The Spider Queen

by Emma Slate

  I absently rubbed the bangle at my wrist. It was so light I had forgotten it was there, but now, it felt like a shackle. One I desperately wanted to cut off.

  Meghan stared at me for a long moment and then she nodded. “Fine.”

  “Can we meet in the dining room? I hadn’t even gotten breakfast before being hauled overboard.”

  “Sure.” She stood and went to the door. With her hand on the knob, she stopped again and looked over her shoulder at me. “It doesn’t have to be this way, you know. You can have people.”

  Half my mouth quirked up into a genuinely amused smile. “You’re kinder than you let on.”

  She wrinkled her nose, but then a small smile appeared on her face. “Don’t tell anyone, okay?”

  “I wouldn’t dare.”

  She slipped out of my room, and I was alone once again. I reached for the soap and quickly scrubbed off the salt.

  When I was clean, I stood, dripping water. Thankfully, the room was warm and I didn’t shiver as I reached for a towel that rested on a small table directly next to the tub.

  I wrapped it around me and then grabbed my hair to wring it out. I quickly dressed in a pair of clean trousers and a white shirt, which had been placed on the bed. It seemed the ghosts knew my dress of choice. There was another pair of boots—ones that hadn’t been ruined by the sea.

  An idea had me pausing mid-step. If we were in Poseidon’s realm, did that mean the ghosts belonged to him? And in some way, servants of Poseidon were helping us?

  I shook my head, dislodging the thought. It didn’t matter. In the end, there was only one thing that did: finding the final pearl and gaining my freedom.

  I’d come so far in my quest. I’d found two of the three pearls, and yet, I felt like this next leg of the excursion was what I needed to prepare for. It was more than the unknown.

  I wondered if I’d come out the other side successful.

  The three of them were already in the dining room, sitting around the table. Aloysius’s hair was damp and he was in clean clothes. He’d bathed, too. Clearly.

  Breakfast was already laid out. I took my seat across the table from Aloysius. Though I’d be telling the three of them my story, from beginning to end, it was Aloysius who I truly wanted to hear it.

  I reached for a piece of bread and took my time slathering it with butter and jam. The others were quiet, not openly willing to push me into talking before I was ready.

  I took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. Washed it down with warm cocoa.

  “You’re killing me, here,” Meghan growled. “I want some answers.”

  I arched an eyebrow. “Ask your questions. I’ll answer them.”

  She leaned forward, elbows on the table. Her long blond braid was slung over one shoulder, her eyes intense. “All of them?”

  “I don’t know. Can I trust you?” I fired back at her and then held her gaze.

  “You can,” Aloysius voiced for her. “You can trust all of us.”

  I nodded, brow furrowed thoughtfully. “What do you want to know first?”

  “How you have the essence of a merrow in you if neither of your parents are merrow?” Meghan said. Her tone was demanding, curious.

  I sat back in my chair. “You know what? It might just be easier if I tell you everything from the beginning…”

  Chapter 31

  An hour later, when I finished telling them my history, I was met with three wide-eyed stares of shock and bemusement.

  The food before us was untouched, but now, I found I had an appetite again and reached for the strips of meat that looked like bacon. It could’ve been bacon, or maybe it wasn’t. If I’d learned anything from my brief time in Hell, it was that food wasn’t the same as it was in the mortal realm.

  What I wouldn’t give for a good pastrami on rye. There were some things New York did better than anywhere else, no matter what realm it was up against.

  “Will someone finally say something?” I asked when it was clear no one seemed inclined to speak.

  “I don’t know what there is to say,” Meghan said, the first to find her voice.

  “If you’ll excuse me,” Aloysius stated. He pushed back from the table and left the dining room, his plate of food still full.

  We all watched him leave. I frowned in confusion and then shot a look at Dorian and Meghan.

  Dorian rubbed the back of his neck and then stood up. “I got this one.”

  Meghan nodded.

