12. Callum #3
I nod slowly, staring at the glowing blue trees floating over the desk. “So she went out into a dark, dense forest alone, collecting high-value magical ingredients, and never came back out.”
“Precisely,” Julian says somberly. “And if someone—or something—was waiting for her out there, they knew her routine perfectly.”
I tap a knuckle against the desk, studying the floating blue light of the forest canopy. “Are there things out there?” I ask, not hiding the skepticism in my voice. “In the Witch Wood? People? Predators?”
“The Witch Wood is called that for a reason, Callum,” Julian says softly, resting his hands in his pockets.
“The witches of Amberhollow are really the only ones who know it. Even the local werewolf pack doesn’t patrol that deep.
The terrain is dense, unpredictable, and the trees themselves tend to shift if you don’t carry the right bloodline or intent.
Witches are usually completely safe there.
The wood recognizes them, their bloodlines.
And Sabine isn’t just any witch. She’s one of the most powerful elder witches we have. ”
I get it now. If someone managed to snatch an elder witch out of a forest that was practically built to protect her, this isn’t some random runaway case. It’s a targeted execution or a kidnapping by someone who knew exactly what they were doing.
“What about the other two missing people?” I ask, leaning over the desk again. “Where were they?”
Julian reaches into the glowing projection, his fingers brushing through the light to point at two spots along the outer ridge of the same forest. “Right here. A young wizard and a witch. They went in to gather simple moon-lily roots for a project two weeks ago and never came back.”
“There’s no way in hell that’s a coincidence,” I say flatly. “All three missing cases trace back to the same square mile of timber. Have you sent a search party out there since Sabine vanished?”
“We tried,” Julian admits, a tight strain in his voice.
“We sent a squad of our wolf officers, but as I said, the woods don’t make it easy for non-witches.
Thick fog rolled in within minutes, the paths literally closed up behind them, and three of my men nearly walked off a fifty-foot drop before they had to pull back. ”
I frown. “Are you telling me the Witch Wood is actually alive?”
Julian gives a short, quiet chuckle. “Detective, surely you’ve noticed by now that everything in Amberhollow is alive.”
“Right,” I mutter, rubbing the back of my neck. “So how am I supposed to get in there to investigate? I’m a human. I don’t carry a wand, and I don’t even know what I’m looking for out there.”
Julian pauses, his sharp eyes fixing on me with a quiet, deliberate intensity. “I’ve noticed you hanging around Freddie Rowley quite a bit lately.”
My posture goes rigid. “We’ve talked. She works at the inn.”
“Yes,” Julian agrees easily, nodding. “The Rowley family are good people. Atticus and Cassandra have been pillars of this community for decades, and right now they’re out near the border doing whatever research they can on the Veil.
They’re exceptionally powerful. But Freddie… Freddie is a Resonant.”
“Resonance,” he repeats, his tone almost reverent. “Is an extremely rare form of magic. We only see it once every few generations, if that. She doesn’t just cast spellwork, she feels the pulse of the very realm itself.”
“Okay,” I say slowly, folding my arms across my chest. “And?”
“And the Witch Wood will accept Freddie,” Julian says simply. “If you go with her, the forest won’t fight you. You’d be safe by her side.”
I swallow hard, looking down at the glowing map.
It sounds good on paper. The only problem is, Julian clearly doesn’t know that Winifred is terrified of her own magic.
She keeps it locked down tight, avoiding it whenever she can.
She isn’t going to just waltz into a cursed forest and start slinging high-level spells like her parents do.
Julian reaches over, shifting the map slightly and pointing to a small icon on the opposite side of the territory.
“The Stardust Inn sits right on the edge of the Witch Wood’s western border.
I can make a call to the owner—an old friend—and arrange for you and Freddie to stay there at no cost while you conduct your search. ”
“Where’s the Veil from there?” I ask.
Julian taps a spot just half a mile past the Stardust Inn. “Right here. It runs right along the cliffline.”
I stare at the marker. The Veil. The whole reason I’m trapped in this twilight zone in the first place.
If Winifred and I go to the Stardust Inn, we won’t just be tracking Sabine, we’ll be right next to the rift.
We could inspect the sentries guarding it, see the damage up close, and maybe figure out a way for me to finally get home.
“Alright. I’ll talk to Winifred. If she’s willing to go, we’ll head over to the Stardust and see what we can find out.”
A smile breaks across Julian’s fair face.
“Fantastic. I appreciate it, Callum.” He pauses, a teasing glint entering his pale violet eye.
“Just a word of advice—be careful when you’re up on that broom with her.
Freddie’s a lovely girl, but her flying skills leave a bit to be desired.
She nearly took off my chimney stack a couple years ago. ”
I freeze, my mind grinding to a screeching halt. “Wait. What?”
Julian blinks, looking mildly surprised. “The broom? It’s the only way through the upper canopy into that side of the valley.”
“There’s no dirt trail?” I ask, my voice dropping an octave. “No truck? No ATV?”
“Not through the thickets, no,” Julian says smoothly. “Unless you fancy a twelve-hour hike through razor-briars.”
I stare at the Mayor, processing the fact that my life has officially devolved into a fever dream.
Not only am I going into a sentient, dangerous forest with a woman who refuses to use her powers, but I’m going to be clinging to the back of a wooden broomstick, hundreds of feet in the air, praying that Winifred Rowley doesn’t accidentally fly us straight into the side of a mountain.
God help me.