Page 211 of The Spider Queen
“It never stood a chance.” I paused. “We didn’t either.”
He shook his head.
“What’s she like? Your new love?”
“Kind. Eternally kind.”
My gaze dropped to my lap. I stretched my toes, enjoying the freedom of them. My hair was now dry, my skin caked with salt.
“Where are we?”
“The Sea of Illumination.”
I raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“I will take you to the mage—the one who binds Purgatory, the one who binds Thane to his domain. I will take you to the mage, and just maybe, you can save us all.” He peered at me, his blue eyes knowing and full of understanding. “How does it feel having that responsibility thrust upon your shoulders?”
“Am I looking a little stooped?”
He blinked.
“That was a joke.”
Hunter smiled. It looked wrong on his face.
“I’m sorry, Hunter.”
“For? Even now you say the words, but you don’t really mean them. You say them thinking you’re supposed to say them. This was always bigger than us.”
He dove off the rock and slid into the water, seamless, like he truly belonged there—like he’d always belonged there. His head popped up. “We should go. It will take a long time to get where we’re going. The water will be dark, and there will be creatures we should not wake.”
Scooting down the rock, I swallowed my fear. I wished Thane was with me. He brought me courage. I thought of him again. I sent him a wave of love and hoped he felt it.
Hunter’s glittering blue eyes watched me as I splashed into the water.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Am I allowed to say no?”
His lip curled into a semblance of a smile. “Of course. But we have to do this anyway.”
Chapter 38
The water was cold, and I instantly wished I had my temperature-controlled suit back. My spiders obliged.
As soon as I was submerged underwater, Hunter swam toward me and created another air bubble, allowing me to breathe.
With a powerful kick of his tail, he dove.
I looked up to the sky. The moons looked like watercolor reflections. I reached up, wishing to touch them, wanting to hold onto the light.
Hunter treaded water below me, waiting..
I swam after him and tried not to think about the unknown. Where was the mage held? Why hadn’t I thought to ask? Did any of it truly matter?
Down and down we went, only this time, there was no beauty waiting for us, no bright and colorful schools of fish, no curious anemones, no warm air currents.
As we swam deeper, rocks like the ones we’d been sitting on started to appear. Igneous boulder formations emerged in the near distance. Creatures with many eyes and mouths, tentacles and tails, watched us from behind curtains of algae. They were hideous and belonged underneath the sea, out of sight.