  When Dorian was gone too, I said, “Okay. What was that about? I thought he would be happy to hear the truth about me, my beginnings, this quest.”

  “Yeah, this quest.” She sighed. “I think we just didn’t realize the—ah—undertaking?”

  “What? Are you saying if you’d known the entire story of my parentage, the reason I had to run from Lucifer, you would’ve what? Let me wander in the desert for years?”

  “No,” she said slowly, “but I think we might’ve done things differently. My brother would’ve done things differently.”

  “Differently how?”

  “He wouldn’t have traded his aid for yours.”

  “Traded aid. You mean bartering so that I would stay with you for eight months and help your people?”

  “I told you about his tender heart?” I nodded and she went on. “Your story only makes him want to help you more. Protect you more.”

  “I don’t need protecting.”

  “Right. There’s that issue too. Aloysius is now feeling completely inadequate.”

  “Save me from the male ego,” I huffed.

  She smiled though she tried not to. “Do you know why my brother hasn’t married?”

  “That’s not something he’s discussed with me, no.”

  “Because he can’t find his equal.” Her gaze narrowed when she looked at me.

  “But I’m not either,” I pointed out.

  “You’re right,” she said. “You surpass him. And he wasn’t prepared for that.”

  “Surpass him? What makes you say that?”

  “Because the Prince of Darkness wants to keep you for himself.” She cocked her head to the side. “And I think you want to be kept.”

  “I don’t,” I protested. It was a knee-jerk reaction and only marginally true.

  “Oh, come on.” She rolled her eyes. “I saw your face when you described him. You can’t deny it, Stella. You want him.”

  “Of course I want him,” I admitted easily. “He’s made me feel all the things I never thought I was capable of feeling. That doesn’t mean I want to be kept by him.”

  “And there’s the sex thing.”

  “The sex thing. Yeah.” I looked away from her. It had been so long since I’d had a female friend to confide in. I’d told Meghan my history, but I wondered if I could share more. If we could relate woman to woman.

  “It’s foolish, though. Naive. If I don’t find the last pearl, then I don’t own myself. I have to own myself. I have to be able to choose.”

  “It’s okay you know. Wanting to choose him.”

  “I’m not sure it is. You don’t just choose the King of Hell. He’s opportunistic and a manipulator. He bargains and refuses to cave. I—what if I feel more for him than he does for me? What if he only wants me because of what I can do for him?”

  “And what can you do for him?” she asked.

  “I’m the balm to his burdens.”

  “Did you ever think that maybe, he wasn’t asking you to ease his suffering the way you do for humans, but to love him? Did you think that that might be enough to help him?”

  I blinked. “Love? Is he even capable of love?”

  “We’re not talking about his abilities. We’re talking about yours.”

  “I do love him,” I admitted slowly. “At least, I think I do. I know I feel lust for him.”

  “You feel more for Lucifer than lust. Otherwise, you would’ve fallen into Aloysius’s arms. He may be my brother, but I’m aware of his charm.”

  “No man deserves to
feel like he is second place,” I murmured. “But whatever I feel for Lucifer, I know it’s more than I’ll ever be able to feel for anyone else. And that is the only emotion I’ll admit to.”

  By the third day aboard the ghost ship, we were all ready to be on land again. My companions had become irascible, knowing they would have to remain on the ship when we found the island.

  Aloysius and I hadn’t spoken since I’d unveiled my entire backstory. In truth, I didn’t know what more I could’ve said. Was I supposed to hide my saga with Lucifer? Was I supposed to deny that even though I felt a burning ball of rage when it came to the fallen angel, I also felt confusion?

  At night, while the three of them slept below deck, I remained above. I lay in a hammock and watched the winking stars from above and wondered if the ghosts sailing the ship were using them to guide our course.

  On the morning of our fourth day aboard, I felt itchiness underneath my skin and the bangle around my wrist began to contract.

