Page 193 of The Spider Queen
“My father had a theory. He thinks the desert knows when things aren’t naturally from here. So it tries to both remove us and kill us. Most creatures, with enough time in the sun and without water will die.”
“Interesting theory,” I murmured.
We trekked on.
“Do you think asking our spiders for hats and sunglasses have left a magic trail?”
“Probably.”
“Why don’t you seem concerned about it?”
He shrugged. “We’ve already used magic a few times. You with the Flowers of Fire. Then I used magic to remove your human heart. I have no doubt Xan knows where we are, and he will strike when he’s ready. But right now, he’s not. Either his attention is diverted, or he’s waiting for the perfect moment to kill me.”
“Us. Kill us,” I corrected.
“I’m not sure he wants to kill you,” Thane murmured.
“What happened to her?” I asked suddenly. “The human you were going to marry? You said Xan took her from you…”
He paused. “He gave her a choice. To be with him, or die. She took her own life.”
Thane’s tone was bleak. Even after thousands of years, the memory and pain still sounded fresh. I wanted to pull him to me, but he beat me to it. Suddenly, I was in his arms, his face against my neck.
“I am not her,” I whispered. “I am immortal. I command an army of spiders. Let’s hope Xan and I never meet face to face. For his sake.”
A shudder worked its way through him.
I held him tighter as rage poured through me, rage I thought had disappeared. I was capable of hate. I wanted to see Xan. I wanted to make him suffer for what he’d done to Thane, his own brother.
The reckoning would come, and he’d tremble in fear before he died.
Before I killed him.
Chapter 28
Thane pulled away and discreetly reached under his sunglasses to wipe his eyes. “Sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t mean to—it’s this place.”
I thought about pushing back, telling him I knew he felt comfortable enough with me to finally be open and vulnerable, to show me how deep his brother’s betrayal had cut him. It was a wound that hadn’t healed with time, and if anything, had only festered.
“This place,” I repeated. “Right.” I adjusted the sunglasses on my nose. I turned away from Thane to give him a moment to himself. We were connected, and I was acutely aware that I felt what he felt. My tongue was coated with bitterness, anger, resentment, and heartache for the years he’d lost.
Thane and I shared everything now, whether we wanted to or not. We didn’t even really have our own alone places—even within our own minds, our mental link burned bright and hot. It pulsed with emotions and words not needed to be spoken. We had no true privacy any more. I tried to retreat, to let him close the door of his mind, to keep me out so he could put the pieces of his broken psyche back together.
You don’t need to do that.
Don’t you want some privacy?
Thane’s eyes were shielded behind his lenses, and I desperately wanted to see how they looked. Would they be swirling with shadows? Would I see clouds of insanity in them, or would they be clear and infinite like the ever-expanding universe?
He slowly removed his sunglasses. His eyes were dark, glittering.
Maybe once, I would’ve wanted to shield myself from you. Keep a part of me tucked away. But I don’t think for a moment that you’d ever use my weaknesses against me. You’re not my enemy, Poppy.
Wanting a safe space to call your own does not mean we’re not partners.
He shrugged.See me. I’ve nothing to hide. Not from you, and not anymore.
It hardly seems fair,I countered.I don’t have a history like yours. I don’t have the aching regret of losing someone I loved. Not in the same way you do.
