AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She did. Fire exploded from her tip and spread out in a deadly wash that consumed all that stood in front of it without actually burning the walls or ceiling. The fire alarms went off regardless, but their strident ringing was almost lost to the roar of Amaya’s flames. The thick web shriveled against the onslaught of heat, dripping in silver globules onto the carpet. The spiders tried to flee, attacking one another as they scrambled to seek refuge from the flames. Only there was no refuge—Amaya devoured everything. Web, spiders, furniture. Even Summer’s few remains fell victim to her hunger.
Soon there was nothing left. Nothing but scorched plaster and melted carpet. Amaya’s flames retreated back to the steel, and her roar became little more than a contented hum. If she’d been a cat, I suspected she would have been purring. Loudly.
I sheathed her, then rubbed my arms. It didn’t do a lot against the chill still invading my limbs. “Would she have felt the death of her young?”
“I do not know enough about her kind to say for sure, but it is a possibility.”
“Meaning she might not turn up for her performance tonight.”
“If she has more young to feed, she might have no choice.”
“Meaning it would be helpful if we knew more about the breeding habits of the Jorõgumo—if that’s what this thing is.” I bit my bottom lip for a moment. “I wonder if the Brindle witches can tell us anything about them.”
“Given they are the keepers of all witch knowledge, it is more than likely they could.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go next.” My phone rang, the abrupt noise making me jump. I took a calming breath, then hit the ANSWER button and said, “Mirri, what can I do for you?”
“You haven’t heard from Ilianna, have you?”
I frowned. “No. I thought she was supposed to be meeting you. Didn’t you have that date with Carwyn tonight?”
“That’s the thing—she hasn’t turned up.”
My heart began to beat a whole lot faster. “What do you mean? Has she backed out again?”
“No. At least, I don’t think so. She was pretty determined to hash everything out with Carwyn tonight.” She paused, and even through the phone’s tiny screen, her worry was evident. “Risa, I think something has happened to her.”
Chapter 9
For a second I swear my heart stopped. Just thinking that something had happened to Ilianna made my stomach churn so badly, it felt like I was about to vomit. Damn it. I couldn’t lose Ilianna. Not when there was a very real possibility we would lose Tao.
Panic surged, thick with fear, but I somehow reined it in and said, “Have you tried calling her?”
“Of course—”
“What about Tao? Or her parents?”
“Yes and yes. No one’s heard from her, Risa. She’s just gone. Completely and utterly disappeared.”
No, I thought, swallowing heavily against the bile rising up my throat. She hadn’t disappeared. She was somewhere. It was just somewhere Mirri couldn’t find.
“What about the hospitals?” As much as I hoped she hadn’t been hurt, it was always a possibility, and certainly one we had to consider before we pressed the panic button too far.
“Also checked. Nothing.”
At least that was something. I took a quivering breath and released it slowly. “I’ll find her, Mirri.” I hesitated. “What about Carwyn?”
“He’s here with me at the restaurant. He’s got a friend in the police force he’s going to hit up for any information that might come through official lines.”
If it came through police sources, then it wouldn’t be good. But Mirri knew that just as well as I did. “I’ve got to go across to the Brindle, so I’ll talk to Ilianna’s mom. Maybe she can scry for her or something.”>Which didn’t mean there weren’t any in the bedroom.
The bedroom door was closed, and there was no way in hell I was going to slip underneath it until I knew for sure what waited on the other side. I shifted back to flesh form, then flexed my fingers and made my feet move forward. As I gripped the door handle, I closed my eyes and sent a brief prayer to whatever gods might be listening that there wouldn’t be anything untoward waiting beyond this door.
But, as usual, they had the IGNORE button pressed when it came to me.
What lay inside wasn’t only the biggest damn spiderweb I’d ever seen, but a goddamn army of little black crawly things.
I jumped back, a squeak of fear escaping my lips, and hit Azriel so hard that I actually forced him back a step before his hands gripped my arms and he steadied us both.
