“Well," Cassidy said in a trembling whisper. “Here you are. Alive after all, Vix?" She stepped forward. The gaseous fumes hanging languidly around the room began to swirl around her in a vortex, with Cassidy untouched in the eye of calm within.
Cassidy chuckled. “You've become more of a nuisance than I could have ever thought. A rat scurrying underfoot, getting in the way when you aren't wanted."
Vix forced herself to her feet. Her knees felt ready to give way beneath her, so she locked them in place. The witch continued to walk toward her slowly.
“No," Cassidy amended, her face twisting, “more a particularly stubborn cockroach. To kill a pest, you have to use the right poison. I see that, now."
She stopped a few feet away, sliding a little on the sloping floor. Her narrowed eyes
