Page 210 of The Spider Queen
I hauled my exhausted body up onto a boulder. My breathing was rapid and shallow as I gripped my loose braid and wrung it out. Droplets of water prickled the surface of the calm ocean.
Back to where you came from, I thought.
I glanced out the corner of my eye, not quite ready to face Hunter.
His head was cocked to the side, like he was waiting for me to speak first.
The night air was warm, and I instantly wished for my boots to be gone, along with my spider suit. No sooner had the thought formed than it was brought to fruition.
My suit and boots were replaced by a comfortable, dry swimsuit. Black webbing, crisscrossed with straps that revealed slivers of skin.
I snorted in wry humor.
“Something funny?” Hunter asked. His voice was the same but not. It was more fluid. It sounded like a gentle ripple.
He was really part of the ocean now.
“I asked my spiders for something more comfortable to wear. And they created this.” I gestured down my body. “It seems they have a good sense of fashion.”
I threw Hunter a smile, but it fell away when he didn’t smile back.
We used to smile so easily at one another.
We’d shared so much, once. But now…
I waited for the guilt. I waited for the feelings of love to come rushing back. But neither came.
“We’re both different now,” he said, addressing what I was feeling. “Neither of us are what we once were.”
“Why did you save me?” I asked bluntly.
His mouth fluttered like it wanted to smile. Hunter’s blue eyes were bright, almost glowing in the moonlights. His blond hair was now silver and reached his shoulders, his skin cast in a silver hue, too.
My eyes traveled to his powerful tail. His fins looked delicate—until he flexed. Silver scales glistened from the movement.
“I saved you to fulfill my part of the prophecy,” he explained.
“That damn prophecy,” I muttered. “Does anyone know the prophecy in its entirety? Or are we all doomed to trying to fit little puzzle pieces together as we find them?”
“Youaredifferent.”
“You just said so. Did you not really believe it?”
He swallowed, finally looking like the Hunter I remembered. Hunter the human. Not Hunter the merrow whose eyes had become ancient. It wasn’t only his body that had changed.
“Did you save me only because of the prophecy?” I asked.
“I loved you,” he said, not answering my question. “I love another, now.”
“You do?”
“You love another too. You chose him. My choice was taken away from me, just like your choice was taken away from you. And yet…you still chose him.”
There was no aching regret in his voice.
“Thane”—I tripped over his name—“told me your memories were stolen from you.”
“Some were. I have no recollection of my parents, of the life I was born to. But you, Poppy. I remember you. And I grieved for the love we had. But it was ephemeral. It was mortal.”
