The Spider Queen

by Emma Slate

  “It’s the language you use to call your spiders. A variation of it, anyway.” He placed his hand on the tree, and the staircase morphed back into a trunk. “It is our shelter for the night. We’ll return after we bathe.”

  I followed him as he led me to a shimmering blue lagoon, tranquil under the Cerulean moonlight. It was nearly enclosed within a mountain enclave. Gray, craggy rocks and a glistening waterfall completed the beautiful landscape. Every now and again, something underneath the water would flash with light.

  “What are those?”

  “They’re lagoon merrows,” Thane explained. “The blazes of light are reflections from moonbeams hitting their silver scales.”

  “Will they be upset if we bathe in their home?”

  “No. They’re not like their larger brethren. They’re welcoming.”

  I swallowed, thinking of Hunter. Thane watched me carefully, and I sent him a tremulous smile. His answering one eased the pain in my heart.

  He took my hand and led me down to the bank where he immediately started stripping. He shucked his boots and then threw his tattered, stained clothes into a pile. When he was fully naked, bathed in Cerulean light, a wicked grin spread across his face. I was still sitting on the bank, trying to muster the energy to remove my suit. Adrenaline was quickly fading.

  Thane waded into the lagoon, sparks of light swirling around him. He went under for a moment and then popped up, his dark hair plastered to his face. His muscles rippled, and lagoon water trailed down his chest.

  “What are you doing?” he asked. “Why aren’t you in here?”

  “I’m admiring the view,” I answered.

  He chuckled and then stretched out on his back. He floated leisurely while he waited for me. I stalked toward the edge, wearing nothing but skin. The chilly night air blew across my body, pebbling my nipples.

  The water was warmer than I expected. I went under and opened my eyes. Lagoon merrows, no bigger than a clothespin, with bright swatches of hair ranging from red to green to yellow, darted around me. Their silver tails brushed against my skin.

  One daring little imp swam up to my nose and pressed a kiss to the end of it. I smiled and slowly rose, my head breaching the surface.

  “They like you,” Thane said. His fingers glided through the water, and beads of light traveled to meet them.

  “I think they like you, too,” I commented.

  Thane waded through the water and lifted me into his arms. My legs went around him, and we floated there for a moment, our most intimate places touching.

  “I want you again,” Thane said, his tone low.

  I sighed. “I never stopped wanting you.”

  He lightly trailed his lips down my cheek. “I like you like this.”

  “Like this? You mean, naked and wrapped around you?” I snorted. “Yeah, I like it too.”

  “No, I mean—well, yes of course, I like that.” His grin was lopsided. “The honesty between us.”

  I nodded and bit my lip, forcing my eyes to remain on his. “Fighting you was fighting myself and I—don’t want to have regrets. Who knows if we’ll be able to free the mage? Who knows what will happen between Heaven and Hell.”

  “There’s always the possibility, Poppy—” he whispered. “—that we might die, trying to save everyone else. But if we succeed, we get to be together.” He grasped one of my hands that was currently around his neck and brought it to his now fully healed body. No scratches or bruises marred his flesh, and he was warm to the touch.

  The scent of him aroused me, turning my desire from a simmer to a boil.

  “Thank you,” I said, pressing toward him.

  “For?”

  “For not lying—about the direness of our situation.”

  His smile was mournful. “I’ve only just found you. I’ll do anything to keep you. If you leave me, it won’t be because I drove you away.”

  I bit my lip, not sure I wanted to tell him I couldn’t leave him. Not now. Not after. He was the puzzle piece I hadn’t even known was missing.

  “My other half,” I murmured.

  His brow furrowed. “I don’t understand—”

  “We call our spouses our other halves.”

  “You are no longer human. And I am not your spouse.” His eyes darkened, the ebony pools reflecting cerulean galaxies blazing in his gaze. “You are more than human. And I am more than your spouse.”

  His hands slid my legs apart and he slipped into me.

  And then I was whole once again.

