The Spider Queen

by Emma Slate

  I’m here, Poppy.

  I opened my eyes to darkness.

  Where did the moon go?

  It’s still here. Just…give yourself a moment.

  A moment? A moment for what?

  I opened my mouth to speak but couldn’t form any words. Alarm blasted through me. What’s happening? Why can’t I talk?

  You chose, Poppy, Thane said.

  Chose? Chose what?

  Queen Aisling… You had to choose either Hunter or me… You chose me.

  But I—

  You were dying. The only way to save you was to turn you into your true form.

  The sky lightened as the silvery moon peaked out from behind the clouds, just enough to illuminate the stone altar and a man standing in front of it. Dark blond hair, caramel skin, stern countenance. He was bare-chested and his lower half was covered in what looked like a loincloth made of leaves and reeds.

  Who is that? I asked Thane.

  Baylor. The water troll. The vampire plant we tried to use to save your life came from the bottom of his lake.

  Introduce me. I’d like to thank him.

  Poppy—

  Introduce me. And where are you? I don’t see you.

  He sighed. Turn around.

  I stumbled, my center of gravity off.

  Easy, Poppy.

  I’m still a little woozy.

  Finally, I turned—and that’s when I realized I wasn’t standing on the ground but on the stone altar.

  Thane… I breathed.

  A set of dark eyes blinked. Yes, Poppy. It’s me.

  I drew closer. He was crouched down to my level. Half his nose was in shadow. I stared deep into Thane’s glittering obsidian eyes and saw my reflection in them.

  Sleek, shiny black body.

  Eight legs.

  The night Beyond the Veil heard all the noises of the world. A bird’s song. The wind through the trees. The lapping of water along the grassy shore.

  The night heard everything.

  Except for my scream.

  Part II

  Prologue

  He sinks into me. I’m hot, full, desperate, aching. My back scrapes across the stone altar, but I don’t care about the pain. Thane is inside me, clawing to get to the heart of my desire. It’s a punishment, what he’s doing. Making me feel exquisite pleasure without letting me go over the cliff. He takes out his anger on my body, denying me release. He is ruthless in his thrusting, and because he’s an ancient immortal, he will never tire.

  “You fell in love with him,” he growls.

  My body bows, and my eyes slam shut. There’s a noise—feral, basic, animal. It comes from me, I realize.

  “Poppy,” he demands. “Open your eyes and look at me.”

  When I refuse, he stops moving and grips the sides of my head.

  My eyes flip open. His gaze is dark, swirling with emotion and maybe madness. Thane has been imprisoned for hundreds of years. An ancient immortal that knows no bounds, no limitations, caged within four stone walls for dozens of human lifetimes.

  “You are mine. Do you understand?”

  “I don’t love you,” I whisper.

  He smiles. It’s not a thing of beauty but of terror. He continues to smile as he thrusts hard.

  I cry out because I can’t help it.

  I cling to him because I want him.

  And finally—finally—he lets me come.

  Chapter 1

  My body was awash with lust.

  Insatiable.

  I wanted Thane. I didn’t care that he wasn’t the man I loved.

  Over me, inside me. Our bodies slick with sweat…

  A hand trailed down my back, and I arched in pleasure. I leaned into it, wanting more. I cracked my eyelids open, expecting to see Thane.

  But I was alone.

  The lights flared to life. No. Not lights but torches, which illuminated the ebony stone floor and walls that were etched with ornamental scrolls.

  Any hope that I was still in my Charleston apartment quickly disappeared. This wasn’t a nightmare. This was my new reality.

  The last moment I could remember, I’d been a spider, staring into Thane’s dark eyes. Now I was human again.

  How had that happened? How did I get here?

  I struggled to take a deep breath, trying to infuse rational thought into my bleeding emotions. Emotion was messy. Reason would get me through this.

  Yet my mind couldn’t come up with any logical explanation. I needed someone to fill in the gaps. But there was no one here.

