The Spider Queen

by Emma Slate

  Poppy. Thane blasted through my mind with a growl. Enough.

  I pressed a hand to my head and glared. I thought you couldn’t hear my conversations with others?

  You’re letting me hear this conversation.

  No, I’m not.

  You are!

  Bite me, I mentally growled back.

  Don’t tempt me.

  “Poppy? What’s going on?” Hunter asked.

  “Thane is showing me his displeasure—and weighing in on our conversation.”

  “He can hear us?”

  “I guess I’ve been allowing him to hear us. Though it wasn’t a conscious choice.”

  Hunter looked at the ceiling of the pub and sighed. “Even I don’t know the rules anymore.”

  “Then you can break them. Who is Thane? Really?” I leaned over the table. “Tell me who he is.”

  “You can hear him again,” Hunter stated. “Why don’t you ask him?”

  Chapter 39

  Who are you? I asked, not expecting an answer.

  The Guardian, came an immediate reply.

  Guardian? Guardian of what?

  Guardian of the Bridge—that’s all I will say about it, Poppy. Until…

  Until I free you, you mean.

  Yes.

  You’re using my innate curiosity against me.

  There was a flicker of amusement. Yes.

  Why not just let Hunter explain it all to me?

  Because there are things even he doesn’t know.

  I truncated the conversation and focused on Hunter. His face was bleak.

  I’d been battling everyone and everything, including him: the man who was my only ally, the only one I could trust.

  “I haven’t been fair to you, have I?”

  Hunter ran a hand through his hair as weariness tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I think I preferred you angry. At least then I knew there was some fight in you. Thought maybe…”

  I smiled, but it was tragic. “There was hope for us?”

  He nodded. “Yeah.”

  “So even the great Hunter Jones loses hope. Interesting.” I got up from the table. “I’ll get the next round. I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”

  As I started to walk away, Hunter’s voice called me back. I turned. Hunter was holding out a few bills, a slight smile on his face “You might need some money.”

  Just another reminder that if it hadn’t been for Hunter, I would still be in the hospital.

  Or worse.

  I walked back toward him, placed my hand on the table, and leaned in. “You know what happens when someone tells me I can’t have something?”

  He tilted his head back. “What?”

  “I want it more.” I looped my arms around his neck and brought his face to my chest. “I’ll free Thane. I’ll get my answers. But that’s it, Hunter. Because I want you.”

  “You do?” His voice was muffled because his lips were pressed to my shirt.

  “I do.”

  “When you meet Thane, you might change your mind.”

  “No.” I ran my fingers through his thick, blond hair and then gripped it, forcing his head back just a bit, so I could stare him in the eyes. “Besides, I’ve already met Thane. He’s an arrogant pain in the ass who thinks he can get whatever he wants, but it’s just not true.”

  He smiled. “No?”

  “I want you—and a life with you. So I’m going to free Thane and then we’re leaving Ireland. We’re going to go back to Charleston, we’re going to finish school, and take it from there. Okay?”

  He laughed, sounding lighter than he had in days. “Okay.”

  “Hunter?”

  “Yeah?”

  “What the hell is the Guardian of the Bridge?”

  “Like Thane would tell me, Poppy.”

  Sometime during the night, Guinness pints became Jameson shots. We made friends with some Irishmen at the bar. They were from a small town outside of Belfast, and we were a novelty to them.

  It was exactly what Hunter and I needed; we laughed and drank, we were carefree.

  We were young and in love, but all of that might change in the morning.

  We stumbled toward The Temple Bar Hotel, shrieking like banshees when the sky opened up, dousing us in cold, early spring rain. Standing at the front desk, dripping on the expensive carpet, Hunter handed over his black Amex. They gave us the biggest room and turned a blind eye that we were acting like the American tourists we were.

  “This is beautiful,” I murmured, taking in the room, the bed. Hunter went to the window and pulled open the red drapery, revealing the Dublin city lights.

