yule

When Witches Sing is out!

/ Aelina / Leave a comment

“Could you show me some magick?”

“Oh,” I whisper, then nod quickly. “Yeah, okay.”

I clear my throat and stand, then sit back down, because I don’t want to stand over him. He’s already so much shorter than me, I feel like a giant just sitting next to him. He tentatively presses a hand to my arm, lips parting, and I startle. He pulls back, not taking his eyes off me. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you nervous.”


“Oh, I’m not. Nervous, that is.”


Felix chuckles. “Okay. Well, you don’t have to make yourself smaller, for me.”


“Oh,” I say, then stand and straighten to my full height before him. The leaves and petals in my hair and along my skin stand to attention, and I blush at the image of preening like a fucking peacock.


“Wow,” Felix says, staring up at me with wide eyes. “You’re really tall.”


I almost lean down, but he takes my hand. This time, he doesn’t let go. “No, don’t.” Felix stands beside me, my hand in his. I stare down at our entangled fingers, then back to his face. His neck is craned and it looks painful, but the determination in his eyes is almost frightening.


I squeeze his hand, then let go. I put my hands up, smiling wide. “Okay, have it your way, tchotchke.”


Oh, how he smiles at that. He pretends to be affronted, but that smile. It’s perpetual, blinding. “I am not a small thing.”


I shrug, turning away from him. I bring my hands to chest level and smile upon coming up with an idea. I close my eyes and murmur, “Abracadabra.”


Have fun with swamp witches, chaos witches, root witches and musical witches. Just, all of the witchery and tomfoolery there ever could be. Happy Yuletide friends.

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I run to him.

/ Aelina / Leave a comment

Belatedly, I recognize this for what it is. A dance, Calen is leading me into a dance. Stars, when was the last time I did this?

With Arlo, I had told him I couldn’t handle loving and losing him.

My breath hitches, but that’s all the sadness my heart is allowed before Calen quite literally sweeps me off my feet. They are marvelous, erasing my disadvantage that is unfamiliarity with such a simple act as dancing. The notes seem to swirl around us, no—through us— and I laugh. It starts off small and unsure, but then Calen is laughing too, spinning me in circles upon circles in the middle of the kitchen.

Silas calls out over the music, “Don’t break his hip birdie!”

And it goes on and on, the laughter and music and sun.

Sunlight streams in through the colored mosaic of windows overlooking the backyard, casting reds, blues, golds and purples onto our moment in time. Calen’s soft cheeks burst with happiness when Pesto joins in, prancing around us on those little hooves. A breeze moves through the room, bringing with it the distinct scent of wet earth. I stumble to a stop and nearly topple us both over, but thankfully Calen keeps us upright.

Lysander, Felix and Arlo stand just inside the backdoor, bringing snow covered boots and flushed smiles with them. Felix grins wide at me, stands on his tip toes and gives Lysander a kiss on the cheek, then practically throws himself into Silas’ arms. Silas takes it in stride, situating the witch across his lap and burying his face into Felix’s chest.

And Arlo—oh my stars, Arlo.

He’s looking at me like I’m something.

Like I mean something.

Like I exist.

Like this is it, this is ours and he’s mine and I–

I run to him.

How could I not?

It’s like the first day of my new life all over again. I kiss him, and kiss him, and kiss him.

He laughs against my lips, big palms settling on my cheeks. His hands are so cold, but I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all. His fingers slide across my jaw, tangling themselves into my hair. Heat courses up my spine when he opens for me, allowing my tongue to find his. The same thought that occurs every time we kiss swims in the background.

Can he feel how much I’ve missed him?

The solid, fast paced rhythm of his heart that matches every beat of mine proudly affirms yes, yes, yes.

🌲✨🏳️‍🌈❤️‍🔥

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A Yuletide Special

When Witches Sing

/ Aelina / Leave a comment

A glitter and glue covered witch calling the man who took him under his wing Dad for the first time.
A riverside vigil held for a man thought lost to time, arranged by a witch filled with chaos.
A dancing witch who hides in plain sight, protecting others like them from a violent and unfamiliar Levena.
A swamp witch comprised of moss and a lonely heart, who finds out how many ways a heart can be stretched.
A clumsy immortal, returned home to the hedge witch who has waited eleven years to hold his soulmate again.

There will be screaming goats, long nights filled with nightmares and the comfort of a lover once lost to time, burnt breakfasts and dancing in kitchens. Fireplaces will crackle to life in cottages filled with bones, crystals, paintings and books. The snow will fall lazily outside windows that are decorated with strands of citrus garland. The silver and golden moons will be full, and they will all dance around a bonfire to massive drums beat upon by kindred spirits.

And when the night melds with dawn, those who have been separated for far too long will reunite under candle light, accompanied only by the sounds and sensations of the person they’re with. Their person.

The witches will sing, and there will be so much love and life, that there can’t possibly be another Yule quite like this one.

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