Page 176 of The Spider Queen
“Because he loved her too?” I asked, trying not to choke on the bile of jealousy.
“Because she belonged to me,” he admitted. “It had nothing to do with love for Xan, and everything to do with the desire to take something that was mine. When you have something of value, someone will always want to take it from you. And he took her from me.”
I squeezed his hand in sympathy, hating that he’d lost someone he loved, hating his pain.
“It was a long time ago,” he said. “I was young. Foolish. I saw the signs, the anger and resentment in Xan’s eyes. I ignored them, not wanting to believe my twin was capable of such madness. All because of the order of our birth.”
“Do you think things would have been different if Xan had been born first? Would you have wanted what was his?”
He laced his fingers through mine. “I’ll never know, will I? But Xan never understood the burden of being Guardian. It’s an obligation, a curse. The power is a curse.”
“I don’t believe it, you know.”
“Believe what?”
I leaned over and pressed my lips to his. “Believe there’s not a trace of humanity within you. Sometimes, you sound so incredibly human.”
He chuckled, but it was dark and full of remorse. “To be a human… If I were human, I’d have no idea that the balance of my life—of all our lives—hangs by a thread.” He shook his head. “I guess I’ll take the curse, knowing I still have a chance at turning the tide.”
Thane looked at me, his dark eyes flickering with emotion. “I’ll take the curse, knowing I have you.”
Chapter 19
We left the shelter of the treehouse before the sun had risen. There wasn’t any point in trying to go back to bed. We were both wide-awake after Gabriel’s intrusion, not to mention we didn’t have a lot of time to spare.
I kept up with Thane’s relentless pace, wishing we could use magic to speed up our journey. But there was nothing we could do to move the Ebony moon to the highest point in the sky.
We walked deeper into the mystical forest. The trees grew tall enough to nearly block out the bright sun overhead. Mid-afternoon felt like early evening.
“How large is this forest?” I asked.
Thane handed over the canteen of water. I took a long drink as I waited for him to answer. “Not nearly as large as the desert.”
I spat out the water. “Desert? We have to cross a desert?”
He nodded.
“On foot? We have to cross a desert on foot?”
“Well…technically, we could find some transportation.”
“Like what?” I snapped. “Purgatory camels?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Scorpions, actually. Giant scorpions.”
“Guess we’ll be walking then.”
Thane’s head drooped but not before I caught his smile.
“You think this is hilarious.”
“I don’t,” he protested.
“You do! You’re laughing at me.”
“I’m—enjoying your visceral reactions.”
“Giant scorpions, Thane? That’s just too much for me.”
