Page 109 of The Spider Queen
We went out the back of the hotel, and thankfully, there was a break in the rain. The silvery clouds drifted across the sky, shadows concealing us. The car—if it could be called that—was ten blocks from the hotel and Hunter didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until we were driving away.
“This isn’t a car,” I said, wanting to distract him.
Hunter looked in the rearview mirror. “No?”
“No. It’s a wind-up toy.”
He grinned.
“Where are we going now?” I asked.
“The Cliffs of Moher.”
“I’m not familiar—”
“One of Ireland’s most famous attractions. The cliffs rise about four hundred feet and face the Atlantic. The wind is so fierce that it has actually knocked people over the edge before.”
“Explains the ‘she might blow away’ comment from our friend back there.”
“Not a friend,” Hunter negated. “A Callaghan.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what that means.”
“Hunters hunt and protect. Callaghans…clean up the messes the Hunters leave behind.”
“Ah, another one of Thane’s minion families. Got it.”
“We’re not minions.”
“Right. You just have no choice in the matter. I’m guessing the Callaghans don’t either?”
“We are but small sacrifices in the name of the greater good.”
I turned my head so Hunter wouldn’t see my eye roll. At times it sounded like he really believed the stuff coming out of his mouth. Then again, his family had served Thane for generations. And I guessed one didn’t have a choice when it came to serving an ancient being.
“So why are we going to the Cliffs of Moher?” I asked. “Is that where I’ll go through the other test?”
“There’s a hidden staircase made of ancient stone that will take us down the cliffs to the cave.”
I shook my head. “Okay. Hold on. Hidden staircase? Are we going into Mordor? And this cave—what’s in this cave? Thane?”
“I honestly don’t know. I’m supposed to get you to the cave. That’s all I know.”
“Really? Thane just says to you guys, ‘Hey, Hunters. Serve me, but I’m not going to give you any explanations. Just get a flower woman to the cave.’”
He sighed. “You know how you don’t know a lot of things? Well, we don’t know much more than you, Poppy. By ‘we’ I mean the Hunters. We know just enough: I know where the stone staircase is, I know how to get down it, and I know how to getyouinto the cave. As far as what’s in the cave? I have no idea. As far as what the test is? I also have no idea.”
“You mean to tell me,” I began, “that we’re both traipsing through Ireland without a fucking idea of what’s really behind door number three?”
“That can’t actually surprise you can it? I mean, you just spun spider silk from your mouth. I have no idea how you did that. Do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Did you ask Thane?”
“No, I didn’t ask Thane,” I mocked. “I’m not talking to Thane.”
He snorted. “Mature.”
