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Her eyes widened. “Phoenix told you about me?” She spun around as if Phoenix was about to jump up from behind a dune. “Where is she?”
Damon’s throat constricted, and he had to work hard to push out the words. “She was captured by Gorgo’s spiders.”
“What???” the witch shrieked like a ghoul. “Where did they take her?”
Tan’yi’nug growled, steam shooting from his nose and mouth.
He pointed behind them. “To Gorgo’s lair. Our alpha brothers are there, too.”
Her face turned an alarming shade of crimson. “I will turn him to ash.” Magic sparked off her fists as she balled them at her sides.
“Jezebeth, wait.” His mother jumped in front of the witch with an outstretched palm.
“Wait?” Jezebeth threw up her hands. “That monster has my daughter!”
Their mother jabbed the witch’s chest, rage flashing in her eyes. “That monster has had my sons for three thousand years! Your daughter can wait until we come up with a plan.”
Jezebeth’s face morphed into something else, her hideous inner demon marring her beautiful face. “The plan should be to smoke him out of his hole.”
“I will handle this,” their mother seethed before turning to Damon and his brother. “Tell us what you know about him.”
Jezebeth stomped off, though not too far as Tan’yi’nug blocked her from leaving with an outstretched wing.
Cadmus looked away from their mother’s intense glare, his chest heaving as he stared in the direction of Gorgo’s cavern. Damon had never seen his brother so distraught, and he feared he’d team up with Jezebeth and do something reckless to save her.
“His magic is incredibly powerful,” Damon blurted, “and it is fueled by his flames. He knows everything about us, our strengths and weaknesses.”
Her jaw hardened, her eyes set in stone. “Does he know about amethysts?”
He swallowed back his unease. “Yes.”
“Tell me about these spiders?” She crossed her arms, impatiently tapping the sand.
“There are thousands of them, probably millions. They can run as fast as a wolf, and they can teleport.” He shuddered when he remembered that massive blot that looked like spilled ink. “One bite, and you’re turned into a jorogumo in a matter of seconds.”
“Tell me about your brothers,” she pressed. “Do they know who we are? Who your mate is?”
“They are mindless zombies who obey Gorgo,” Cadmus intoned, a lifeless look in his eyes, as if he’d all but given up.
“Maybe not entirely mindless,” Damon said. “I remember meeting our mate when I was a zombie. Her scent drove me wild.” And he could’ve sworn he’d felt something, a stirring, as if somewhere in the depths of his subconscious he recognized her.
“How is it you’re not also zombies?” their mother asked.
He nodded toward Cadmus, whose silence had become as tangible as Tan’yi’nug’s steamy breath. “Phoenix healed us.”
His mother eyed them a long moment. “Does Gorgo know she healed you?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “She used celaris magic to hide us.”
His mother’s eyes widened, then narrowed. “Her celaris magic worked?”
“It did. She had a special claw that strengthened her magic,” he added, not sure why it mattered, but instinct told him information about the claw was vital.
“Amarok’s claw?” His mother clutched her throat, awareness dawning in her eyes. “It must be an emunius. Where is the claw now?”
“She had it before she was turned into a jorogumo. I don’t know what happened to it when his army of spiders carried her away.”
“They probably took it with them.” She stomped, the sound muted by the soft sand. “Damn. It will give Gorgo even more power.”
