we lose everything.”
Oh my goddess, her mate is that dreamy alpha?
The others move immediately, spreading out into the trees.
My pulse kicks up hard. “Oh hell,” I mutter.
Because if witches are this interested in my best friend…
Whatever’s happening out there is about to get very, very bad.
One of the rogues storms past me, shoulder clipping straight through mine.
I shudder.
That felt... wrong. So very wrong.
I look down at my hands. They look normal enough. There's mud on my fingers, a small scrape across my knuckles from earlier.
Still me.
So why did that just happen?
“Okay,” I say slowly, waving my hands around wildly. “Either you’re all being incredibly rude right now, or–”
Nothing.
The nearest witch doesn’t even blink.
Her eyes slide straight through me like I’m not there at all.
A cold, creeping unease crawls up my spine.
“What the?”
I turn, scanning the clearing again, searching for literally anyone reacting to me.
No one does.
Not a glance. Not a flinch.
Nothing.
That's when my gaze drops to the ground. My heart plummets.
That’s when I see it.
A body lying a few feet away, half turned onto its side in the dirt.
For a second my brain doesn’t register what I’m looking at.
Then I notice the hair.
Blonde. Tangled.
Too familiar.
My stomach drops.
Oh.
I slowly look down at myself.
Then back at the body.
A long, quiet beat passes.
“Well, shit,” I mutter to absolutely no one.
My eyes drift back to the girl lying motionless in the dirt.
“…I’m dead?”