  My hands stroked the black sheets—silk, with a hazy sheen. I gripped them and brought them to my chest as I slowly looked around.

  Two burning silver torches took up the entire wall but didn’t give off any smoke. Frowning, I scrambled from the gargantuan bed to step closer to them. I was too short to see what caused them to burn and I didn’t smell any oil.

  Magic.

  Of course, magic.

  I shivered again. I ran my hands up my arms, which were bare. Looking down, I realized I was wearing some sort of nightgown. Black, cuffed at the shoulders. Long and flowing. I slid a finger across the skirt. It felt like nothing at all.

  My hand reached out to touch the wall. It was warm, like a living being. I’d expected it to be cool. There was life here, in these walls. Magic had a life. It was an ever-changing thing. Magic wasn’t static. Magic was unpredictable.

  How did I know that?

  Where had that knowledge come from?

  And where the hell was I?

  My eyes continued to take in the room as my feet trailed across the black marble. Every now and again, I saw twinkles and flashes of light. Were there diamonds in the floor? When I crouched down to examine them, they disappeared.

  I crawled back onto the bed, my eyes straying to the headboard. Like everything else in the room, it was beautiful artistry. Carved black stone etched with arachnids. They looked…alive.

  No, that was impossible—

  I cut off that train of thought because I lived the impossible.

  There was a warm rush of air at my back, and I whirled, wanting to face the unknown, wanting answers. I frowned when I realized it wasn’t Thane. I’d expected him to be here long before now. Disappointment curdled my stomach when I saw the woman. She was diminutive and childlike with cherubic dimpled cheeks, a welcoming smile, and silvery blond hair down to her waist.

  “Didn’t mean to scare you,” she said.

  “Well,” I huffed on a laugh, “you did. I didn’t hear you come in.”

  She chuckled. “You do look terrified. And the doors are silent when they open and close.”

  “I just wasn’t expecting—where am I?”

  “In a bedroom.” Her mouth lifted into a teasing grin. “But I don’t think you’re asking about that. I’m not the one to answer your questions. I’m supposed to lead you to the bath.” She turned away, and I could either follow her or stay put.

  I trailed after her in curiosity.

  “What’s your name?” I asked her as she grasped two iron handles on heavy wooden doors.

  “Oh, sorry. It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone new; I’ve forgotten my manners. I’m Cass.” She opened the doors and waved me through.

  I puzzled over her statement, and then it effectively flew out of my brain when I stepped into the room. The stone floor was cerulean blue—not black—and warm under my feet. In the center was a large square cut out of the floor and water bubbled up like a natural hot spring.

  The walls were made up of mosaic tiles, though I couldn’t make out the design. It was bright due to the skylight in the middle of the ceiling.

  She watched me with open interest. “Do you like it?”

  “It’s stunning.” I breathed. “Are you human?”

  Cass paused. “I used to be. But not for a long time.”

  “Are you able to…change forms?”

  “No. I wish.” She let out a languid laugh. “But I can’t.”

 
“What are you, then?”

  “One who serves Thane.”

  Cryptic and mysterious. Delightful.

  “Do you need help?” she asked.

  “No.”

  “Then I’ll leave you to your privacy.” She turned to leave.

  “Wait,” I called. Cass looked over her shoulder at me. “I need a towel and shampoo—”

  “Anything you need, just ask for it. It will come to you.” With that final statement, she departed through the open wooden doors, leaving me alone.

  Chapter 2

  I took another moment to admire the splendor of the bath. It was decadent. Royal, even.

  Who was Thane?

  What was Thane?

  How could this place belong to him if he’d been imprisoned for hundreds of years?

  Shaking my head, I realized the fastest way to get my answers was to bathe because then I’d get to see Thane.

  A ripple of desire coursed through my body.

  If I asked the room for him, would Thane appear? Would he join me in the bath…trace my skin with fingers and tongue…

  Why did I want him? Why did I want someone I didn’t even know?

