hip, I fumble for the switchblade in my jeans pocket. I grab hold of it as best I can, feeling the weight of its metal in my grip. With my other hand, I dig my nails into the Rose Mother’s arm but she doesn’t remove her fingers from my mouth. Instead, she gyrates against me and groans.
“Osmosis begins, Delphi!” She cries out, head rocked back. “Not long now before the seeds within you germinate and I live on through you!”
Something wet and slick drags my attention to my hips. Between the Rose Mother’s fingers, I can make out dozens of thin and earthy brown roots slithering out of her pussy. As though taking on a life of their own, the roots curl and spread. They creep under my shirt and travel over my flesh. I scream, but the only sound that escapes my lips is a choked gurgle.
“I will live forever and ever!” The Rose Mother howls, eyes wide and wild. Her hips pound against my own. Her pigment mutates from leather to vomit green. Tiny horns poke out from under her skin and push through the surface, morphing her skin into bark. Blades of grass rise from her scalp. The roots from her pussy reach my throat and wrap around it. “And this blighted world shall become my garden. And it will be glorious! With my hands, new life will grow, and —”
I rip the switchblade from my pocket, flick it open and lodge it into the wood under her navel. The Rose Mother gasps as amber sap trickles from the wound. Her fingers fly from my mouth, but the roots around my throat tighten. Wrapping her hand around the hilt of the blade, she yanks it out. Specks of wood fall into my eyes.
“Did you honestly think that would work?” She asks, throwing the switchblade into a bush close by. “I am a deity, Delphi. Human weapons cannot harm me in any way whatsoever.”
My vision goes spotty as the roots wrap tighter. Images flash through my head roller coaster quick. Me, crying and alone in the abandoned building. Copper-Eye walking through the door. Promising me a new life and the wonder of magic. Studying spells. Bullied by my siblings. Following Electra between the stalls of the thrumming market in Chinatown. Lips upon hungry, desperate lips. Falling in love. Failing at love. The salty taste of tears mixed with peppermint and blood.
I couldn’t help you. I tried – Jesus Christ, I tried. Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive me. Forgive –
With what little strength I can muster, I turn my head to Electra’s flowers for a final time…
“Human weapons may not be able to hurt you,” a voice rings out from somewhere far away. It’s familiar. Angry and cruel. “But magic sure as hell can.”
The crack and crunch of wood clears my head and chips shower onto my face. The roots around my neck go slack, just in time for the Rose Mother to howl and clamber to her feet as her right arm falls to the ground.
Behind the old lady stands Olectra.
My vision returns to normal, and I’m able to crawl to the wooden stairs, gulping for air.
Olectra glances down at me and sneers. The Rose Mother approaches her but she wags her finger and the old lady stops. “I wouldn’t come near me if I were you… Rose Bitch, is it?” She lifts her chin at the monstrosity and crosses her arms over her chest. “Delphi knows what I can do to bone. Just imagine what I’ll be able to do to wood.”
“Bone mage!” The Rose Mother spits, clasping her sappy stump and swaying slightly where she stands. “You have no business here. Remove yourself!”
The side of Olectra’s mouth curls up. “Or what? You’ll turn me into a wedding bouquet?” She brings a hand to her chin and taps it. “Let’s get something straight. I don’t care what you do to her.” Olectra jabs her thumb in my direction and I flinch. She laughs. “I don’t even care what you did to this butt-fuck town or its residents. Hell, you could turn the entire world into a jungle for all I care, I’d still think it’s pretty.” What little there was of a smile dies and her face turns sour. A lock of hair falls over her eyes but she doesn’t brush it aside. “I do, however, care when you fuck with my sister.” She raises a hand and ever so slightly turns it. “And that makes me