by Celia Aaron
I cursed under my breath as the creature appeared fully, an immense black spider body with the nude torso of a maiden where the head would have been. Long, stringy hair hung to the ground, and her eyes were a glassy black, unblinking. Her mouth was full of the same needle fangs as the smaller spiders, causing the hiss with each word. It was a terrible visage that would have struck a mortal dead from pure fear.
“You did not deserve this fate, Arachne.” Elena’s tone was consoling?
I kept my thoughts to myself.
“This fate,” the creature spat, “was due me for my arrogance. For my folly in thinking I was greater than the gods. The gods showed me, didn’t they? Now I’m left to rot in this decaying, blighted wood.” The bitter laugh that left Arachne’s body made my hackles rise.
Arachne’s story was legend. She had once been a fair maiden who excelled at weaving. She was so skilled at the art, she challenged Athena to a contest. Athena accepted the challenge, sure she would best the maiden at the loom. Instead, Arachne wove the most beautiful tapestry earth or Olympus had ever seen, stinging Athena’s pride. In retaliation, the goddess doomed Arachne to a life of weaving by turning her into a monstrous spider. Now she was here in the Darkwood, a nightmare come to life.
More legs poked through the mist, a host of spiders massing around Arachne.
Her dark gaze swept over the remaining spiders. She pouted, if such a creature was capable of doing so. “Look how you’ve thinned my babies. My adopted darlings and I have made this our home, dark and diseased as it is, our one refuge from the gods and the immortals.” Her voice rose, the hissing growing louder. “You’ve killed them.”
Elena nodded. “We did. Now that I know for certain it is you, I am sorry for it.”
Was she apologizing for defending our very lives?
Arachne ran a hand through a lock of her dirty hair. “You speak well, warrior, I’ll give you that. But I see Artemis has marked you. You’re in service to the gods I hate with every wisp of soul left in this cursed body. What stops me from ripping you to pieces and sending the runes on your skin back to your mistress?”
“Well, for one thing, there’s this.” Elena threw the ball of fire into the air, the flames reflecting in Arachne’s black eyes before Elena caught it smoothly in her hands again. “For another, if you grant us safe passage, I swear to you that when I take the Bloodkeep, I will make you mistress of the Darkwood. You will have charge of it and will answer only to Paris, the true king of the Bloodkeep. But with one caveat. You and your spiders must not attack or kill those who venture herein. The new king will need a protector, someone to oversee the wood’s rebirth.”
I tensed for the hissing laughter and the spider attack. Reaching into my pack, I palmed a magic bomb. When there was only silence, I stilled. Was the nightmare actually considering Elena’s offer?
I knew Elena was skilled in battle, in strategy. But the way she calculated and came upon a way to move ahead without losing our lives to the spider queen was something altogether greater. Even if it didn’t work, I was still in awe.
Arachne clicked her many teeth. “What’s your name, warrior?”
“Elena de Artemis.”
“Well, Elena de Artemis, I do not believe for a moment you will ever make it to the Bloodkeep. My darlings and I aren’t the only evil things in these woods, and what lurks within the keep puts us all to shame. Still.” She clicked her needle teeth together again, considering. “I don’t want to lose any more of them.”
She watched the fire as Elena allowed it to play back and forth in her palms, a mesmerizing show of ability. But her wounds and the many spells had taken their toll. She was trembling, only enough that I could feel it against me. She gave no other sign, nothing that would hint of weakness to the spiders or their mistress.
Arachne looked around at her spiders, which waited patiently for her command. “I will agree to your proposal if you will also agree that, should you fall in the woods by some other creature’s hand, my babies will get the pleasure of feasting on you and your companion.”
Elena tilted her head. “What do you mean by fall?”
Arachne tsked. “Smart little warrior, aren’t we. I mean if you die. Though I don’t see why you wouldn’t let them have a little nibble if you were mortally wounded. And, of course, my wager is only on your life, but if you die and he lives, then I still get both of you. Live meat is so much more fun for my babies to eat.” The spiders tittered, their maws wet and dripping with anticipation.