  Chapter 16

  Once we had enough and our skin had turned pruney, Thane and I climbed out of the lagoon. We gathered our clothes—clean—and in Thane’s case, whole.

  I mentally thanked my spiders. They wanted to serve me and to see to my well-being.

  “Just slip on your boots. Stay naked,” he said with a wink.

  “But the forest…and it’s getting colder.”

  “No one is here besides us. And there are furs in the shelter.”

  We walked side by side, our clothes in our arms. When we got to the tree, Thane pressed his hand against the trunk, and the staircase appeared. No sooner had the both of us started our ascension did the trunk close, and we were safely ensconced in the tree shelter.

  The treehouse was one large room with a platform bed covered in furs. Burning candles were the only source of light. It was beautiful and rustic. “I guess this will do,” I teased.

  Thane leaned against one of the wooden walls and grinned at me. A fire flared in the fireplace, causing me to jump back. He laughed. Shaking my head, I set my suit down on a wooden chair in the corner. Thane set the satchel and his clothes on the chair by the bed and then picked up one of the furs. He held it up to me. I walked to him and turned around, letting him drape it around my shoulders.

  “Warmer now?” he asked, nuzzling his nose against my cheek.

  “Yes. Thank you.” My stomach rumbled, reminding me it had been hours since we’d eaten. I looked around. “I don’t see a stove or a refrigerator.”

  He grinned again. A table and two chairs appeared before the fire, as did a cutting board with a loaf of bread and two goblets. A pot simmered over the fire, wafting a gamey meat aroma in my direction.

  “How did you do this?” I demanded.

  “It’s not me,” he said.

  “Then who?”

  “I’m not sure. I told you this structure has been here for as long as anyone can remember. It gives whatever is needed to those who occupy the space.”

  “The working of magic is strange, huh?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Are you going to put on your pants?” I demanded.

  “Why would I do that?”

  “Because I can’t think about food when you’re”—my gaze dropped lower—“out and about.”

  “Sit,” he said, gesturing to one of the wooden chairs at the table by the fire. “I’ll put on pants, and then we’ll eat.”

  The stew was hearty, the bread warm, the wine potent. No sooner had we finished our meal did the plates and silverware disappear. Logs crackled in the fire, and I tugged my fur around me, lulled into a peaceful drowse.

  Thane gently pushed back the chair and stood. He came to me, took the wine from my hand, and set it down on the table. He urged me to stand and then swung me up into his arms.

  He set me down on the bed and then tucked me in. The furs brushed against my naked skin, causing me to shiver.

  Thane stripped out of his pants and then climbed in next to me. I snuggled into his embrace as the candles dimmed before snuffing out. His hand stroked up and down my skin, and his lips pressed to my shoulder.

  “How are you able to keep your eyes open?” I demanded, cuddling against his bare chest.

  “I’m immortal, Poppy. I don’t tire the way you do. I don’t need food or water the way you do, either.”

  “We could go a lot faster if I wasn’t transforming. Is that right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tomorrow
we leave at dawn.”

  “Just rest.”

  I felt safe in his arms. It was an illusion, though. None of us were safe. Not until we freed the mage and Xan was thrust into the open for his betrayal. And even then, it was no guarantee we would succeed and stop the battle from happening.

  I would not let my weak human body be the reason we failed to find the mage in time. I fell asleep, determined to rest so that we could fight.

  Something jolted me awake.

  One moment I was in a deep sleep, the next, I was fully cognizant. My eyes scanned the dark room. The embers of the fire allowed me to see a huge black shadow in the corner. It seemed to stretch and grow. A scream lodged in my throat.

  And then Thane was somehow on top of the shadow, wrestling it to the ground.

  The shadow growled and then flung Thane off. Thane hit the floor hard enough to make the treehouse tremble.

  I curled my hand around something. I lifted it up. Flames reflected silver.

  A knife.

  Thane quickly rose from the floor and launched himself at the shadow again.

  “Thane,” the shadow barked.

