“Probably off to find some more dumbass prey to feed to its scorpion overlord!”
“I don’t think – Oh, shit.”
“What?” Jace screeches as he spins around in the air, no doubt trying to find whatever’s causing my breaking calm.
“Put your knives away.”
“No –”
“It’s harmless. Look at it. It’s running away from us, not towards.” I wave at the scorpion as it scrambles backwards. “It’s hiding in this log because it can’t defend itself.”
He curses without pause as he puts his knives away.
“So…” I say slowly, trying to figure out how to say this without making him want to kill the thing. “I don’t think… Hyatt is a boy.”
“Who the fuck cares?”
Well, you are in a sec…
I clear my throat. “I’m pretty sure Arienna told me that Jack-in-the-Box wasps lay eggs in scorpions.”
His eyes widen. “They fucking do not.”
I nod despite the horror ripping at my insides. “I think that’s why she gave them their fun name.”
“Fun?”
I try for a smile, then drop it. Nothing about this is going to be ‘fun’ in any way, shape, or form. “I think… Hyatt has just dropped off the grandkids.”
“What the fuck do you mean, she’s just dropped off the grandkids!”
“Well… Arienna must be the closest thing she has to a mum.”
“No. No, you are not – We are not. No!”
I grab his arm to stop him from throwing another knife at it. “I’m not suggesting to take it back to Kholar.” I pause. Or maybe I should threaten to if he doesn’t tell me where my wife is...No, he’ll just kill it then.“But we can feed the scorpion so it survives long enough for the larvae to come out.”
“Come out? Come out! Dickie, they’re not going to pop out of its anus like a beaded butt plug. They’re going to chew their way out of its body – everywhere. At once.”
“And once that happens, our job will be done.”
“We don’t have a job! It’s a scorpion! Full of wasps. That we don’t like. Just let it die. Let them all die.”
“They’re her kids, Jace.”
“They’re not her kids.” He pulls away from me. “Oh my gods, this is what happens when you don’t sleep for three days. You become delusional.”
“I’d sleep if you tell me where my wife is,” I growl.
“Fuck. Fuck,” he mutters, ignoring me completely.
“If Irin and Megan ward both ends of the log so nothing can get in to eat the scorpion and we bring it some food, I think it’ll be fine. We can drop supplies down the hole we came through.”Then I can blackmail Arienna into coming back if she wants to see her grandkids.
My throat closes as I realise the truth of that statement.
She loves wasps even though they kill their siblings.
She loves monsters even when they have nothing worth loving.
