Starglow Basin bruja,

pressed between gritty earth, qiao winced.  saya's breath steamed against her ear, her voice purling with a threatening hiss.

pain arced between her shoulderblades as the woman's nails dug deeper into skin, the greenbriar torc on her neck pulling so tight it caused her to nearly choke. qiao struggled, her burning gaze kept on the man.

this was not the will of the overworld; it hissed in her ears. for all her divining of the overworld's whims, qiao had failed to account for simple masculine stupidity. and here was a man now, perhaps dumber even than khaba.

now that the long years of her life were funneling into minutes, qiao wished she had done things differently. she wished she had cut him down at their first meet. she wished she had saved ruenna. she wished she had taken the child owed to her. she wished her carefully laid plans had seen their fruition sooner; she wished to have moved faster --

and lastly she wished she had not cut eset into her coven's bloodfold. gazing into those compassionate eyes, qiao saw her end reflected back in them.

jostled forward, qiao set her face in a determined grimace. to muat riya's ward, the crone bared her yellowed fangs. do it. she urged, feeling the wind stir around her bare throat. do it, and do it quick.