  Thane froze mid-leap and then tucked his body into a crouch. “Show your face, you bastard.”

  Candles flickered. Gray smoke swirled around the shadow and then disappeared.

  I gasped at the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.

  Shimmering gold skin, long blond hair, warm whiskey-colored eyes. A jaw that made my knife seem dull. Lips molded for passion and seduction. His beauty was so astonishing that I couldn’t quite process it and began to cry.

  Thane didn’t take his eyes off the man as he growled. “Tone it down, Gabriel.”

  “I cannot control my effect on her,” the man stated. His voice was melodious, thick and sweet like honey.

  “Then why is she crying?” Thane demanded.

  “Only the mortal remnants of her are weeping. She isn’t yet fully part of our world and can’t control it.” The man shrugged and then wings—wings—unfurled from his body. They were thick and large, with silver feathers.

  His amber gaze found mine, and he smiled. The mortal part of me recognized the potential for my own destruction in his grin. The other part of me—the part of me that had changed and hardened—accepted that I had the power to control my reaction to him. The tears on my cheeks crystalized into tiny ice shards and fell from my skin.

  “Impressive,” he muttered, his gaze raking over me.

  “She’s mine,” Thane stated. “And you are an intruder.”

  “An intruder who should never have been able to get in here,” I stated. “How did you get through the wards?”

  “Wards cannot contain nor keep out fallen angels.”

  “Fallen angel?” I breathed, feeling a breeze on my cheeks as his silver-feathered wings fluttered.

  “Get your clothes on, Poppy,” Thane snapped.

  I realized Thane was still naked. Somehow he managed to appear confident and in control, despite his nudity.

  “You will avert your eyes,” Thane commanded, addressing Gabriel. “Or I will take pleasure in prying them from your head.”

  Gabriel’s smile was lazy, but after mockingly bowing to me, he turned. I quickly scrambled from the bed and donned my body suit. “Okay, I’m decent.”

  “The same cannot be said of you, Thane.” Gabriel’s eyes dipped, and a smirk appeared on his lips. “If you’d like to see who is better equipped—”

  “You’re kidding, right?” I demanded. “Are men of any and all species obsessed with their junk?”

  With a snarl, Thane stalked to his clothes and quickly pulled on his pants. “Now that we’re all dressed, you want to tell me what the hell you’re doing here?”

  Gabriel’s eyes brightened as he said calmly, “The war has begun.”

  Chapter 17

  War? How could the war have started already?

  The air rushed from my lungs, and my head felt like it was in danger of lifting off my neck and floating away.

  Thane sighed. “Something to drink?”

  Gabriel nodded.

  Three tankards appeared on the table. Gabriel turned a chair around with the back facing forward and sat on it so that his wings could remain extended. Thane rolled his eyes. “You could just tuck them in.”

  Gabriel flashed a smile. “But then I couldn’t goad you.”

  Despite myself, I leaned toward Gabriel to examine his wings.

  “You can touch them, if you like,” Gabriel offered.

  My hand had been on a mission of its own to do just that. I pulled it back like I’d touched fire. “No, I—that’s okay.”

  “It’s impolite not to touch them, now that I’ve extended the courtesy,” Gabriel said.

  My mouth pinched. I felt like a chastised child.

  “She doesn’t know the way of things,” Thane stated. “Not yet.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said immediately. The truth was, I was dying to touch his wings.

  “Don’t touch the ends. They’re—”

  “Ouch!” I stuck my finger into my mouth.

  “Sorry,” Gabriel said, his tone contrite. “They’re warrior wings.”

  The silver suddenly made sense. “Armor,” I breathed.

  He nodded.

  “Wow,” I said.

  “Wow nothing,” Thane said, his eyes darkening, like he was ready to battle Gabriel.

  We had bigger problems.

  My finger had already stopped bleeding, and the wound had closed. Super spidey healing, apparently.

  As far as the changes went, that was a pretty cool one.

  “How can the war have already started?” I asked, bringing the conversation back to the dire situation.