  My heart beat in a rapid staccato, and I briefly worried that the pink tentacled sea monster was back and that Poseidon needed to speak to me again, but it wasn’t the case. The sea monster stayed in the deep sea, and the ship sailed along at a steady pace.

  But the wind changed and I saw a bird fly across the sky.

  “We’re close to the island,” Aloysius said, startling me with his presence.

  I jumped, wondering how a desert man walked so silently across wooden planks. It had taken him very little time to adjust to ship life. His skin was even more bronzed. He looked healthy.

  I turned my gaze back to the horizon. There was nothing but ocean for miles, and yet I knew he spoke the truth.

  “I’m sorry,” he said finally, coming to stand next to me at the rail.

  “For?”

  “Stella…”

  “What do you want me to say?” I asked, turning my body to face him. “Should I not have told you everything?”

  He shook his head, his hand playing with the knife at his belt. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”

  “What? An empath enslaved to Lucifer?” I teased.

  He didn’t smile at my light tone. “I mean it, I’ve never met anyone like you,” he said again as if that explained everything.

  And it did.

  “I wonder…”

  I raised an eyebrow when he didn’t go on right away, urging him to continue.

  “I wonder what would’ve happened if I’d met you first.”

  I looked away from his intense gaze. The ocean sparkled in the sunlight. I could almost believe we were on Earth and not elsewhere.

  “Aloysius”—I paused—“I didn’t even feel desire until I saw him. Not when I was living as a human did I ever feel anything resembling lust. Not for anyone, ever. I thought I was broken. Until him.”

  “So you’re saying there would’ve never been a chance for us. Ever…”

  I shook my head. “I’m not the one for you. And I wish—” I lurched forward, nearly losing my balance as the ship came to a sudden halt. “What just happened?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Mist rolled toward us, obscuring our view beyond the ship, and then it parted to reveal a white sandy beach and the trees beyond the shore. We’d found the Island of Mist.

  Or it had found us.

  I glanced at Aloysius who was staring at the island. His expression was tight with worry.

  Exhilaration pumped through me and I was ready.

  “Well, that was a bit dramatic,” Meghan grumbled from behind me. Dorian let out a small laugh, but it was riddled with nervousness. It suddenly dawned on me that they were glad they didn’t have to go on the island. They were adventurous only when they had to be.

  Not that I blamed them. They were human. Their lives were finite.

  “No time like the present,” I said, eager to head to shore.

  “Hold on,” Aloysius stated. “You need some things before you go.” He quickly unstrapped his belt, which held a sheath and large knife. “May I?”

  I nodded.

  “Aloysius,” Meghan murmured.

  “It’s fine,” he said, tying the belt around my waist. He looked at me, hands at my hips. “This blade belonged to my father. It’s brought me a lot of luck, Stella. I hope you don’t have to use it, but if you should—”

  “Thank you,” I said, sincerity permeating my tone. I stepped away from him and then took the satchel Meghan held out to me.

  “The ghosts prepared this for you.” She smiled. “It’s a canteen and some provisions. There’s a tent in there, too. So if the weather’s bad—”

  “Thank you,” I said to her and to the ghosts that provided it for me.

  I wouldn’t sleep, though. Now that I was here, I couldn’t waste any time sleeping. I should’ve slept the last three days, but adrenaline had gotten the better of me.

  I took a moment to study each of their faces. Memorizing them. Wondering when I’d see them again.

  “I can’t thank you enough for your courage. Your friendship. And your acceptance. I’ll come back and spend eight months with your people—”

  “Forget it,” Aloysius said. “The deal is off the table.”

  “Why?”

  He took a deep breath. “Because I don’t want to be anything like him. I won’t hold you against your will.”

  “I’ll come. Of my own free will.”

  Aloysius smiled. “That I will accept.”

  I heard a plop in the water. The boat that would take me to shore was bobbing in the sea, waiting.

  “Well,” I sighed. “Let’s get the show on the road.”