  Lust was first and foremost in my mind, but behind it, there was a flicker of love. Love for Hunter. Yet it felt contained. Like it was caged, trying to blast its way out. My feelings for Hunter felt muted, battled into submission.

  I briefly wondered if Thane had done something to me—bound me to him—and wrapped my emotions for Hunter in silken magical threads so it wouldn’t be able to grow. With enough time, would my love for him be strangled to death?

  My hands went to the nightgown. I lifted it over my head and dropped it at my feet. I walked to the bath waters and stuck my toes in. It was warm but not hot. I descended the steps into the pool. Water eddied around me, welcoming me.

  “I’d like it hotter,” I whispered.

  The heated water gently pushed against me. I tried to wade through the pool, but the waves were insistent and coerced me until my back was against one cerulean bath wall. A stone bench formed underneath my legs, and I instantly collapsed onto it. The small surfs swished against my skin, swirling around my legs, darting between my thighs.

  “Oh,” I exclaimed.

  It was like the invisible hand that had slid down my spine, waking me just a little while ago. And then the water formed multiple hands. They gently pried my legs open, and a water finger traced the crease of my body.

  A moan escaped my lips.

  It grew bolder, pressing deeper. Another two hands followed the curves of my waist, to my chest, to rest underneath my breasts. The water fingers intensified and grasped my nipples, rolling them, tweaking them, playing with them until they ached. The one between my legs continued its erotic slide inside, teasing me with warmth and liquid.

  And then I felt a second water finger penetrate my aching flesh. It beat against me, battering my nerves. Pleasure tortured me. My arms flew out to the sides, and I wished I had something to hold onto. It was no more than a thought before two white silken ropes appeared through the somersaulting bath waves. I gripped them and held on, spreading my legs as far as they would go, wanting more, wanting it all.

  The water fingers between my legs quickened their pace. My hips rose and bucked. “Deeper,” I demanded. “Harder.”

  I was a quivering mess, a string ready to snap. As the two water fingers filled the inside of me, another finger touched the bundle of nerves between my legs.

  I screamed, the sound of it echoing off the mosaic walls. My hands gently released the silken ropes. They disappeared. The pressure on my nipples dissipated as the water fingers between my legs slowly eased out of me. I slumped against the wall and would’ve gone underwater, but the waves nestled me in a protective hold.

  Floating for a while, I closed my eyes and let the water cleanse me. Finally, my heart rate was no longer a rapid thump ready to leap out of my chest, and the waves let me go. I stood and asked for shampoo.

  Though languid and relaxed, there was still a hum of desire below my skin and between my legs. They brushed against me again—a question, a promise.

  “I’ve had enough, thank you,” I said.

  The water fingers dispelled, leaving me in peace.

  Though truth be told, I could’ve stayed all day in the water pool and let myself be pleasured. But it was Thane I wanted between my thighs. My blood called to him. It wanted him. More than it wanted food. More than it wanted sleep or air.

  Whatever had happened between us on that stone altar changed me.

  Forever.

  “Fuck it,” I growled. “Again,” I commanded.

  The water fingers returned, and it was a long time later before I got out of the bath.

  Chapter 3

  I grabbed the towel that rested on the edge of the pool and dried off before wrapping it around my body. I headed back into the bedroom; a black dress was spread out on the bed for me. It slid against my skin and I marveled at the silky feel of it. It was like I was wearing nothing at all. I put on the pair of matching black slippers, looking around for the exit. I hadn’t seen Cass come into the room, but she’d said the doors slid open.

  “I want to find Thane,” I said softly. The entire front wall of the bedroom glided open to reveal a long, dark hallway.

  I took a hesitant step. What would I find at the end of it? Answers? The enigmatic man who’d haunted my dreams and gave me exquisite orgasm after orgasm? Who had a magic pool that pleasured me at my will?

  Remaining in the bedroom wasn’t an option. I needed answers to my questions, and I’d do anything to discover them.