“I think I can handle that.” Elena tossed the fireball up into the air one final time and let it dissipate in front of Arachne’s face. “You have my word.”
At the wave of Arachne’s hand, the spiders skittered back into the mist. Arachne backed away too and tipped her head slightly, a bow to the bargain struck with Elena. As she disappeared from view, her voice, still that mix of beauty and horror, floated on the damp air. “Sleep here tonight, little warrior. None dare venture into Arachne’s realm in the Darkwood. You will be safe…for now.”
Once the sounds of the spiders had vanished, Elena sank to her knees, weariness and pain destroying her facade of control. I scooped her into my arms and walked a bit deeper into the wood, away from the carnage of battle.
“I’m okay.” Her voice was weak, and her eyes were unfocused. She had been so strong, dueling with Arachne and bringing us through the ordeal alive. I leaned her forward to check the wounds on her back.
“I need to rinse these. The poison is keeping you from healing.” I reached into my pack for a skin of water. Pulling her face against my chest to stifle her cry, I poured it down her back. I hated her agony, but this was the only way. Once satisfied I’d removed as much poison as possible, I then laid her into the nook of the tree. She was so pale—ghostly white like the mist.
I quickly set up the little tent I’d found in Daphne’s pack. It was just large enough for two. Though a dusky gray color, compared to the Darkwood, it may as well have been glowing white. I grabbed some dirt and muck from the ground and smeared it along the outside, camouflaging it. Once I set it all up, I lifted Elena and placed her inside. I gently removed her torn shirt as she laid her head on my shoulder. The wounds on her back were still red and raw, but she was healing. Good. The water had done the trick, and her skin was sewing itself back together. She sighed as I held her away from me and slipped a clean T-shirt over her head.
After laying her on her side, I moved to leave and stand guard, but her hands fastened around my neck.
“Stay,” she breathed. Her eyes were closed, color gradually returning to her face.
“I need to watch for trouble.” I ran my thumb over her soft cheek.
She pulled me to her, and I let her. Her eyes fluttered open for only seconds. “We made a deal. We’re safe for tonight. Stay.”
I had never been able to deny those sparkling green eyes, and I wasn’t going to start now.
When I bedded down next to her, and she snuggled up against me. Only then could I let myself relax a little. She was alive, healing. I wrapped my arms around her, careful not to touch the wounds on her back, and nestled into her hair. She was already asleep, her soft breaths against my chest comforting me.
I lay awake for a while, listening for any spider legs clattering or the sound of other intruders, but heard nothing. Her slumber made my eyes heavy, and her warmth soothed me. I fell asleep with her safe against me.
Chapter Fourteen
Elena
I woke encircled by Paris’s arms. The suns had risen, though very little of their light made it into the forest. Still, it was enough to burn off some of the mist. Arachne had been true to her word, allowing us to sleep through the night in safety.
I gazed up past Paris’s jawline to his eyes. His golden lashes rested against his cheeks as he slept. He was beautiful at peace, the dangers of the night no longer troubling him. He had faint laugh lines around his eyes, and I found myself hoping that I could exercise them a bit more. Happiness
was so fleeting, so precious.
He began to stir, perhaps sensing my gaze on him. His eyes opened. I was still amazed by the blue of his irises.
Clutching me to him, he sat up and peered around at the trees and still-swirling mist.
“It’s clear. I already checked.” I rested my head in the hollow of his neck. Even if I hadn’t believed his tale about our past, I was too drawn to him in the present to bother hiding it. He rested his chin on my head and just held me, letting me breathe and clear the shadows of the previous evening from my mind. My back was healed, no doubt thanks to his efforts to clean my wounds.
“You better take good care of me,” I murmured.
“And why is that?”
“If you don’t, you’ll be spider food.” I tried to keep my face serious but couldn’t stop the grin that overtook me.
