Page 255 of The Spider Queen
“Only because it was Hunter’s soul calling me. I haven’t felt another pull like that since.”
“You’re a Guardian now. Just like me.”
“There are two of us?” I breathed. “But how?”
“That, I have no idea about.”
“But there’s never been a female Guardian,” I said.
“There’s a first time for everything,” he said with a slight smile.
The weight of responsibility settled over me. “So I can take care of the souls, and you can aid Zeus?”
“Yes.”
“And that will make you happy?”
“I don’t know if happy is the right word.” His eyes searched mine. “But I think it will bring me peace.”
“Peace is good. Do what you have to do, Thane.” I smiled slowly. “Your daughter and I will be here waiting for you to come home.”
He blinked and a light sheen covered his dark eyes. “Daughter?”
I nodded. “I felt her thread link to mine.”
“We’re having a girl?” He smiled so bright and then it dimmed. “We’re having a girl.”
“Just now realizing she’s going to grow into a teenager?”
“Yep.”
“Terrified?” I prodded with a teasing grin.
Thane tugged me into his arms and then fell back onto the bed. “You have no idea.”
Chapter 64
The next morning, I stood in the courtyard of the castle and watched Thane strap his sword to the scaled, winged lizard that would fly him to Olympus. The flying lizard was like a second cousin to a dragon. It wasn’t capable of shifting, or of having rational thought. It was merely a beast. Intelligent in its own way, but nothing compared to a dragon. Just one of the few things I’d learned while reading through the books in the archive room.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” Thane said.
“I know. But now that I’m Guardian, I won’t be sitting at home, waiting for my husband to come home.”
“Husband?” He snorted.
“Fine. Mate. Waiting for my mate to come home. Happy?”
He grinned. “Immensely.”
I kissed him goodbye, refusing to let my tears fall. This was not a battle between Heaven and Hell. “Come home in one piece.”
He kissed me deeply and whispered in my ear, “Make use of the pleasure bath when I’m gone.”
“Hmmm. It might take the edge off, but it’s not as good as you.”
Thane tipped his head back and laughed. Sobering, he quickly kissed me again and then released me. With my heart in my throat, I watched him saunter to the winged lizard, stroke its scaly nose, and then climb up into the saddle. The breeze gently blew his dark hair off his forehead and sunlight molded to the curves and angles of his face.
I committed the vision to memory because I wanted my spiders to paint a picture of him on the wall, so he could see exactly how I saw him.
