Page 129 of The Spider Queen
“It wasn’t me.”
“Was it Thane?”
“Er—no. At least…no definitely not.” Thane had enormous power. Limited at times, yes. And it had been his power that had started my heart again after drowning in the bathtub. But this wasn’t his work.Somethinghad rescued me. Us.
Hunter looked thoughtful and turned his gaze to the Atlantic, like he was searching for an answer. “Merrow.”
“Huh?”
“The Irish call them Merrow—” he turned his gaze to me, “—mermaids.”
I blinked. “They’re mythological.”
He shrugged and looked back at the sea. “Do you have a better answer?”
I thought back to the moment right before I passed out. The shadows, the glinting silver scales, the webbed fingers. And the eyes. God, those eyes. I’d seen loss and sadness in those eyes. Like she’d tried to save so many before me but failed. She would’ve mourned for us if we’d died, that much I knew.
I sighed. “Where do we go from here?”
“We? I can’t go anywhere.” He gestured to his ankle. “I’m useless.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You have to.”
Shaking my head, I was adamant. “No. I never would have gotten this far without you.”
“I won’t be the one who holds you back. Besides, the last part of the journey has to be on your own.”
“What makes you say that?”
“My job was to get you to the cave. The rest is up to you.”
“You haven’t gotten me to the cave. Not yet. Here, try to stand.” I went to hoist my shoulder under his armpit hoping to get him up. But Hunter was bigger than I was and refused to aid me.
“Poppy,” Hunter said, blue eyes steady. “You have to keep going. Otherwise, this will have all been for naught. You can do this.”
Frustration and grief poured through me. “Even if I could think of leaving you—”
Poppy,came Thane’s voice.
Thane! I can’t do this! I know you want me to leave Hunter, but I can’t. It’s not right. He—
There’s a Callaghan on the way, Poppy. Hunter will be fine. I promise.
You double promise?I asked, sounding like a child, holding in a sniff.
Double promise,he replied without a trace of mockery.I’ll have his hide, but no one else will.
For some reason that makes me feel better.
I wiped my eyes and said to Hunter, “Thane is sending a Callaghan. Can you hold on until then?”
He nodded, fighting a grimace. “I can.” He bit his lip. “Poppy, I—”
“I know.” I leaned over and pressed a gentle kiss to a non-battered part of his forehead.
“Go to Thane.”
