THEYRE WATCHING
The carriage ride to Sera's estate was quiet at first—snow falling in lazy, sparkling flakes, the road winding between frost-covered trees that whispered like they knew secrets.
I pressed my face to the window. "It's so pretty I could cry."
Sera snorted. "You will cry. My sisters are adorable little demons and my mother feeds like she's trying to fatten us up for ritual sacrifice. Also, everyone's going to lose their minds over your hair. Don't say I didn't warn you."
I tugged my hood tighter over my glowing, silver-tipped hair. "Maybe they won't notice."
"They will."
They did.
The second we stepped through the threshold of House Leontari—a sprawling stone-and-glass manor warded with living vines and pulsing with old enhancements—I was swarmed.
"Oh my gods, is this her?"
"Her eyes are so big."
"Shes tiny! Look at her ears—do they sparkle?!"
"I want to braid her hair!"
A chorus of giggles and squeals rose around me as at least six girls of varying ages darted around my legs, tugged on my robe, and clung to my arms like enchanted barnacles.
The air smelled like cinnamon and wildflower syrup, and the walls shimmered faintly with illusion magic—like the whole house was half-dream.
Sera grinned as she elbowed one of her teenage sisters off me. "Told you."
A regal woman swept into the room then, curls tumbling like vines down her back, eyes sharp but warm. "You must be Noelani," she said, voice rich with power and honeyed amusement. "Welcome to our chaos. I'm Maia—Sera's mother."
She kissed both my cheeks before I could even curtsy.
"I—uh—it's really nice to meet you," I stammered, already pink in the face. "Your home is beautiful. And loud. But, like, a good kind of loud! Not like the scary tavern loud, more like-like warm loud. I like it. I think."
Maia chuckled. "Oh, we're definitely the warm kind of loud. And I adore you already."
And just like that, I was swept into the Leontari family storm.
By evening, I'd been dressed up by three sisters, given tea by a fourth, and pulled into a chaotic snowball battle with a fifth.
A tiny toddler with impossibly big green eyes and curls like Sera's cling to me wherever I went, and Sera told me with a smirk that he was the only boy—"our baby thunder god.
" She called him—and that he'd already claimed me as his.
I melted completely.
"This might be my heaven," I whispered.
"You haven't met my brothers yet," Sera said, her voice light—but there was something underneath it. Something that made my skin prickle.
I turned to her. "Are they nice?"
She smiled. "Depends on who you ask."
The solstice party began with laughter.
The forest clearing glowed with floating lanterns and glamour-laced mist, the air filled with music thar tugged on my bones in a way that felt familiar. Like it remembered me from another life.
I tried to be good. I did.
I avoided the strong wine. I stayed close to Sera. I only are the pastries on the tray with the label.
But then there were the brownies.
They looked harmless. Soft and gooey and topped with edible gold leaf. I took one. Then another. Then... one more, because I thought I'd dropped half the second one but it turned out I just—ate it?
Things got...floaty after that.
Sera found me sitting in the snow, giggling at my own breath.
"I can see the notes when people talk," I told her seriously. "Yours are green. And kinda spicy."
She blinked. "Oh gods."
"What?"
"You ate Mira's brownies."
I tilted my head. "Who's Mira?"
"My most unhinged sister. She makes potions and...other things."
"Oh," I said, Then grinned. "Oops."
Sera sighed and wrapped an arm around me, guiding me gently toward the fire pit. "You're lucky you're cute."
"I'm so cute," I agreed.
And then I burst into a long, bubbly monologue about stars and sea glass and whether or not snow had feelings.
I didn't notice the two dark shadows watching from the edge of the trees.
Not yet.
Sera led me to a padded bench near the fire and draped a thick velvet blanket over my shoulders. I immediately snuggled into it like contented little worm.
"This bench is warm," I informed her. "You're warm. This blanket is warm. I think I might marry it."
Sera snorted into her cider. "You're high off your tits."
"My what?"
"Never mind."
I leaned sideways against her, eyes wide and sparkly. "You smell like juniper and sarcasm. That's nice."
"Thank you?" She rolled her eyes, but her smile was fond. "You are so not surviving the rest of the week."
"I'm thriving, actually." I gestured dramatically with my cup of hot chocolate. "Everyone here is so pretty. Your cousin offered me a cookie and called me a 'shimmering lamb.' Is that a weird compliment? I liked it."
From across the fire, one of Sera's older cousins—Rya, I thought her name was—laughed. "You are a shimmering lamb, darling. Like a magical cupcake in girl form."
"Oh no," I giggled, covering my face. "Stop it. I'll combust. I'm combusting right now. This js combustion."
The women howled with laughter.
Sera flopped against me dramatically. "I should've warned them. You're terminally adorable when flustered. A real menace."
I hiccuped. "I—I think I just flirted with a tree."
"You did."
"It had vibes, Sera."
Sera was still wheezing when Mira—her chaotic potion-making sister—came over and offered me a glass of something deep purple and vaguely shimmering.
"No!" Sera yelped, snatching it away before I could take it. "She's already stoned, Mira. Do you want her to start levitating again?"
"I levitated?" I asked, suddenly deeply impressed with myself.
"Only a little."
"I'm a goddess."
"Sure, baby. Let's get you some water."
The firelight danced on the snow. Laughter echoed. Magic pulsed faintly in the air—bright, effervescent, and oddly familiar in a way I couldn't place.
I curled into Sera's side, humming softly under my breath. The song wasn't one I knew. Not really. But it tasted like stars and salt and something older than language.
I didn't notice the way the forest went quiet.
I didn't feel the ripple in the air.
Not when two shadows stepped closer, eyes glowing faintly in the dark—gold and violet.
They stood at the edge of the clearing. Watching.
Not ready to touch.
Not yet.
But soon.
And something deep inside me stirred. A gentle ache. A whisper of recognition that hadn't caught up to my mind yet.
"Hey," I mumbled sleepily, blinking up at sera. "Why does the moon feel loud?"
She looked down at me with wide eyes. But instead on answering, shes just pulled me closer, whispering gently, "You're safe, lani. Just rest."
Sera helped me upstairs, one arm around my waist while I giggled softly to myself.
"Almost there, cupcake," she murmured, easing me into a plush bed layered in moss-green blankets and soft white furs.
I blinked up at the ceiling, still smiling. "The trees are whispering secrets," I said dreamily. "And...and there were shadows with pretty eyes. Did you see them?"
Sera froze for just a heartbeat. "No, love," she said gently, brushing my hair from my face. "You probably imagined it."
I nodded. "Okay. They were handsome shadows, though."
She laughed—soft and nervous.
Then I yawned, curled into the blankets, abd mumbled as I drifted off, "If they come back, I'll ask their names."
And the moment my eyes closed, outside the frost-covered window, two figures remained still as statues. Watching.
Waiting.
~