He threw his head back and laughed. I wanted to nibble up his neck and taste his mouth. Instead, I sighed and rose from his grasp. His gaze was glued to my breasts as they jutted against my T-shirt.
“Gods, you will drive me mad, woman.” He pushed his erection down in his pants before he stood and stretched. I watched, unable to take my eyes from the hard length straining against his zipper.
“Changing your mind?” he asked.
For a second, I wanted to, wanted to enjoy him this once before we continued our dangerous trek into enemy territory. But I forced myself to look away, to focus on the mission at hand. Besides, I’d never been with a male—at least not that I remembered. My head was clear now, not in the haze of passion I’d been caught in at his house.
He grumbled his disappointment and began packing the tent. I stuck to my resolve, even though I kept stealing glances at him as he worked.
I dug through Daphne’s bag and found some snacks and skins of water. I sat and ate as Paris worked. We had wandered from the road, but it wasn’t far. The mist was thinner now in the morning light, and the road shone in the suns, the only place where the rays could fully break through the canopy. Our way was lit in tones of silver and white.
I leaned back against the tree as Paris finished clearing the campsite. A gasp ripped from me when I saw the mass of webs in the canopy above us. The spiders were there, black eyes peering out from spherical nests hung far above the forest floor.
A few smaller spiders—babies, no doubt—were scrambling around on the webs, as if they were playing. They were actually almost cute, in a way. But when a larger spider darted out, scooped them onto its back, and hissed at me, I gulped. Needle teeth? Not cute.
“They slept above us all night, you know. I could hear them.” Paris admired the mass of twisting webs and hanging spheres. “It’s kind of beautiful.”
“Sure, but the sooner we’re out of here the better.” Needle. Teeth.
“If Arachne was telling the truth”—he spared another glance to the network of white above their heads—“then we’re leaving our only sanctuary in the Darkwood.”
Of course, he was right. We needed to stay cautious. Far better the spider creature you knew than the one you didn’t.
When I finished my brief meal, I realized Paris had to be hungry, but he couldn’t eat what Daphne packed. A pleasant tingle went up my spine at the idea of him drinking from me. I batted the inappropriate thought away. I was a warrior, not a snack. “Paris, do you, um, do you need to eat something?”
He knelt down next to me, his eyes twinkling. “Are you offering?”
A rush of heat blasted through me at the too-real thought of his fangs at my neck. “We both need to stay strong.” My voice was breathy, though I tried to control it.
He smiled, his fangs lengthening slightly. “As much as I would love to take you up on the offer”—he leaned in, so close to my neck that I held my breath—“I can go several days without blood. Besides, I can smell blood in one of Daphne’s skins. She packed for me. Like you said, she’s smart.”
He reached around me, his arm grazing my breast, and grabbed one of the skins. When he sat back on his haunches, I tried not to sigh. The corners of his lips twitched up before he took a big swig, drinking his fill. He watched me as he drank, as if imagining he was tasting me, and I felt a tingle at my neck where he had been. Gods.
I stood and lifted my pack. He followed my movements, his eyes focused on my body. Ignoring the warmth that coursed through my blood, I started toward the road.
Paris stowed his breakfast and followed me, matching my pace. The visibility was increasing as the suns rose higher and fought back the mists that otherwise ruled these woods.
We picked our way over the roots and around bubbling pits of black muck to follow the road deeper and deeper into the wood. Soon, there were no more webs above us, only the dark tree limbs and rare patches of sunlight. We stopped to rest at midday, sitting with our backs to a great tree. The trunk was so wide I doubted if five of my sisters could join hands around it.
“How much farther do you think it is until the keep?” I munched on some delicious fruit I’d found packed away. It had a bitter green rind, but the inside was sweet and velvety. I’d need to plant a tree that bore this fruit near the maidens’ village in the Forgotten Forest.
“We have another day of travel at least. Maybe two.” He tilted his head back against the bark. “And I still haven’t heard your grand plan to get inside the gates of the Bloodkeep.”