  Chapter 32

  My feet touched the white sand. I looked around; the beach stretched as far as the eye could see. I knew I wouldn’t find what I was searching for here.

  I turned to face the ship and waved. I didn’t know if they could see me through the mist that was already rolling across the sea, concealing them from me.

  I was truly alone now. My boots sank into the damp, white grit as I trekked toward the tree line. All I could hear was the lapping of waves. Aside from that one lone bird I’d seen soaring through the sky, I saw no other signs of wildlife.

  The eerie silence made me nervous, but there was no use for it, so I shoved it away and plowed forward. I stepped into the greenery of a forest. Rays of sunlight peered through the expansive canopy and the temperature rose. It had been cool on the beach, but now it was heating up. Soon, it would be sweltering. It wouldn’t be like the desert, though. That had been dry and bleak.

  This was something different, like the jungles in Vietnam. But I had no choice, so deeper and deeper into the jungle I went. Every now and again, I would see pairs of amber eyes blinking at me from the safety of the leaves. Yet nothing dared to venture close to me. I was an oddity here. I was a stranger. Though I only had Aloysius’s knife for protection, I didn’t fear the beasts I couldn’t see.

  The bangle on my wrist winked in the golden light. I wondered if it was a magical talisman, one that would keep me safe from harm. What would I have to face in order to get the last pearl?

  Poseidon knew. I was sure of it.

  But like the immortals and oracles I’d met before him, he was equally as cryptic. Did their immortality plague them with sheer boredom? Did they enjoy the games and trickery for the sake of having something to do? They all had monstrous egos.

  Hours passed and still there was no sign that the jungle would end. Maybe the island was mostly trees and vegetation. Night fell. Starlight and moonlight barely penetrated the thick canopy above me, but I didn’t have trouble seeing. Apparently my time in the desert had changed not just my appearance, but it had also given me stellar night vision.

  My stomach rumbled and I stopped walking. I plopped down on a log and riffled through the satchel the ghosts had given me. As I was digging through it, searching for bread and cheese, I heard a hissing. I jumped up and whirled, attempting to find the source of the noise. No doubt some large jungle
snake was waiting to devour me whole.

  But I saw nothing.

  The hissing grew louder. A few feet from me, mist shot up from the ground. It sprayed my skin. Hot. Another blast of vapor launched on the other side of me. I clutched the satchel to my chest and looked around; the hissing was so loud it felt like it was inside my head.

  Geysers of mist and steam continued to shoot from the earth. And then the ground began to rumble. Tree roots emerged from the damp soil, and the whistling was drowned out by the sound of snapping branches. The land cracked open right underneath my left foot, and I would’ve fallen into the split earth, but I was faster than a mere mortal.

  I lifted my foot and took off. Cracks in the soil dogged my heels. A few times, I tripped and fell. I scrambled to my feet and kept running. Branches tore my white shirt and scraped my cheeks, but I didn’t dare stop. I didn’t stop until I got to a meadow at the edge of the forest and nearly plowed into a boulder. And just as suddenly as the hissing had started, it stopped.

  The boulder moved and I hastily darted away, but I didn’t back up toward the jungle. My eyes widened when I realized that the boulder wasn’t a boulder at all.

  It had limbs.

  Two arms.

  Two legs.

  It was a sleeping giant! I had no desire to wake it. The snoring reverberated through bones. I wished I had something to plug my ears because the noise made my brain feel like it was rattling around in my skull.

  I gave the sleeping giant a wide berth, but the snoring suddenly ceased and I froze.

  “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” the giant asked right before his meaty fingers wrapped around me.

  He lifted me off the ground and brought me close to his face.

  I stared at the center of his forehead, peering into his giant eye—only it wasn’t an eye, it was the last pearl.

  I was tied to a pole twenty feet off the ground.

  The sun had risen a few hours prior, and I’d been alone for that long, too. As soon as the giant with a pearl for an eye had tied me to the stake, he’d left, his booming footsteps fading into the distance.