![]() I am the only girl in the world whose mother can protect her from demons. I swallow convulsively, then smile, because I’m never alone. The air stirs against my shoulder, half a sigh and half a kiss. ![]() ![]() The kitchen gapes chill and empty about me. Suddenly my skin no longer feels like the taut surface of a drum my heartbeat slows, and the pressure in my chest eases. I remember Mother whispering it to me when I was little and she was still alive I remember how she stroked the hair back from my face and explained why I must never look too long at the shadows.īut I don’t say the prayer. Apollo all-healer, Apollo light-bringer, Apollo Invictus: deliver us from the eyes of demons. Too many shadows.Īnd one thought burns through my body: there is a demon in the kitchen.Įven before my heart slams against my rib cage, my hands fly to cover my eyes. I begin to stretch.įrom the corner of my eye, I see them: shadows clustered around the coal scuttle. ![]() From over the doorway, the little miniature portrait of Mother smiles down at me. The pots I scoured last night sit gleaming on the stove. The kitchen looks the same as usual: garlic and rosemary hang in neat bunches from the ceiling. I sit up, knuckling the sleep out of my eyes. ![]() My mother loved me more than life itself. ![]()
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