Page 13 of Whispers of the Magical Forest

"Anyone else notice how the temperature keeps dropping?" Violet asked. She was examining photographs of the runes on her phone. "It's well below freezing now, and my warming charms aren't doing jack."

"That's because the unnatural cold is following us," I explained, watching frost patterns spread across the passenger window.

"This is shade cold," Violet replied. “It’s seeping into mybones and trying to freeze my soul. Magically sensitive people feel it worst."

"I was trying not to think about the discomfort," Fiona muttered as she squinted through the windscreen. "Thanks for that.”

"Well," I pretended to think about it, "at least we know we aren’t losing our minds."

"That’s debatable,” Fiona teased. “We lost it months ago when we were stuck in those caves with the giant spiders.”

My phone buzzed with a message from Argies.Be safe, love. Kalli says your special job better not make you miss story time. She's got the dragon book ready.

Tell her she’ll get extra cookies if she's good for daddy, I typed quickly before the screen died again.And keep her away from my workroom this time!

"Your husband's too soft on her," Violet chuckled as I told her what he said. "Remember Greece last summer? He was worse than we were about sneaking into those ruins."

"Don't remind me," I groaned. "I thought he was going to expose us to the mundies."

"To be fair," Fiona called from the driver's seat, "at least he didn't start a food fight in the school cafeteria like someone I know."

"That wasn't my fault!" Violet protested from the back seat. "I told you I was dared to put the firecracker in Tommy Miller's pudding. How was I supposed to know he'd throw it at Jessica?"

"Because he was a teenage boy, and she'd just dumped him?" Fiona snickered. "Grams insists that the best part was Ms. Harrison's face when the custard hit her new blazer."

"I had detention for a month! And my mum grounded me until Christmas," Violet whined.

"You said it was worth it," Fiona reminded her. “You got back at the stupidest boy in class.” We all laughedat what was important to teenagers. That was a lifetime ago. If only life were that easy now.

Our laughter died as we passed another accident site. This one showed the same magical signatures we'd seen before. It even had the purple glow, the binding symbols, and the feeling of malevolent magic in the air. I sent another message to Gadross letting him know about the new accident.

"We should stop," Violet said, already reaching for her door handle.

"No time," Fiona replied, though I could tell it pained her to drive past. "Whatever's happening at midnight, we need to be there to stop it. Gadross's team can handle this scene."

“I’ve already sent him an alert,” I told them. I had to admit it felt wrong to leave potential victims behind. Sometimes being a responsible adult meant making difficult choices.

"Speaking of midnight," I said as I checked my watch, "we've got less than two hours. Anyone want to place bets on what we'll find in those wine cellars?"

"Ten quid says it's a cult," Violet offered.

"That's a sucker bet and you know it," Fiona snorted. "It's always a cult. Twenty says they're wearing dramatic robes and chanting in Latin."

"Thirty says we find out someone we know is involved," I added. "That's usually how these things go."

"Oh god," Violet suddenly sat up straighter. "You don't think... I mean, Elowen seemed nice enough, but..."

"It could be her. The Fae aren't exactly known for their straightforward dealings," I finished. "That doesn’t apply to all of them, mind you. Argies’s brother is making drastic changes that will minimize the coup by Vodor ever happening again.” Argies had helped his brother start reestablishing the Fae courts. At one point my family belonged to the Autumn court. I had no idea what life waslike under that system because Vodor had abolished it long before I was born. When we went back for our next visit, I would get my first glimpse of what that would be like.

Fiona shook her head. "My money's on someone else. Did you notice how that young officer kept asking about unusual details? And his notepad – I caught a glimpse of what he was writing. Those weren't normal police notes."

"Bloody hell," I muttered. "Peterson's involved?"

"It would explain why he was so difficult to manipulate," Violet mused. "And how he got there so quickly after the accident."

The car's heater was losing its battle against the supernatural cold. Frost was creeping across the interior now and forming those same disturbing binding patterns we'd seen at the crime scenes. I pressed my hand against the window, pushing back with my elemental magic. The frost retreated slowly. It was reluctant. Like something was fighting to keep it there.

"Anyone else wondering about The Midnight Cellar?" I asked. "If it was shut down decades ago, how is it suddenly active again?"

---