Page 99 of The Spider Queen
“I didn’t bring you here. You came here to me. I’m not sure how.” Thane’s eyes darkened and an onyx, silky mist swirled around him.
“Are you angry?” I demanded.
“Yes.”
“Why? You have no right to be. If anyone should be irate, it should be me!” I seethed.
Thane threw back his head and laughed. It wasn’t a sound of joy. I felt bitter resentment roll off of him and hit me with a force—backing me up until I hit the wall.
“Look around you, Poppy,” Thane stated, waving his arm. “This has been myhomefor the past many hundreds of years. I am trapped in a prison inaccessible by any mortal being.”
He stalked toward me, and I would’ve backed up more if it had been possible. But there was nowhere else for me to go, and then Thane placed his hands on the wall, caging me in. He leaned over just the slightest bit, bending his neck to look down at me.
His mouth was a cruel temptation.
“This isn’t real,” I taunted. “You’renot real.”
I felt his warm breath on my cheek as he pressed closer. “Touch me, Poppy. See if I’m real.”
Looking up at him, I saw the firelight of the torches dance in his eyes.
“Touch me,” he urged again.
My hand slowly came up to rest on his chest. Muscles rippled under my fingertips and it took every ounce of willpower not to stroke him. He’d probably enjoy it—hell, I’d enjoy it.
I lifted my hand from him. “Step back.”
He bent closer for an instant before pushing himself from the wall. I could finally breathe. “I have the right to be livid,” he stated, his voice like granite.
“And I don’t?” I demanded, standing straight.
He turned away from me and suddenly I was cold, bereft, my emotions running wild.
“I want out of this prison.”
“So go,” he commanded. “But don’t you dare blame me for being the one to bring you here.”
“If you didn’t bring me, then how did I get here?”
“I called you to me, Poppy, but you are the one who choose to come.”
I swallowed. “I’m scared.”
“You should be.”
Chapter 37
I drifted awake, breathing in the smell of Hunter’s skin.
Rage—volatile, blistering—swept through my blood.
I reached out and gripped his throat.
Hunter’s hand went to my wrist. “Poppy, come back,” he urged.
His voice sounded very far away. “From where?” I growled.
“This isn’t you.”
