“What does the honey do?” he asked.
“Nowyou’re curious?” I waited for the spell to set and then indicated he could lower his leg. I crouched to do my own pants and shoes. When it looked good, I stood and answered him. “The honey seals your pants to your shoes so the spiders can’t get in, but I also made it extra sticky and glued it to wherever I put it.”
“So, a flytrap?” he clarified.
“Give the man a prize.” I debated for a moment what to do with the leftover honey, and then tucked it in my bag. It might come in useful later.
“Why do you get the extra?” King sounded almost petulant. His eyes focused on the door, where something had moved aside the towel.
We both froze. Was it the army of small black spiders? Or was it one big spider? Either way, I didn’t want to see what was on the other side of the door.
I could hear King’s pen scratching the paper of his notepad as he wrote. When I looked over, he was inscribing circle after circle.
“Are any of those going to be useful?” I asked.
“You said you wanted fire.” King continued drawing.
“What if the spider already got to your partner?” I turned away to ransack McCallum’s kitchen, looking for anything else I could use. There were canisters of flour and salt, and I took both. Olive oil got tucked into my bag and a small lighter went in my pocket.
“Then we run,” King said. “But the spells I used should be hard to break through. He should be safe for a while.”
“This feels a little familiar,” I said. “You know, if you wanted to date without a chaperone, you just had to ask.”
“That easy?” he asked.
“Yeah. You wouldn’t even have to buy me dinner.” The look I sent him was suggestive, and he laughed. “In all seriousness, we have to stop meeting like this. It’s not good for my heart.”
“I have to admit, giant spiders are a first for me.” King sketched one last circle and nodded his head as he mouthed the words, going over the pages that he had used.
The spiders finally moved aside the twitching towel and black bodies poured under the door. There were more than before, thousands upon thousands of them.
I yelped, startled at the sight and had to take a deep breath to remind myself that they could no longer get up my pants legs. King seemed to have forgotten, because he was doing his awkward wedding dance again as he tried to squish as many of the arachnids as possible.
“They can’t get up your leg,” I started, but then they approached my shoes, and King and I were doing a synchronizedwhy-is-this-happening-to-medance.
Drawing the salt out of my bag, I held the small canister in my hands. Loudly, I chanted a spell that I hadn’t used in years. Actually, I’d only ever used it on clothing or towels. Now, Ipressed new meaning into the words. When I was sure the spell was ready, I began sprinkling salt on the surrounding spiders.
Cognitively, I understood spiders didn’t actually scream, but as their bodies twitched, arched, and danced, I was pretty sure they were making some high-pitched sound going straight into my brain. When they were finally still, I had thousands of spider corpses littered around me, their legs curled up and their bodies lifeless. King swung his gaze around the room, checking for any survivors of my massacre.
“What did you do?” There was a slightly horrified expression on his face. “That was —”
“Gross,” I said. “Very, very gross.”
“What was that spell you cast?”
“A desiccation spell,” I said. “Usually I just use a few grains of salt or something else to dry off wet clothes.”
“A dryer doesn’t work?” His tone would have made a very good substitute for the salt I had just used.
“Ha ha, funny man,” I said, shaking my head. “So, what’s the plan?”
“We have to get my partner away from the spider,” King said.
“I’ve been thinking about that spider,” I said. “I don’t think it always stays big.”
King nodded. “If it did, it would only be able to stay in the entryway, and the living room that’s adjacent. How does that help us, Ferro?”
“I don’t think it does. I think it’s something we need to be aware of,” I said. “But that big chandelier…”
