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Delilah shaded her eyes with her hands and peered at it. “It looks almost as though the walls are moving.”
As we started toward it, Smoky in the lead, I saw that Delilah was right. The walls and roof of the cottage looked like they were in motion, like the very atoms of the house were dancing. Wondering what the hell it could be, we quietly descended the sloping path leading to it.
“I don’t like the feel of this.” Trillian shook his head as he drew his dagger. “There is danger here. All around. We are surrounded by it, as though we . . .”
His voice drifted off as I grabbed his arm. “Stop. Stop right here. Look closely—I see what’s making the house move.” I skidded to a halt, looking closely. “Oh, fuck.”
“What?” Delilah squinted again, trying to see what it is. “I can’t tell.”
“I’m seeing the aura of the house. The movement isn’t on an energetic level—it’s on a physical level. The house is covered with spiders and bugs—they’re swarming everywhere. The whole house is like one giant anthill, sans the ants.”
And then, as I said it, everything came into perspective. The swirling mass became individual spiders and beetles, scurrying in swarms all over the house. In the narrow slits between the layer of bugs, I could see what looked like white strands—a cocoon! The house was a giant cocoon.
“Oh Great Bast, do you think Chase is in there?” Delilah’s voice spiraled, slightly hysterical.
Shaking my head, I started to back away, my teeth chattering. I could take many things, but swarms . . . not so much. “No . . . he was in body on the astral. And if we’re smart, we’ll jump over there now!”
“But we have to know if he’s in there. We have to be sure. I’m sorry, I can’t rely on just your dreams that you had while that freak of a dragon held you captive. It might have been a fever—”
I wanted to slap her, but I knew she was right. I’d been accurate about Vanzir, but that didn’t mean I was right about Chase.
Smoky glanced from Delilah to me, waiting for some sort of direction. “I could just burn down the house—”
“No! What if Chase is in there?” Delilah let out a small mew, like she usually did when she was going to transform into a tabby cat, but I could tell that Panther was just below the surface. She squeezed her nails into her fists. “I can’t afford to transform, not yet. But we have to do something.”
“I think the decision has been made for us,” Trillian said, pointing toward the cottage.
Out of the house came a scrabbling figure, moving from side to side at first, then heading our way. She looked like an old woman wrapped in a red and black robe, almost like one of the Hags of Fate, but she had six arms, and in no way did she have a human look about her. Her hair was knotted into a tight little bun on the top of her head, and her beady little eyes held a grasping expression. I caught a flash of hunger that swirled through the air. She was ravenous. Whether for blood or flesh, I wasn’t sure, but she wanted it now.
“If she’s that hungry, then she hasn’t fed for a while. Chase isn’t in the house.” I said it softly, but the others caught my words and nodded. Before she could reach us, I reached up and called down the power of the Moon Mother. This was one of the Elder Fae, and we were going to need all the help we could get.
“Moon Mother, don’t fail me now,” I whispered, sending a bolt of energy toward the creature. The lightning wrapped itself around her, forking into a web. But instead of stopping, she merely smiled an unholy smile and the energy began to absorb into her body.
“Oh crap, she’s the creature who eats magical energy—that’s why she captured Chase and that’s why the portal was singing to me.” I stepped back as Smoky, Delilah, and Trillian moved forward. I couldn’t use my magic—not only would it be useless, but it would strengthen her.
As I fumbled for my iron flail, she was suddenly in front of Smoky, and then vanished. I looked around, frantic, and the next thing I knew, the creature was standing beside me, her arms out, ready to wrap me in her deadly grasp.
Chapter 17
“Cripes!��� I jumped as she lay her barbed hands on me and, with a strength far beyond my own, yanked me to her chest. As I struggled to get free, she started wrapping me in something—a silken thread. She was spinning a cocoon around me. “Fucking hell, get me out of here!”
Smoky grabbed her by one of her upper arms and started to pull, but her head swiveled around, her jaws opened, and a pair of nasty-looking fangs came down on his hand. He yelled, pulling his hand away, and I could see blood on the skin. He let out an angry rumble and his hair came out, separating into six sections, each one wrapping around one of her arms.
The Elder Fae gave a long screech and twisted back to me, intent on her spinning. I couldn’t see where the thread was coming from, but knowing the way of spiders, I really wasn’t sure I wanted to.
Trillian launched himself at her, bringing his serrated knife down on one of her arms. The blade reverberated off and he stared at her, confused.
“Exoskeleton,” I yelled. “Her appearance must be an illusion! She’s got an exoskeleton.”
He nodded, darting back as she flailed at him with one of her arms. Even though Smoky’s hair had a good hold on her, she seemed to be strong enough to resist his trying to pull her off me.
Delilah ran around behind me, and a sudden prick on my back sent me into a world of pain—it was just for a second, but I screamed. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“I’m sorry—I’m trying to cut these webs off you, and all I’ve got with me is the iron knife. I must have poked through your cape.” She continued to saw away at the threads and I sucked in my gut, hoping to avoid another confrontation with her blade.
Smoky’s talons came out, and even though the wound on his hand appeared to be festering a little, he brought his nails around to rake against her side. They skidded off, once again thanks to her outer hull. Whatever she looked like under that jacket of skin must be shiny and hard.
“Enough,” he said, launching himself onto her, his hair straining to pull her arms away. One finally let go of me, and—with a popping sound—he dragged it off her body, out of her arm socket, and whipped it across the meadow, tossing it a good twenty yards.
