Page 29 of The Silver Spider
Chapter Ten
So, she had a lead, but no answers. Only more questions, which meant she’d taken several steps backwards. But at least now she had a name. Or a…call name. Whatever it was called.
The guards allowed her and Amnan to leave, though she wasn’t certain allow was the correct term. As they walked, the geas attempted to bring her back, but she commanded her spiders and the pain flooding her veins renewed her will until the compulsion finally slid away, disgruntled.
It was eerie. As if the magic were a living thing, and understood what she was doing. And decided to bide its time.
They were walking, when Amnan touched her shoulder. “You don’t look well.”
She hated that he saw her weakness, but practicality ruled. “I need to sit.”
“Can we get out of this quarter first?”
She glanced at him. His eyes were glowing faintly, expression tight. “You think we’re in danger.”
“I thinkyou arein danger. I don’t know what kind—and fae are slippery bastards.”
He glanced around, hand resting on her shoulder, fingers tight, but not enough to bruise. “If I have to fight, I want you to run, do you understand?”
She rolled her eyes. “My mother—”
“This isn’t about your mother!” He stopped, fingers sliding from her shoulder down to grip her wrist. “The fae won’t touch you. They’ll go through my scorching flame first.”
“You seem to be taking this personally.”
He grimaced. “It is what it is. I suppose if the dragon is to rise for any woman, it might as well be you.”
“Thanks. What a rousing—”
“I don’t love you, not yet. But I can feel the…potential. I don’t want to lose the chance. I know enough about you to know you would guard my family, my dragonlings, with your life. My mother—” he stopped, expression closing.
“You never mentioned you mother.”
“She died defending us.”
She reached up, touched his cheek. “And now you want to repay her by guarding a gaggle of females you think need your defense. Amnan. Bad trap to fall into. Mommy issues are worse than Daddy issues.”
“You should know.”
Serephone smiled faintly. “Seriously.”
“I’m older than you by centuries, woman. Do you think I don’t know my own mind?”
Serephone took a step back. She needed to think about his words—think about their effect on her. She might trust him—just a little—but was that enough to eventryto give him what he was asking her for?
“I don’t need an answer now,” he said quietly “I just wanted you to know. This wasn’t really the best time to speak about it, anyway.”
She shrugged. “The time to speak is when it’s time to speak. I need to know what this compulsion is. He said it’s in my blood.”
He began walking again, accepting the change of subject. “Which confirms what my father suspected. You are fae, and your ancestry is rising up to bite us both in the ass.”
“Me. Not you.”
“Us. You’re my problem, dear sister, whether we like it or not.”
She was too tired to snap at him. The pain, the energy she exerted to cling to her own will slowly drained the strength from her bones. She needed food, and she didn’t care if that meant staying a few more minutes in the fae demesne.
“In there,” she said, pointing her chin at a corner cafe. There were quite a few in this city, she’d noticed, even in this area. As if the residents had nothing better to do than stroll the streets and sit and sip beverages all day long. Maybe that’s what rich people did. Pretend that there wasn’t a wasteland outside the Dome, radiation waiting to eat through skin and muscle. Creatures waiting to chomp on bones and internal bits.