  “There was a…skirmish,” Gabriel said. “Between demons and angels. In angel territory. It was a direct provocation to war.”

  “You were there?” Thane asked.

  Gabriel nodded. “Stabbed a demon in his throat, and as he was dying, he said it was already too late for us. That Lucifer had everything in place. They’re storming the gates of Heaven as we speak.”

  “A siege,” Thane said, his gaze dark.

  “Why aren’t you there?” I asked in curiosity. Gabriel was dressed in brown leather and had armored wings. Clearly he was a warrior ready to fight.

  “Did you not hear that I am a fallen angel?” he asked softly. “I am not welcome.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but Thane placed his hand on my thigh to stop me.

  “Did you come to tell me this?” Thane asked.

  “Yes. I know you’re on a quest to remove the wards on Purgatory, but you aren’t the only being the mage is keeping contained.”

  “What else is trapped?”

  “Don’t you mean who?” I asked.

  Thane shot me a look. “No, I mean a what.”

  “The Titans,” Gabriel said.

  Thane cursed. “Freeing me means freeing the Titans? Are you prepared for that level of destruction?”

  “What other choice do we have?” Gabriel demanded. “If we can get the Titans to fight for us, we’ll have a chance at defeating Lucifer.”

  “The Titans are mindless brutes. What makes you think you can reason with them? They’ve been imprisoned for eons. They’ll be stricken with insanity.”

  “You were imprisoned for thousands of years,” Gabriel pointed out.

  “It’s not the same,” Thane stated, his jaw tight. “I had the means to experience the outside world. I had communication with my Hunters and with…” He looked at me.

  I smiled slightly. “It’s okay. I realize you have a past, Thane.”

  He took my hand and brought it to his lips.

  “Can you do that later?” Gabriel asked with annoyance. “We need to focus.”

  “Is there a way to free Thane without releasing the Titans?” I asked.

  “No,” Gabriel said. “And Lux won’t risk leaving Heaven to recapture the Titans.”

  “Who is Lux?” I as
ked.

  “He’s the general of all angels,” Gabriel explained.

  “What about Zeus?” Thane asked. “He’s the one that imprisoned them before. He should be able to do it again.”

  “Zeus has disappeared. Olympus is dark with Hera’s wrath.”

  My mind whirled. “Zeus, Lux, Lucifer, Hera… Judeo-Christian, Greek…”

  Gabriel’s mouth curled up into a semblance of a smirk. “What? You didn’t think there was just one ideology, did you?”

  “So Olympus and Heaven aren’t the same?”

  “No.” Gabriel said.

  “Whoa,” I said.

  “Her mind is in danger of exploding,” Thane said with a teasing grin.

  I glared at him. “It’s not like you’ve given me a proper rundown of all of this.”

  We’ve been occupied…

  “This may be a dumb question,” I voiced, ignoring Thane’s desire at the end of our mental thread. “But what about God?”

  Thane and Gabriel exchanged a look.

  “What?” I demanded. “What does that look mean?”

  Gabriel sighed and shook his head. “It means, we’re sort of…on our own.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “God,” Gabriel explained, “is, well, a laissez-faire sort of being.”

  “You mean to say God is an absent creator? And doesn’t care what happens to humans or angels or anything?”

  “It’s not that he doesn’t care,” Gabriel interjected. “Just that, he lets things play out. He doesn’t interfere.”

  “Why not?”

  “At some point, man, beast, angels, demons, and all the creatures in between, must take responsibility for their actions,” Gabriel explained.

  “God knows the outcome,” I murmured.

  Gabriel nodded.

  “The world is about balance,” the fallen angel explained. “At all times in history—not just human history—there has been a push and pull between good and evil. One cannot exist without the other.”

  “What happens if Lucifer and his army win?” I asked. “Earth as I know it won’t be the same. What happens to humans? What happens to us?”

  “Darkness,” Gabriel said. “For a long, long time. But balance would eventually be restored, and light would shine once again.”