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Swearing, Eva snatched a handful of grass. It wasn’t the best conduit,
but it was what she had. Braiding it with shaking hands, she twisted it
into a Celtic knot and pulled a distraction around her. Eva got to her
feet and Cennetig didn’t seem to notice. He kept swiping at the redbird,
which seemed determined to keep him from getting to Nita.
Heart pounding, she walked behind him and grabbed the circlet.
Cennetig bucked as her hands touched his scalp. Eva yanked his head
back and gave him the kiss she had promised him.
His mouth was dry and chafed like bark. Magic bubbled around them as
she fulfilled their bargain. Eva twisted the circlet, breaking the willow
branch with a crack.
Howling, Cennetig grabbed Eva’s arm. Eyes mad with rage, he lifted the
knife.
Nita slapped her great paw against his head and Cennetig’s neck
snapped. He crumpled to the ground.
The air in the clearing condensed with the smell of a thunderstorm.
Cennetig’s body shivered into dust, which flowed into four mounds.
From one, a deer stood. It spied the bear and shied away, running
toward the baskets. In a bound, it cleared the fence and disappeared
into the woods. A raccoon ran for the edge, but when it reached the
baskets it got sucked into the willow cages. A butterfly flew straight
toward the painfully blue sky.
At Eva’s feet, a garter snake writhed in the grass. Nita slapped it with
her paw and hurled it into a basket.
LE PORTRAIT MAGAZINE
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