Willow: A Novel Novels & Stories

Afterward, Theo put on a movie, some action flick he’d seen a hundred times but still enjoyed. Willow curled up next to him on the couch, her head resting against his chest, but she wasn’t paying attention. Her mind kept circling back to the note. “The one with the fire hair. The wolf with two souls. She is the key. Find her. Bring her. Or he will come.” A shiver ran through her. Theo shifted beside her. “You’re thinking about it.” Willow exhaled. “I can’t help it.” His arms tightened around her, his thumb brushing idly against her arm. “We’ll figure it out.”

I moved toward her instinctively. “Stop.” The voice came from my right. I froze. Willow stepped out from behind a stack of crates, immaculate as always, as though she were attending a board meeting instead of standing in an abandoned warehouse with her kidnapped granddaughter. Ella followed a few steps behind her, tense and pale, and Sophie leaned against a metal beam with an expression that hovered somewhere between defiance and nerves. “You came alone,” Willow observed calmly. “Yes.” Her gaze swept past me, assessing the entrance, the shadows, the possibilities. “Good.”

In the fifth year since Ethan used the Wishing Willow to make me obsessively, madly in love with him, he finally got sick of it. He was sick of my nonstop check-in texts, of me hiring investigators to track his location over and over. Most of all, he couldn't stand the fact that every time I found out he was somewhere other than his office or our home, I'd show up and put a silver blade through every woman who got too close to him. After I nearly stabbed Barbara again, he didn't care that I was falling apart. He went straight to Barbara's apartment without looking back. I stood outside the door and watched him gently touch the cut I'd left on Barbara's arm, guilt all over his face. "I can't

Conrad POV I know I should have left Lewana like that, but I can't risk breaking down again. I need to find these answers and fast. It's mid-afternoon now, and Willow should have had the Hunter text for a few hours. Hopefully, she has something. I walk to the library and open the doors to find her alone and reading a large book. " Hey, Willow. Do you have anything from the hunter chronicles?".

Like Tiki. Willow shut her eyes and she focused on the element she felt she was closest to. Earth. She imagined a dense forest, such like the one that surrounded Miss J's cabin. The scent of the mossy soil beneath her feet. Purring interrupted the illusion and Willow's eyes fluttered open. A beautiful black cat rubbed against her legs, it's golden eyes staring through barely opened lids. She picked up the animal and let it curl in her lap, its purring vibrating against her thighs. "A black cat. Of course." Willow mumbled sadly as she looked around for another potential creature, but the others had given her distance. Roy walked over with two mugs of hot chocolate and a bag.

He's a sexy asshole, that's for sure. "Sorry for being late," Willow announces, entering the kitchen with a pant of breathlessness. Lennox and I turn our heads towards her. She's dressed in coffee-print pajamas and holds a binder under her arm. Upon seeing Lennox, Willow says, "Oh, you're both here—" Her cat slippers slide on the slippery hardwood, and she nearly falls flat on her face. Her binder drops to the floor. I sprint to catch my best friend, but she regains her balance with outstretched arms before I can reach her.

Willow. It had to be her who was still awake at this hour. Setting my briefcase on the table, I ran my hands through my hair. The nap in the car didn’t help much. I still felt exhausted. I walked to the living room and allowed a smile to creep up on my face as I watched the scene in front of me. I leaned against the door frame, pushing my weariness to the back of my mind as I breathed in the scent of honey, which lingered in the air. My eyes fell on the trio laying on the couch. The television lights were on but the movie they had been watching was finished a long time ago. Willow sat between the children, her head tilted weirdly against the back of the couch. Her lips parted as she breathed

"He's very hard to befriend, mother. See for yourself. How could I ever be friends with him?" Selena stepped forward, brushing snowflakes from her braid. “It’s warmer here than I imagined. He may not shout his sad story from the mountain tops, but any discerning person would be able to see it. To see through all the swagger and bravado, that he is just a male trying to hold everything and everyone together, even if it is killing him.” Willow wandered off to inspect a stack of books on the reading table, uninterested and silent as ever. Elara eyed her mother warily before motioning toward the hearth. “Sit, mother... We need to talk.”

I've never liked hospitals—too much waiting, too many endings disguised as hope. Willow walks beside me, silent but taut, like a bowstring pulled too tight. When we reach the room, she hesitates. Her hand curled around the edge of the doorway. "She's in there?" she asks, voice flat. I nod once. "She's weak. Not much time left, probably, but she's awake." Willow doesn't move at first. Then she squares her shoulders and steps in while I stay behind, leaning against the doorframe. Close enough if she needs me, but far enough to let her stand on her own.

It wasn't one of the usual men that Gregory often occupied the diner with. She stared at him for a brief moment before breaking eye contact. A feeling of sudden doom flooded her heart. Her hands shook, and she steadied them quickly before returning to the diner kitchen to place the order. Willow watched the men from afar,in between their chattering, Gregory and the new guest stole glances at Willow. Willow being an orphan from a young age was very street smart ,she could smell trouble from mile away and today every fibre in her body was telling her to leave the diner. She really wanted to listen to her instinct but the rent was over due and Gregory Greens generous tip would solve her problem