Page 1 of Whispers of the Magical Forest

CHAPTER 1

FIONA

"Ican't believe we actually managed to get away," Violet said from the back seat. Her voice was filled with proper wonderment.

I caught her eye in the rearview mirror and smirked. "That's because I'm just that awesome." I wasn't, but I believed in faking it till you made it. The notion had gotten me this far in life. Why stop now? Besides, someone had to be the confident one in our little trio.

"Remind me again how you convinced Bas to let you out of his sight for an entire weekend?" Violet leaned forward between the seats, her dark curls bouncing with the movement. "Last time I checked, he was being particularly clingy after our trip to the Amazon."

"First of all," I said, keeping my eyes firmly on the road, "we had no choice but to go and save the Garden. He knows that. Second, Bas doesn't 'let' me do anything. I'm a grown witch who can make her own questionable life choices, thank you very much."

"We did manage to contain the Garden with minorinjuries," Aislinn conceded, though she was still checking her mobile for what had to be the hundredth time since we'd left. Probably making sure Argies hadn't fed Kalli takeaway curry for breakfast again. "If anything happens to me, Argies will never forgive the lot of you. And don't give me that look, Fi. You know our track record."

"For crying out loud, we're wine tasting. Not challenging a dragon to a duel," I said. "Something you would win since you're mated to one and survived giving birth to one." I shot her a grin to let her know I was joking. Being a mom—sorry, mum—had turned my formerly adventurous friend into such a worrier. "Though I have to admit, the dragon might be easier to handle than hangovers. Remember when I brought Grams back?"

"That was well worth consuming so much," Aislinn replied with a smile. "Though I still maintain that Grams' hangover cure is actually worse than the hangover itself. I swear I tasted colors for a week after."

"Better than the time we tried that 'foolproof' potion Violet found on WitchTok," I reminded them, switching lanes to pass a lorry that was moving slower than snot. "My tongue went numb for three days."

"In my defense," Violet piped up, "the witch who posted it had five stars and over a million followers."

"Yes, and now we know why you shouldn't trust social media witches who call themselves 'That Healing Witch Girl' and use too many emojis in their posts," I said dryly.

The quaint village of Hambledon sprawled out before us. Holy mother of magic was it perfect. Like, suspiciously perfect. Snow covered everything from the rolling hills to the neat rows of grape vines standing at attention like tiny soldiers waiting for orders. The whole scene looked like something out of a tourism brochure, which immediately setoff my Spidey senses. In my experience, perfect usually meant "run the other direction as fast as possible."

"It looks like someone took every British Christmas card ever made and smooshed them together," I muttered as I squinted through the windscreen at the picturesque scene. "Are we sure this place is real and not some fairy glamour?"

"I did my research," Violet assured us as she pulled out her itinerary. "Hambledon's completely legitimate. They've been making wine here since before the Norman Conquest. Though..." She paused and looked around. "There might be a few local legends about the original vintners making deals with the Fair Folk for better harvests."

"Brilliant," Aislinn groaned. "Just brilliant. Why can't we ever go somewhere normal?"

"Because normal is boring," I reminded her as we carefully navigated the narrow village streets. "And let's be honest. Trouble finds us whether we're looking for it or not. Might as well embrace it and get some good wine out of the deal."

The vines were dormant under their snowy blankets. But something about them made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Like they were guarding secrets. Magical secrets. The kind that usually ended up trying to kill us. I kept my mouth shut about all that. I didn't want Aislinn fretting over a feeling. Although, I had to acknowledge it was unlikely we could go wine tasting without stumbling into something potentially lethal.

Violet was a romantic at heart and did a little spin that would have looked ridiculous on anyone else. "It's absolutely lovely. I feel like we've stepped into another world. The snow makes everything look so pristine."

I snorted. "Yeah, pristine until you're face-down in it wondering where your dignity went. Then it's just cold, wet, and embarrassingas hell."

"Speaking from experience there, Fi?" Aislinn teased.

The village was tiny. Just a handful of buildings clustered around an ancient church that probably hadn't seen action since before electricity was invented. Every cottage looked like it belonged in a Jane Austen novel. They all had thatched roofs and ivy-covered walls. Even the pub looked like it had been serving ale since Henry VIII was busy collecting wives.

"Look at that church," Violet said. Her witch senses were clearly tingling as much as mine. "Those wards are ancient. Someone's been maintaining them though. See how the protection sigils are worked into the stonework? Proper clever, that is."

"As long as we don't have to deal with any more angry ghosts," Aislinn muttered.

“The ghosts went south for winter,” I assured Aislinn.

"This is exactly what we needed," Violet said. She was practically bouncing with excitement. "The vineyards here are meant to be some of the finest in Britain. And the wine-"

"-better be worth freezing my ass off," I finished, rubbing my gloved hands together. "Otherwise, someone's going to hear about it. Possibly at volume."

"Bloody hell, Fi," Aislinn chuckled. Her breath was visible in the cold air. "You're always threatening someone. It's rather become your signature, hasn't it?"

"It's gotten us this far, hasn't it?" I glanced at the small signpost pointing toward our first winery. "Besides, without wine, this place would just be a really pretty ghost town. And we've dealt with enough actual ghosts to last a lifetime."

"That we have," Violet agreed as she twined one arm through mine and the other through Aislinn's.

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