  I struggled out of my wet clothes and staggered toward the bathroom, wanting to wash off the clamminess. I stepped into the scalding shower and felt like some of the liquor had evaporated from my veins. The bathroom door opened and a moment later Hunter climbed into the shower behind me.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered.

  His gaze heated as it dropped down my body. “I’m already doomed, Poppy. Might as well enjoy it—one last time.”

  Nashville was supposed to have been the last time, but I was helpless to resist Hunter. Not when his hands skated up my wet skin. Not when his mouth found mine. Not when he had me pushed up against the shower wall and made me cry out in pleasure.

  After, we stood together, arms wrapped around each other’s bodies while water rained down on us.

  Eventually, we left the shower and dried off.

  I slipped into a T-shirt and then crawled into bed. It felt cold and too big for one person.

  Hunter stood by the window, shirtless, a towel wrapped around his waist. He stared out at the glittering city looking like he was searching for answers he’d never find.

  “Come to bed,” I mumbled, my head already hitting the pillow.

  He turned to me and smiled. “In a minute. I just…want to memorize this moment.”

  “Hunter—”

  “It’s okay, Poppy.”

  “But it’s not,” I said, overwhelming sadness gripping me. But I didn’t dare cry for the changes in my life that I couldn’t control.

  “Go to sleep.”

  “Not until you’re next to me. I want to pretend, for just a little while longer that we—”

  “Yeah, I know.” He walked to the side of the bed and dropped the towel. Taking me into his arms, he pressed his chest to my back and settled behind me.

  I fell into a deep sleep.

  Chapter 40

  I came awake with a start, seeing nothing but blackness. I tried to move, but Hunter’s arm tightened around me. His lips were at my ear. “Don’t move,” he whispered.

  His arm slackened, and I felt him moving away. He pressed a hand to my shoulder, silently urging me to stay where I was.

  What had awakened the both of us?

  And that’s when I realized that we were in complete darkness—we’d fallen asleep with the curtains open, the city lights bathing my face.

  Someone had closed the drapes.

  Don’t move, Poppy, came Thane’s voice. Hunter has this.

  I was in too much shock—and maybe still a little drunk—to reply.

  There was a thump, a gasp, and then another thump.

  “Poppy,” came Hunter’s voice in the darkness.

  Or was he the darkness?

  “Turn on the bedside lamp. But don’t look at me. Do you hear me, Poppy?”

  “I hear you,” I whispered. I sat up and had to steady myself. Jameson was still coursing through my veins. Leaning over the bed, I nearly fell out of it trying to find the lamp.

  It flared to life, casting Hunter in both light and shadow.

  Despite his warning not to look at him, I couldn’t help it.

  I should’ve fought my curiosity because what I saw made me sick to my stomach. And it wasn’t the dead body on the expensive carpet, nor was it the bloody serrated blade in Hunter’s hand. It was the feral ferocity that had morphed the contours of his cheeks and sculpt
ed his jaw into unyielding marble.

  He looked at me and anger blazed in his eyes.

  What’s happened to him? I mentally asked Thane.

  Rage. Power. From me to him. I gave him some to ensure he defeated an enemy. He can’t control it. He’s not strong enough.

  Hunter’s grip on the knife tightened.

  I wasn’t strong enough either, I snapped. Your temper almost made me kill him.

  I pulled back.

  Pull back now.

  My wrath is gone. He’s somehow tapped into his own.

  Help me help him, or you don’t get set free, Guardian.

  I severed the connection with Thane.

  “Hunter?”

  “Talking to your other boyfriend?” he sneered. His lips curled into an angry snarl as he turned away from the body and faced me.

  I hesitated before answering, “Yes. I asked his help—for you.”

  He threw back his head and laughed. “I don’t need help. I feel fantastic. Powerful.” He dropped the weapon and stalked toward me. Resentment, disastrous intent and bloodlust—I felt it all coming off him.

  I scrambled from the bed, knowing there was no way to make it to the door. Hunter stood between me and my escape.