  I walked into the hallway, which remained dark. “Let there be light,” I commanded in wry humor.

  With a whoosh, the torches blazed with magical fire. I was reminded of the cavernous tunnel I ran through to get to Thane, to find him standing at the stone altar. Nothing had prepared me for him, in the flesh. He’d stolen my breath; I’d given him kisses and my body. There hadn’t been any thought or control. I’d spread my legs and begged him to enter me.

  Would that happen again? Would I be overcome with lust when I saw him? Why did I have such a powerful draw to him? Why couldn’t my body say no?

  Golden light radiated from the end of the hallway, compromising my vision. I came to a stop and let the speckles in front of my eyes vanish.

  Thane slowly rose from his ornate chair, his glittering black gaze unwavering. The trestle table in front of him was long, fit for an ancient barbarian king.

  “Poppy,” he said, his voice deep, rumbling, sliding over me the way I wished his body would.

  Skin to skin. Slick. Hot. Writhing.

  I gritted my teeth. “Make it stop.”

  He cocked his head to the side in a supremely human gesture, even though he wasn’t one. “Make what stop?”

  “This…thing.”

  “What thing?”

  “The desire. The unrelenting, unquenchable desire,” I said, desperation coating my voice. There was no reason to hide it from him. Not when he was looking at me like he wanted to spread me out on the table. Not when he was looking at me like he could see the visions I had of us in my mind. Because he could, I realized. We were linked.

  He sighed and hung his head. Dark hair fell across his brow. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “It’s out of my control. Poppy, you freed me. Which means you’re my—we’re—”

  “No. We are nothing to each other! I love Hunter. Where is he?” I knew how I sounded. Maniacal. Desperate. For Thane, his body, his desire. Even though I didn’t want it. Or did I? My hunger for him obliterated any sort of clear thinking.

  Thane marched toward me and gripped me by the arms. “Look at me,” he growled.

  I closed my eyes and turned my face away. If I didn’t look at him, maybe I wouldn’t want him so much.

  “Poppy.” His voice gentled, but his hold was iron.

  “I didn’t have a choice, Thane. Not really.
If I wanted to live I had to—” A tear slipped out to cascade down my cheek. I felt Thane gently swipe it with his finger.

  “Neither of us had a choice, Poppy. But we’re in this. Together.”

  I let him pull me to his broad chest. Even though I hated the circumstances, I still couldn’t stop the shiver of desire that rolled down my spine. Thane shifted his stance, and his erection pressed against me. I’d had him inside of me not long ago. There shouldn’t have been an ache deep in my belly, but there was.

  “Why do I feel this way?” I whispered. “Why do I want you? I don’t want to want you.”

  “I know.” His tone was cold. I questioned if it was because I told him I didn’t want him, or because he felt the same way I did.

  He mirrored my thoughts as he said, “I want you, though. And I’m glad I do.”

  His words were like a sinful caress.

  “There’s a reason there’s a link between us,” he stated slowly. “Why we feel what we feel for each other.”

  “Oh, yeah? Tell me.” It hurt to talk since I was craning my neck to stare up at him.

  Thane swallowed, like he was nervous, but he kept his eyes on me when he said, “We’re together—we’re connected—because of the prophecy.”

  “Prophecy? What prophecy?”

  “The prophecy about saving the world from ending.”

  The breath fled from my lungs at his dramatic pronouncement. “You’re kidding, right?” I put my hand to his chest, trying to push away from him. He seemed reluctant to release me, but he gave in anyway. I twirled to leave, even though there was nowhere to go. I didn’t even know where I was. Ever since I’d run through the tunnel, come for Thane and the unknown, I had no ability to discern time or space.

  “No, I’m not kidding. You and I are a glimmer of hope in the darkness.”

  “I don’t want to be a glimmer of hope.” I trembled. “I don’t want this to be my life.”

  “But it is,” Thane said, far more gently than I’d ever heard him speak before. It made me pause. Thane didn’t strike me as the type that knew how to be gentle.