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He smiled. “The attitude of the sword very much depends on the attitude of the owner.”
“So you’re saying I’m a sweet-tempered, silver-tongued woman?”
He caught my hand in his, drew it to his lips, and kissed it. “Would I dare say anything else?”
“Usually, yes.”
“Then maybe I am merely in an exceptionally good mood.”
“Good sweaty sex will do that to you every time,” I replied, voice wry.
His smile grew, touching the corners of his eyes and making my heart do several little happy skips. “Then perhaps I should get in a snit more often.”
I laughed. The sound seemed to echo softly through the darkness, and the woman on the stage turned to look at us. Though she didn’t move, there was an almost imperceptible tightening in her shoulder and arm muscles.
“She knows what I am.” Azriel squeezed my hand, then released me. “Get ready to move. I believe she’s about to finish her set.”
The woman on the stage finished the song she was playing, then rose and bowed to the audience. They didn’t immediately respond, but as the spotlight died and she walked from the stage, it was as if a spell had been released and they all began to clap—some conservatively, some not.
I rose and wove my way through the tables, planning to cut the woman off before she could slip backstage. She was moving deceptively fast, however, and slipped through the curtains and disappeared from sight. I swore softly and ran forward, flipping the curtains aside and following the sound of her retreating steps down a dark corridor. Somewhere up ahead, a door opened and closed. I slowed.
Valdis’s blue fire flickered across the walls, highlighting the peeling paint and dusty cobwebs. I shivered, not wanting to think about webs when I was chasing a woman whose alternate form could well be the world’s biggest spider.
“I cannot sense her presence in the room ahead,” Azriel said.
“Does that mean she’s escaped us? Or is it simply a matter of the shield continuing to block you?”
“It could be either.”
Meaning the only way we were going to find out was to enter that damn room. I flexed my fingers and opened the door. Nothing immediately jumped out at me, but the room was pitch-black and my reluctance to enter grew.
I reached to the left and brushed my hand down the wall, looking for the light switch. Something skittered across my fingertips, and I yelped and jumped backward—straight into Azriel. He grabbed my arms and steadied me.
“It was only a small spider,” he said.
I snorted. “I don’t care if it’s big or small; they’re all spiders and they all deserve to die.”
“Spiders are generally harmless creatures.”
He reached past me. A second later, I heard the light switch being flicked up and down. No light came on, so the bulb was obviously blown.
“Can I remind you that this is Australia? We have some of the deadliest spiders known to man.”
“That does not alter the fact that the one that touched you didn’t actually harm you.”
“That isn’t the point.” I stared at the darkness a moment longer, then drew Amaya and took a wary step. Lilac flame flared down her sides, providing enough light to view the immediate area. The room was small and furnished sparsely. There was a dressing table with an office chair in front of it, as well as a small sofa and a minibar fridge. I stepped farther inside and swung Amaya around. There was nothing and no one else in the room. Our musician had fled.
“Well, I guess that points to her—” Something dropped onto the back of my neck, and I swiped at it irritably. “What the hell?”
Something else dropped, but this time it raced under the collar of my shirt and down my spine. I yelped and flung myself backward at the wall, hoping to squash the hell out of whatever it was.
“Risa, I think we’d better get you out of here.”
I gulped, my heart in my mouth and fear twisting my stomach. “Why?”
But I knew why even as I asked the question. There were more than just a couple of spiders in this room. I raised Amaya and looked up.
The entire ceiling was alive and moving.
