"Do you like me?" I asked. "Do you really like me?"
Imogen nodded. Water gathered at the edges of her eyes. "Yeah," she whispered, in a voice pained enough to crack my heart.
"Then let's...go out, after this," I said. "We'll go on a date. We can figure this out together, and we can take one step at a time. Okay?"
Imogen nodded again. I took her hands in mine. 
Heartwood: Forbidden is the tale of the young, headstrong Ophelia stepping into a world of magic and witches. At first it seems like her greatest challenge will be finding her Familiar or drawing her Implement from a great tree, but then she runs into Imogen, daughter and heir to the Magnolia family, and learns very quickly that romance and magic probably shouldn't be allowed to mix. If Ophelia plays the game well, she might be able to get the girl and still end up on top. But Ophelia has never been good at following the rules... 
Heartwood: Forbidden is created by EOK Gifford-Smith, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.

Heartwood: Forbidden

Klaeris paced back and forth before Imogen and me, clearly trying to phrase her 'good' news carefully. Side note: if your news needs to be phrased carefully, it's probably not good. The Elm Matriarch probably knew this on some level, but that did not stop her from needlessly delaying the explanation.


"I'm glad to see the two of you together," Klaeris said. "That's nice, isn't it?"


"Y-yeah," I gave Imogen a nervous glance. "It's great. What is this about?"


Klaeris paused in her pacing. She noticed that her hands were shaking, so she clasped them behind her back.


"No, no!" Klaeris put a hand out to stop her.


"My mother is going to get suspicious," Imogen tried to press for the door.


Chapter 42: Betrayal