  “Poppy,” he purred. “I am everything you want, everything you need. I will destroy Thane. I will make you mine.”

  I mentally heard Thane growl.

  A challenge.

  Hush, I told Thane.

  To Hunter, I said, “This isn’t you.”

  “This is me,” he insisted, still stalking toward me. “In my most basic element.”

  My back hit the wall. I hadn’t even realized it until I was cornered.

  Hunter pressed his body to mine as his hands rested on the wall, caging me in.

  Another man had done the same to me not so long ago. I didn’t like it then, and I didn’t like it now.

  Fury burned within me, and I opened my lips to tell Hunter to back away—but instead of words, a long, silky thread shot out of my mouth. Silken tendrils twirled together, wrapping around Hunter, binding his arms to his sides. The ends of the strands stretched up to the ceiling and then plastered themselves to the corners, lifting an encased Hunter off the ground.

  “What the fuck?” he yelled, trying to move his arms, struggling but not succeeding.

  He was cocooned, immobile, and powerless.

  “How the hell did you do that?” he demanded, blue eyes blazing.

  “I—I have no idea.” I reached out and touched the murky white threads. They had hardened; maybe from the moment they touched him.

  “Get me down from here!”

  “No. Not until you calm down. Not until you become Hunter again.”

  “You don’t want that version of me,” he taunted. “You want strong, arrogant—a man that doesn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

  “This alpha bullshit is really getting on my nerves,” I snapped. “If I wanted that kind of behavior, I’d want Thane. And I don’t want Thane. I want you. The you I know.”

  The fire in his eyes dimmed just a little, so I kept talking.

  “I want a man,” I stated, “who will hold me at night, who looks at me like I’m the reason the Earth turns, who loves me for me. Come back to me, Hunter. I want you and only you.”

  Hunter’s body slackened, like the force of his anger had been holding up his spine. As he relaxed, the opal-colored cocoon turned to dust and Hunter dropped to the floor, landing with a solid thump.

  “Ow,” Hunter said, finally sounding like his normal self.

  I squatted down beside him and ran my hands up and down his body.

  “What are you doing?” he demanded when my fingertips trailed across his biceps.

  I grinned. “Checking for broken bones.” I stood and held out my hand to him. “I think you’ll live.”

  Grasping my hand, he pulled himself up. “For another day, at least.” He looked behind him at the body.

  “Who is he?” I asked, inching closer, fascinated. I wondered if I was in shock. Wasn’t I supposed to be appalled? Repulsed? Something?

  “Sorry. I didn’t get a name before I killed him with his own knife.” Hunter’s face was grim. “We need to clean this shit up and then we have to get out of here.”

  “Do you know how to dispose of a body? Have you done this before? Is that why you’re so calm?” I demanded.

  He looked at me. “I’ve never done this before.” His face paled. “I just killed a person.”

  “To protect me,” I stated. “Right? You killed someone to protect me.”

  “Is that how I’m supposed to rationalize it? Is that how you rationalize it?”

  I shrugged. “I’m still trying to deal with the fact that spider web silk flew out of my mouth.”

  He looked at the ceiling in sheer exasperation. “One problem at a time, please.”

  Chapter 41

  It was the guy from the bar.

  The cute one that had tried hitting on me while Hunter was getting us drinks. Who could’ve known that a killer lurked beneath his Irish lilt and good humor? I shuddered and looked away from his body. Hunter and I hadn’t moved him, and now, we were sitting in silence while we waited for someone to come clean up the mess.

  I didn’t bother asking who was coming since I knew I wouldn’t recognize the person anyway. Hunter assured me it was someone who was both capable and discreet.

  The silence gave me time to think. As usual, I was left with a lot of questions and no answers. I didn’t have the mental energy to go head to head with Thane, so I didn’t bother asking him about the silk that had spun from my mouth.

  Hunter was somber, and I attempted to alleviate the tense silence. “Want to talk about it?” I ventured to ask.

