Page 87 of The Spider Queen
“Yeah, Poppy?”
I took a deep breath. “I’m ready to tell you everything about Thane.”
Chapter 32
“Do you want to pull over?” I asked. “All this might come as a shock.”
“Poppy,” he said, a trace of humor in his voice, “I broke you out of a hospital room because your cousin had you committed for some very terrifying behavior. I think I can manage to keep us on the road.”
“I wonder what she thinks,” I murmured more to myself than Hunter.
“About what she and Jonah saw?”
“About you springing me from the loony bin.”
“That’s not funny.”
I looked out the window, staring at darkness. I could make out the faintest traces of trees and grass as they whizzed by the window. “It’s weird, you know? Not knowing if your mind is betraying you. All this started the night you took me to that junk shop.”
I recounted everything from that evening on. From finding Thane, noticing the changing of his coloring, to throwing the glass box into the lake when I heard his voice in my head. I held nothing back. And by the time I was finished, we were entering Nashville proper.
“Say something,” I demanded.
“I saw the spider’s changing color, too, remember? I even asked you about it.”
Somehow I’d forgotten that. My eyes widened when I looked at him, a rush of relief engulfing my entire body. It was one thing for Hunter to tell me I wasn’t crazy. It was another for him to have seen what I’d seen.
“If you saw that, and I saw that, then—”
He turned and smiled faintly. “Now do you believe me? Now do you trust yourself?”
“Yes,” I whispered through a tight throat. “But it still doesn’t explain why all this is happening to me. Unless…” I looked at him. “You know, don’t you?”
He paused and then nodded.
“All this time?”
“Yes. I had my suspicions. But until you told me you could communicate with the spider, I didn’t know for sure.”
A wave of fury assaulted me. He’d kept me in the dark. He’d let me think I was unraveling.
I kept my mouth shut, too full of anger to even think about talking.
He pulled up to a bright, modern hotel and parked outside the front doors.
“We’re staying here?” I asked, surprise loosening my lips. I stared up at the hotel through the glass window of the passenger side.
“Yes.”
“I would’ve settled for a Motel 6 or a La Quinta.”
He let out a chuckle. “I wouldn’t have. Come on. Let’s check in.” After climbing out of the car, he gathered his backpack and cell phone. We walked into the lobby and Hunter made a move to reach for my hand but stopped. At least he knew how to read my body language.
He spoke politely to the cute desk attendant while I examined the lobby. Everything was rich and warm, the lighting sensual and low.
It made me aware that I was filthy.
Check-in was fast, especially after I saw Hunter hand over a black Amex. I inhaled sharply. The guy had money. We’d never talked about it; it hadn’t come up.
