There was no humor in it; no teasing. Her eyes were wide, clouded with memory…fear, wariness.
“You see it now?” I asked.
She didn’t answer right away; just looked up at the trees, then back the way we came.
“No,” she said eventually. “But I think it knows I’m here.”
“I thought you didn’t believe in it.”
She shrugged. “I’ve seen some things in this town that are making me reevaluate what’s real and what isn’t.”
A chill licked down my spine, but I didn’t let it show. I just kept her hand in mine, kept walking. The Witch Tree wasn’t far.
“You ever think,” I said slowly, “that maybe some of these things don’t show up to scare you? Maybe they show up because they know you can see 'em.”
Her eyes slid sideways to me. “That supposed to be comforting?”
“Hell, I don’t know,” I said. “Just thinkin’ out loud.”
She didn’t speak again until the trail curved and opened up into the little clearing—the roots of the Witch Tree gnarled and sprawling, leaves scattered at its base. Moonlight pooled in silver puddles across the dirt and moss, soft as candlelight.
Noelle stopped walking. I felt the hitch in her breath. Her fingers tightenedin mine.
“This is it,” I said quietly. “Where it all started. And ended.”
“It’s beautiful,” she said. “In a fucked-up kind of way.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Kinda like you.”
She let out a snort, which I counted as a win. Then she turned, slowly, so we were facing each other—still holding hands, but now chest to chest, close enough that I could feel her warmth.
“Why’d you bring me out here?” she asked quietly.
I hummed. “Because…I wanted to show you our history. Yours, maybe…if you end up sticking around for a week, then another, then another.”
She smiled.
“Wanted you to know that I’m well aware you’ve been scared of the woods a long time, but there ain’t nothin’ in this forest that means you harm.”
“The woods in general or this forest in particular?”
“This one,” I said, looking around. “This—it’s sanctified land. My Grandma Hazel used to bury tourmaline out here, scatter pennies and iron nails…and Willow and Silas have done some work too. Hangin’ sigils in the trees, carvin’ them into the bark.”
She laughed. “Very Blair Witch of them.”
I grinned. “I think Silas might take that as a compliment.”
Noelle’s eyes flicked toward the tree again. “So…this is a holy site, huh? We out here to break another curse or something?”
I shook my head. “Nah—I really just wanted to see you come with the moonlight in your eyes.”
That shut her up for a second. She tilted her head, a slow, suspicious smile curling her lips at the corners. “You make it really hard for my jokes to land when you just have to one-up me with something romantic.”
I smirked, stepping in close enough that our hips brushed. “What can I say? You bring it outta me.”
She rolled her eyes, but her breath hitched when I reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. My fingers lingered there, against the soft edge of her jaw.
“I like you like this,” I said. “All smart mouth and shaky hands.”
