Page 99 of A Deal with the Shadow King

A blur of movement in the branches above catches my eye, and I raise my loaded weapon. “Lori, watch out!”

The silver bolt flies toward a third spider careening directly for my best friend’s head. The bolt buries deep in the creature’s brain, and the eight-legged abomination topples over to the ground. Venom splashes the earth, an acrid smoke rising from the spill.

The three dead spiders flake off to nothingness, but they are quickly replaced by five others. A fresh batch crawls in from the different paths leading up to where we’re standing.

We slowly tighten the ranks around James until we’re all facing a different direction, our backs almost touching. I take a couple of the arachnids out from a distance, but come up empty on the third reload. There’s no bolts left in my quiver, and I still haven’t managed to craft one out of thin air.

Another wave of monsters stalks out of the bushes, and I count at least a dozen.

Jo twirls the long scimitar in his grip and shoots me a regretful glance. “Nice knowing you, Old World.”

Lori presses her lips together. “Shut up! It’s not over, yet.”

We’re about to find out exactly how many spiders it takes to kill a duo of hunters and a couple of ill-fated shadow seeds.

Chapter 34

Dreamcatcher

The spiders click closer and closer. The sharp claws at the end of each of their legs tap the stones in a series of sickening tinks, and bile rises to my mouth. Lori dashes forward with her arms spread out on each side of her, keeping a humongous one from approaching the huddle, but another one takes advantage of her movement to scurry over to my side.

I smash its head with the crossbow, but the weapon is not pointy enough to pierce its thick exterior shell. James throws a heavy rock, but it just ricochets off the eight-legged monster.

The razor-edge of the spider’s front legs slashes my left thigh, and blood pours out of the wound. The pain lashes through me, as bright and intense as a bolt of lightning, and a long scream slips up my throat. I fall to my ass next to James, cradling my leg.

Adrenaline rushes through my body, and I condense all the frenzied currents of shadow magic I possess into my palms. A long blade shimmers into view, and I grip it in my hand, the spider now inching on top of me. My jaw clenches in disgust as its dark body obscures the entire gardens from view, and my lips part in desperation. The proximity of the nightmare snuffs out my magic better than a monsoon smothers a spark of fire, and the shadow weapon in my hand withers into nothingness.

The hollow shard in my soul where all my fears and insecurities live throbs at the monster’s approach. All my dreams and hopes crumble to ashes. In mere seconds, the spider gobbles out all the fight left in me, its terrible magic more paralyzing than a snare.

Right as it’s about to strike again, the monster cocks its globulous head to the side and merely extends its fangs forward to taste my blood. A drop of venom leaks from the tip of the crooked appendages next to its mouth and burns through my thick jacket, right to my upper arm.

“Oww!” I cry out.

The poison melts my skin like a needle heading straight for the bone. I can almost feel the foul, oily liquid as it penetrates my bloodstream, and the oppressive warmth that comes with the contamination quickly spreads down my shoulder. The spider emits an excited, high-pitched squeak, and all its eyes zero-in on me.

Somehow, it recognizes my blood. By the Mother!

Before it can decide whether it wants to eat me or not, an arrow hits it square in the head. The pointy end sticks out of its chin, inches from my heaving chest.

A series of high-pitched noises whistle out of the nightmare before its legs give out underneath it. It poofs in a cloud of dark ashes, leaving me in tatters, but alive. A dark shadow jumps over the rails of the balcony and lands almost on top of me, crouching to face the next member of the swarm with a snarl. One.

Tears streak down my cheeks as I sag against the ground in relief.

He stands tall and draws his bow once more, the nightmare hunter sinking arrow after arrow into the arachnids. Lori rests her hands on her thighs, and a few deep cuts run along her arms. Jo falls to his knees next to James, the hunter holding his guts in with both hands. “About time he showed up,” he murmurs, white as a sheet.

Sweat pearls above my brows, but I force the shock out of my stiff muscles and crawl over to him. “Don’t move.”

The magic comes quickly as I heal him, and I take care of the wound on my thigh, too. It vanishes quickly, but the venom-laced cut on my arm is unresponsive to my magic, which puts a damper on the hot sense of relief coursing through me.

Jo stands up without a hitch and helps me to my feet. “Thank you, Old World.”

The healing hasn’t returned all the colors to his cheeks, but he’s alright. He shakes out his fists, looking ready to jump back into the fray, but One holds out an arm to stop him. “Wait. Everybody behind me. Now.”

Lori slices into one last spider and rushes over to us as Two and Three erupt from the tunnels. The two Fae dash over to flank their brother and raise their arms toward the spiders. In a flash, the monsters stop moving. A couple of them hang in mid-air with their claws out—suspended in time.

A crescent wave of pure shadows spreads out in front of the triplets. The ground shakes. The black void takes tangible form, pulling wispy smog from its center to create a long, deadly weapon. Its sharp edge glistens, devouring the sunlight and burning darker still. The air is heavy with the force of a power I didn’t know existed, and I bite my bottom lip as the shadow blade suddenly snaps and springs toward the spiders, killing what’s left of them in one sweep.

One finally lowers his bow, his whole body wrapped in darkness, and the onyx-and-gold weapon vanishes into thin air. “That’s all of them.”

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