  “What’s there to talk about? I killed a man. I’m trying to wrap my brain around that, but I…I want to be a doctor, Poppy. What kind of doctor willingly takes a life?”

  “He would’ve killed us, and besides, aren’t you forgetting about generations of Hunters being bred for this very thing?” I pointed out.

  He ran a hand across his tired face. “I know.”

  There was a quiet knock on the door, and Hunter jumped off the bed to answer it. He cracked the door slightly and then opened it all the way. A tall, stoic man entered the room, looked around, eyes skimming past me to focus on the body on the carpet.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” the guy muttered with the faintest trace of an Irish accent. He walked to the corpse and crouched down next to it. “A knife? Really? Could you have made more of a mess?”

  “It wasn’t my fault,” Hunter protested. “It was his weapon of choice—not mine. Do you recognize him?”

  The man shook his head. “New recruit, I guess.”

  “My thoughts, too,” Hunter added.

  “Only reason you’re still alive.” The man put his hands on his thighs and pushed himself upward. He reached into his back pocket and tossed Hunter a set of keys while giving directions to the car.

  “You bring anything?” the man asked. “Clothes? Baggage?”

  Hunter shook his head. “Traveling light.”

  “The Darcys have everything you need anyway.” The man’s eyes left Hunter’s face to look at me. His gaze flickered up and down my body—not in a sexual way…more like he was sizing me up.

  “Fragile,” the man said, addressing Hunter.

  “She’s not.”

  The man raised his eyebrows. “Hold on to her. She might blow away.”

  I frowned. What the hell were they talking about?

  “Thanks for your help.”

  Hunter took my hand and led me toward the door. He opened it a crack, looked out in the hallway, and when he deemed it clear, he ushered me to the stairs.

  We went out the back of the hotel, and thankfully, there was a break in the rain. The silvery clouds drifted across the sky, shadows concealing us. The car—if it could be called that—was ten blocks from the hotel and Hunter didn’t brea
the a sigh of relief until we were driving away.

  “This isn’t a car,” I said, wanting to distract him.

  Hunter looked in the rearview mirror. “No?”

  “No. It’s a wind-up toy.”

  He grinned.

  “Where are we going now?” I asked.

  “The Cliffs of Moher.”

  “I’m not familiar—”

  “One of Ireland’s most famous attractions. The cliffs rise about four hundred feet and face the Atlantic. The wind is so fierce that it has actually knocked people over the edge before.”

  “Explains the ‘she might blow away’ comment from our friend back there.”

  “Not a friend,” Hunter negated. “A Callaghan.”

  “Yeah, I don’t know what that means.”

  “Hunters hunt and protect. Callaghans…clean up the messes the Hunters leave behind.”

  “Ah, another one of Thane’s minion families. Got it.”

  “We’re not minions.”

  “Right. You just have no choice in the matter. I’m guessing the Callaghans don’t either?”

  “We are but small sacrifices in the name of the greater good.”

  I turned my head so Hunter wouldn’t see my eye roll. At times it sounded like he really believed the stuff coming out of his mouth. Then again, his family had served Thane for generations. And I guessed one didn’t have a choice when it came to serving an ancient being.

  “So why are we going to the Cliffs of Moher?” I asked. “Is that where I’ll go through the other test?”

  “There’s a hidden staircase made of ancient stone that will take us down the cliffs to the cave.”

  I shook my head. “Okay. Hold on. Hidden staircase? Are we going into Mordor? And this cave—what’s in this cave? Thane?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I’m supposed to get you to the cave. That’s all I know.”

  “Really? Thane just says to you guys, ‘Hey, Hunters. Serve me, but I’m not going to give you any explanations. Just get a flower woman to the cave.’”

  He sighed. “You know how you don’t know a lot of things? Well, we don’t know much more than you, Poppy. By ‘we’ I mean the Hunters. We know just enough: I know where the stone staircase is, I know how to get down it, and I know how to get you into the cave. As far as what’s in the cave? I have no idea. As far as what the test is? I also have no idea.”