I didn’t want to inform him that I hadn’t thought of one yet. I needed to get the lay of the land first. Surely, there was an entrance, some way to get into the keep other than parading through the front gate. And then I’d figure out a way to exploit its weaknesses and bring it to heel.
“We have to go through the front gates,” Paris said. “There’s no other way in.”
I coughed, almost spewing fruit. “How do you know? I thought you’d never been there.”
“I haven’t, but there’s a reason Desmerada has lasted this long when there are plenty of other pretenders to the throne out there. Security. No one gets near her unless she can use them and abuse them at her pleasure. They have to be weak or useful, preferably both.”
A shadowy plan began to form in my mind, but I needed more information before making any decisions. “We’ll get in.”
“How?”
There was always a way to get to an enemy, even if it meant playing by their rules for a short while. “Let’s just keep walking for now. I need to concentrate on the game.”
He bounced his head against the tree. “That’s the thing, Elena, it isn’t a game. If she finds me, I’m done. I won’t be able to protect you.”
I rose and dusted off my leathers. “Yeah, but look at the bright side. If that happens, at least Arachne won’t eat you, right?”
He shook his head and stood before pulling me into his chest. I was beginning to get used to his affection. Leaning against him, I enjoyed the feel of his arms around me. He nuzzled my hair, his mouth so close to my ear it sent shivers down my back. “Can you at least tell me what you’re cooking up in that brilliant mind of yours? I know you have something.”
“Nothing solid.”
He kissed my hair and released me. “Well, I guess the game is afoot.”
“What do you mean?” I brushed my hair from my face and continued along our path.
“You’ve never heard ‘the game is afoot’?” He steadied me as my ankle turned on a protruding root.
“Why would the game be a foot? A game you play with your feet?” Puzzling.
He laughed. The sound bounced off the trees and echoed back to them. “Never mind. It’s an earth thing.”
That explained it. Artemis’s maidens never took much interest in earth. I certainly never did. Only my sister Iphi would sit and stare at the viewing pools in the Forgotten Forest, watching for hours. They were a window to earth, showing Olympus who kept to the old ways and still worshipped the gods. But Iphi was interested in far more. She was always curious about what the humans were up to, what they were destroying, and what they were watching on their
mind-numbing televisions.
A wave of homesickness washed over me. I could have used my sisters’ help in this fight. As it was, Paris and I were on our own.
“—ahead.”
“Huh?” I’d been lost in thoughts of my sisters.
Paris shushed me. His fangs had lengthened, and his gaze was pinned to the mist ahead of us. Before I had a chance to stop and listen, I threw myself against Paris, and we collapsed to the ground as a bolt of dark magic shot over our heads. We scrambled to our feet and chose two separate trees for cover.
The air around me was abuzz with power, and my palms lit in response. Shouts cut through the air, and hexes whizzed past. It took a moment, but it soon became clear we weren’t the targets. We had walked into someone else’s fight. We were spectators. Paris nodded toward some trees closer to the sounds. We approached, sneaking from tree to tree until the mist dissipated enough to show a battlefield in a clearing. An enormous, ruined watchtower spiraled into the air above us, the top blasted open long ago. Large lichen-covered stones littered the ground.
I peeked from my hiding place, trying to discern the warring factions. Mages had taken the high ground inside the watchtower and threw dark magics at approaching vampires. The vampires, armed with swords and shields bearing a circular, swirling symbol, stormed the tower. Mage bodies littered the ground, their twisted and ruined visages revealing they were dark magic users. They weren’t born with magic, like me. They’d sacrificed innocents and performed dark rites to gain a taste of power. Their ways were evil, and they were a scourge in all the worlds.
The battle raged on. I tore my eyes away from the bloodshed and stole a glance at Paris. He was mesmerized, watching the vampires intently. I tried to get his attention so that we could skirt the battle, but it was no use. He moved ahead to a tree at the very edge of the clearing. I cursed under my breath. We didn’t need another dangerous interlude to keep us from our goal. I crept along with him, easing against a tree a bit farther back.