Page 219 of The Spider Queen
“They are,” I agreed, turning my attention back to them.
The Queen Beyond the Veil moved to stand by my side as we watched the stallions in silence.
“Why am I here?” I asked.
“Why doyouthink you’re here?”
I paused. “I’m dying, I think.”
She made a noise. “That remains to be seen.”
“Thane’s brother stabbed me in the thorax after his wasps stung me.” I looked down at my belly, expecting to see it split open with my innards hanging out. But I was fully intact and so were my clothes.
“Let’s walk,” she suggested.
I kept by her side as we traversed the grassy plain. The sun was bright, and yet it wasn’t hot. I’d been in Purgatory and it had been night. Here, Beyond the Veil, it was day. Time moved differently in magical realms.
There were hundreds of questions I wanted to ask her.
“Did we win the battle?”
She shot me an amused look. “The battle between Heaven and Hell is eternal. It will never be fully won.”
“Right,” I muttered with an eye roll.
“There will be times of peace, and then Lucifer will grow restless and reach for things that don’t belong to him again.”
“Why do you sound like you know what’s coming?”
The Queen shrugged. “History has a way of repeating itself, does it not?”
“What is it that you do?”
“Do?”
“Yeah. Like Thane is Guardian of the Bridge. That’s his job—or whatever. What’s yours?”
She smiled. “What does any queen do? Rule.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Why am I here?” I asked again.
“Maybe you’re not really here at all. Did you ever think of that?”
I shrugged.
“You came here for the peace you can’t find in life.” Her eyes were bright and shrewd. “You lost someone.”
Guilt crashed into me. I pictured Hunter’s face, his eyes closed, his silver blood staining my hands.
“Some choices are impossible to make,” she said softly. “And we make them anyway.”
“Was his death in vain?” My voice trembled—and broke. Remorse was splintering me from the inside out. “Was his sacrifice necessary?”
“Depends what you do in the after, Poppy. What do you plan to do?”
“I protected Thane. I battled his brother.” My hand stroked across my abdomen. “Hunter died for me. Now I’m dying for Thane.”
“You don’t sound at all bitter about it,” she pointed out. “Resigned, it seems.”
