I gasped, horrified.
Its head and torso—resembled that of a woman, the rest a black spider with red legs and slithering arms…
CHAPTER
19
The spider’s legs were able to bend and curl, as if they lacked bones one moment, and the next they were rigid like iron bars. Her eyes glowed red, no pupils, only spheres of crimson.
She was enormous, her hair black and long, hanging like curtains over her naked body. The creature had to bend forward to see us properly.
“Such a tasty treat walking straight into my trap,” she hummed, looking at Malakai. “The prince himself.”
Malakai’s magic flickered and he growled a vicious, feral sound through his teeth. “Ethalyn, she’s draining magical essence through her legs.”
I froze in fear. Never had I seen such a horrifying creature, not at this scale. But If I didn’t act, she’d kill us, starting with Malakai. A shiver went through my body. I swallowed and sparks of embers spread in my hands. Her eyes darted to it, as her head tilted unnaturally.
“Don’t struggle,” she snickered darkly. One of her legs swept around, pushing the fog away to reveal the forest floor; a pile of bones and limbs, red fresh blood drenching the lifeless dirt, and a strange red net covering the trees. At thebase of the tree trunks were eggs, pulsating, and next to them… humans.
It was unclear if they were alive or not, but they weren’t conscious.
“They all struggled and look what it brought them,” she sneered, cocking her head to the other side.
My pulse had raced and my breath quickened, yet I turned my eyes back to the spider creature and Malakai. His magic was barely wrapping around one of her legs anymore, she was absorbing his power.
“Let… Let him go,” I stammered.
“Foolish human,” she tutted, her legs slamming into the ground, surrounding me. “Do you know what he is?”
My flames erupted, licking against one of her legs, making it twitch slightly. “Yes.”
“He might enjoy pretending to be human with you for now, that doesn’t change his true nature,” she snickered. One of her legs wrapped around, him stroking along his back like a caress. I saw his magic trying to reach for of his gun instead of her arms.
Something moved fast in the corner of my eye; one of her legs.
It slammed into my ribs like a battering ram. The world snapped sideways, my breath leaving me in a violent rush as I hit the ground and rolled through the ashen sand, fire scattering from my hands in useless sparks.
By the time I pushed up on shaking arms, coughing, she was already retreating. She crawled backwards into the fog, silent except for the soft, obscene whisper of silk.
“Malakai!” I scrambled to my feet. “Malakai!”
Nothing answered me.
No curse words, no dry, sarcastic remark and no cutting line of magic slicing the air.
Just thick, grey fog swallowing the naked trees one by one.
My pulse began to hammer too fast. “Malakai!” The words ripped louder from my throat as I grew more desperate. I spun in place, trying to listen past the blood roaring in my ears. “Answer me!”
Silence pressed in from all sides.
She had taken him and was probably wrapping him in webs. Paralyzing him, feeding—
No, Gods, no.
I summoned my heat again, flames licking along my fingers, but the fog drank the light, turning it dull and red. “Think,” I muttered. “Think.”
A shape moved to the side of me and I froze, fire flaring higher trying to reveal what the mist obscured.
