Page 106 of The Spider Queen
I fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 40
I came awake with a start, seeing nothing but blackness. I tried to move, but Hunter’s arm tightened around me. His lips were at my ear. “Don’t move,” he whispered.
His arm slackened, and I felt him moving away. He pressed a hand to my shoulder, silently urging me to stay where I was.
What had awakened the both of us?
And that’s when I realized that we were in complete darkness—we’d fallen asleep with the curtains open, the city lights bathing my face.
Someone had closed the drapes.
Don’t move, Poppy,came Thane’s voice.Hunter has this.
I was in too much shock—and maybe still a little drunk—to reply.
There was a thump, a gasp, and then another thump.
“Poppy,” came Hunter’s voice in the darkness.
Or washethe darkness?
“Turn on the bedside lamp. But don’t look at me. Do you hear me, Poppy?”
“I hear you,” I whispered. I sat up and had to steady myself. Jameson was still coursing through my veins. Leaning over the bed, I nearly fell out of it trying to find the lamp.
It flared to life, casting Hunter in both light and shadow.
Despite his warning not to look at him, I couldn’t help it.
I should’ve fought my curiosity because what I saw made me sick to my stomach. And it wasn’t the dead body on the expensive carpet, nor was it the bloody serrated blade in Hunter’s hand. It was the feral ferocity that had morphed the contours of his cheeks and sculpted his jaw into unyielding marble.
He looked at me and anger blazed in his eyes.
What’s happened to him?I mentally asked Thane.
Rage. Power. From me to him. I gave him some to ensure he defeated an enemy. He can’t control it. He’s not strong enough.
Hunter’s grip on the knife tightened.
I wasn’t strong enough either, I snapped.Your temper almost made me kill him.
I pulled back.
Pull backnow.
My wrath is gone. He’s somehow tapped into his own.
Help me help him, or you don’t get set free, Guardian.
I severed the connection with Thane.
“Hunter?”
“Talking to your other boyfriend?” he sneered. His lips curled into an angry snarl as he turned away from the body and faced me.
I hesitated before answering, “Yes. I asked his help—for you.”
