The Witch Keeps Time
Siren Parkermy mind went blanklife flashed before my eyes
Recognition, again, like the two of us were discovering a shared language without the words for it.
“You can’t promise that,” she whispered.
“I can promise me,” I said. “That’s all anyone can do.”
Mercy appeared behind us, as if she’d stepped out of the air itself. She carried a small pouch at her hip, herbs and needles and other quiet weapons.
“Stop,” she said.
We stopped.
Mercy crouched and pressed her palm to the ground, eyes half-lidded. The gesture looked like prayer until you watched her fingers, the way they traced patterns too deliberate to be reverent.