“Are you acting like one?”
“No! I’m only making the most of what the Goddess gave me.”
“Even if it goes against the Witches’ Rede?”
“I ain’t hurtin’ nobody.”
“Oh yeah? Then why did Chad say you used Joe and were about to dump him?”
“How do I know? The fact of the matter is it ain’t none of y’all’s business!”
A huge ruckus ensued. Worried about what they could do to each other if they used their powers, Konrad rushed up the stairs. What he saw at the top of the third floor landing made him stop. It was like watching a train wreck. The two women were rolling around on the floor, grabbing clothes, pulling hair, and scratching. As Gwyneth was about to bite, he charged in.
“That’s enough, ladies.” He grabbed Gwyneth by her macramé belt and lifted her off Morgaine. While he held her suspended in midair, Morgaine scrambled to her feet.
“Now, what’s this all about?” he asked.
Morgaine adjusted her black blouse and blew a piece of hair out of her mouth. “Chad told me Gwyneth was using Joe to write her book, and now that it’s finished, she’s planning to dump him.”
“Gwyneth, if I put you down, will you retract your claws and talk to your cousin calmly?”
“Sure, if she minds her own beeswax.”
Konrad set Gwyneth on her feet.
Morgaine crossed her arms. “So you aren’t denying it.”
“Denying what?”
“What Chad said, that you were going to tell Joe to go fishing for tadpoles in another lily pond.”
“He wants kids. I don’t. I think it’s called basic incompatibility. It’s got nothin’ to do with usin’and dumpin’.”
Morgaine shook her head. “Uh, I wouldn’t use that metaphor if I were you. I should know better than to believe Chad. He’s probably watching us right now.”
“Yeah, and laughin’ his ass off.” Gwyneth cocked her head. “I can’t hear him, though. Can you?”
“No.”
Konrad rested his hands on his hips. “He must know better than to piss off a couple of powerful witches. That’s why I came rushing up here. I wondered if you two might start throwing lightning bolts at each other.”
Both women laughed.
Gwyneth drawled, “We can’t shoot lightnin’ out of our fingertips like buckshot, sugar.”
“And if we could, we wouldn’t,” Morgaine added. “To attack with our powers would be black magic, and we know better than to dabble in that.”
“So instead you attack each other with your vicious words, long fingernails, and teeth?”
The women looked at each other and shrugged.
Morgaine sighed. “I know how it must look.” She eyed her cousin. “We really should know better than to handle things this way.”
“Scrappin’ ain’t agin the Witch’s Rede, so far as I know.”
Konrad frowned. “What happens now? Are you going to be able to live together again?”
Gwyneth crossed her arms. “Depends. Is my buttinski cousin gonna stop tryin’ to run my life?”
