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He endured the blows as Thera’s Green knife continued to hack at the tangled web
Finally, enough had been cut away for hi that sounded like a roll of thunder, like the roar of a waterfall
Like the sound of power gathering before it was unleashed
Leave it, Thera! Jared shouted Get away froht, Thera whispered, swiftly breaking contact with him
Jared shook his head to clear it His connection to his body still felt sluggish Strands of the tangled ere clinging to his inner barriers, er irabbed him He stumbled
"Jared!" Thera shouted "There must have been another spell in those buttons I can’t tell how strong it is I don’t knoe can shield against it We have to run"
His legs just wouldn’t obey hied him away from the rock, toward the road "Daave him a vicious clout He couldn’t tell if it was physical or psychic, but it got his legsup the road
Feet pounded behind hi theishness
He ran faster
How dare she ride toward danger? How dare she risk herself? When they got out of here, he’d show her the sharp edge of his temper Just see if he didn’t
Blaed! Jared roared Protect Lia! Shield Lia!
Get down! Thera yelled GET DOWN!
He saw Blaed sweep Lia out of the gelding’s saddle, pull her to the ground, and cover her
He tasted bitter jealousy that he was still too scra her, protecting her
Thera knocked his legs out from under him He went down hard, then tried to shake her off when she landed on his back Wrapping her arainst his neck, and enclosed theround shook under him as the area around the flat rock exploded Sainst hiht, Mother Night"
Moments later, years later, there was silence
Thera rolled off him, quickly stood up, andthat had happened, Jared etting to his feet
Lia, on the other hand, strode toward Thera, her face tightened by anger Her gray eyes looked stone hard
"You stupid bitch," Lia shouted "I’ve been lenient about allowing you to use ive you leave to play around with spells you have no training to handle"
"Nothing would have happened,Lady , if you hadn’t tried to block it," Thera shouted back "If anyone’s to blame for this, it’syou "
Jared shook his head, as if that would clear away the confusion What were they talking about?
"Who do you think you’re talking to?" Lia shrieked
"A sexless bitch, that’s who! If you had any heat between your legs, you wouldn’t be wasting a er in Jared’s direction "You would have ridden hi before now"
Lia hissed "Hoould you knohat a noret between your thighs!"
Letting out an outraged howl, Thera threw herself on Lia
Jared watched theot to his feet He watched the at each other’s clothes and hair
Shock locked hiht At least, not physically Never physically Witches fought ords, fought with Craft But not physically
Because so happened to witches when they crossed that line
Blood e in quarrels that ended in blows, but they never coht Witches did They beca even stronga male was capable of, and they had no mercy
Thera and Lia rolled toward hi kicked out and hit hi his feet out from under him
He fell on top of the to separate them, he assured hi to attack the to hurt either one of them-- especially because he wasn’t quite sure which body parts hich woman