The morning after the farmer's market feels wrong. Too quiet. Too still. Like the whole house is holding its breath.
Raven left early with Emily and Grace to restock the booth for next weekend. She looked tired but steady, which is more than I expected after yesterday. I wanted to go with them, but Dad asked me to stay behind. Which means something’s up. He’s waiting for me on the back porch, leaning against the railing with a mug of coffee. The woods stretch behind him, dark and endless, the same woods that have been humming at the edge of my senses since yesterday.
“Sit,” he says. I do. He doesn’t waste time. “You can’t let Raven go into the woods alone,” he says quietly. “And you can’t let Drake go with her either.”
I blink. “I wasn’t planning on letting her go alone, but… why Drake?
