Page 239 of The Spider Queen
“If you want it to be.”
“How did you know we succeeded?”
“I felt it.” Cass raised her hand to her chest. “Here. There was a ripple and then—” Her hands made an explosion gesture. “Creatures that had been hiding or slumbering woke up. The land changed. It felt alive again.”
“But this is Purgatory.”
Cass smiled. “There are parts of Hell that are living, too. I thought you’d know by now that not everything is as it seems.”
“I need to remember that. Put it on a sticky note or something.”
We kept walking, and the waves reached our feet. The warmth of the water surprised me. Charleston was on the Atlantic, and I always thought it was too cold to swim. Not here. My toes sank into the damp sand, leaving behind a trail of footprints.
“What ails you, my Queen?”
“Why so formal, Cass? You didn’t talk to me this way before the quest.”
“You hadn’t chosen Thane in his entirety. Now you have, and that act of pure, unadulterated love for him has changed the way all the beings in this realm view you. And so now, just like the others of this domain, I will serve you like I serve him.”
“Okay, look. I grew up human. I had no idea this world existed. I wasn’t groomed for this…position. So I want you to treat me like a good friend. As an equal. Because I really need someone who will give it to me straight. That person used to be my cousin.” I swallowed when I thought of Anita. How was she dealing with my “death”? Was she coping? Was she in denial?
Cass’s voice jarred me out of my thoughts. “You want me to give it to you straight?” Cass repeated.
“Yep.”
Cass let out a sigh. “Thank Zeus, because I cannot stand to be so formal. With Thane, yes. Not with you.”
I took her hand and gave it a squeeze.
“So, what can I help you work through?” she asked.
“Oh, I didn’t mean right now—”
“If you left Thane’s bed on the night of your homecoming, something is obviously troubling you. It will stay between us, I promise.”
“What do I do with myself?” I demanded. “As Thane’s mate?”
“You have his children.”
“Wow, are all you immortals so antiquated in your thinking? This isn’t the 1950s. I’m not June Cleaver. I don’t own pearls.”
I felt a weight settle around my neck.
Cass laughed. “Your spiders have a dark sense of humor. Black pearls, it seems.”
I laughed. “Well, a sense of humor can get you through almost anything.”
“You don’t want Thane’s children?”
“I do,” I admitted. “I just want other things too.”
“Such as?”
“Hobbies? Friends. Another purpose. I don’t think I can have children and let them be the center of my world. I need to feel useful in other ways.”
“You were human once. You don’t think those feelings are indicative of the time you were born in? I was human. Long, long ago.”
“It was different for you? With Agamemnon?”
