Page 75 of The Salvation

Her antennae straighten, legs crossing as she begins to pace, debating with my sister. “She needed to prove her worthiness alone. Your interference undermines the integrity of the trial.”

“Worthiness is in the blood we share,” Qora points out, and my chest warms at my sister’s speech. I know I could never be as crafty or well-spoken as she. I spin pretty stories and brat out to monsters. She knows how to stand strong in conflict and bring a siege of smooth persuasion. “If one of us succeeds, we both do. You never clarified the rules. I used your own game against you. Besides, isn’t it better to catch flies with honey?”

At first, Necrosyne rears up again with a series of rabid clicks and snarls. But when she finally settles, her legs pounding upon her silky steel ground, she drops my cocooned form while slashing the threads to release me.

Wind knocked out of me, I cough, gasping for air. Jinxy’s warm tongue lovingly licks my cheek before my sister’s arms coil around my waist to raise me to a stand. Thankfully, the cuts don’t seem too deep.

“Whathoney, Shadow?” Necrosyne demands, those antennae curving in interest toward us again.

“As you pointed out, I bear a Shadow soul. Quintessa’s is a half-soul. This means we may return at any time. Let’s not forget how you shared only a partial story, but not how you came to take on this illustrious form...” Qora gestures to the majestic spider. The adrenaline has begun to seep from my blood, and I imagine I may pass out any second now.

“What of it?” sneers Necrosyne.

“What if we vow to return,”—Qora suggests, cocking her head in proposal—“and we may all share stories? You don’t need to consider us friends. But perhaps, allies with a mutual interest.”

“I may find it difficult to maintain an alliance should you choose to resurrect Malachor.”

“I thought...you were...lovers,” I weakly rasp.

Necrosyne hisses, blinking rapidly. “We were once. The greatest of lovers. The most powerful God of Blood who chose a mere human, a nobody of a humble weaver, for his mate. Until he set on his endeavor to create his own underworld. But to have any opportunity, he needed to sacrifice his greatest treasure.”

I lower my head, a wave of cold washing over me. “He sacrificed you...” I whisper.

“And my grief and anger turned me into the creature before you.”

At the familiar sensation of tickling across my bare feet, I glance down at the baby spiders and sigh, turning my palms out to face her. “The last thing I want to do is bring back Malachor. But my child’s life is being threatened. She’s just a baby. Like your babies.” I lean down to scoop up a few little spiders, noticing Qora parting her lips, brows lifted.

I raise my hand bearing the tiny spiders toward the Queen of the Hollows, my brows creased, pleading with all my being as her babies crawl over my hand. “There’s nothing we can do to help her...except this. And we will do everything possible to keep it from happening. But I must...please, I must save my daughter.”

At first, she blinks. Just once. My heart freezes in my chest. Shock waves of fear and trepidation overcome my nerves, but I don’t take my eyes off her.

After a lifetime of a few seconds of holding my breath, Necrosyne curves her antennae toward us, releases her silk in a slow and fluid motion as if decorating the air, and finally, her abdomen softly drums. “Be gone with you, child of scars. And I do trust you will return if Malachor does not destroy you. And you, Shadow,” she acknowledges Qora.

“I wish I could introduce you to my baby, but we will come back,” I assure her and wince from my aching sides and the bruises on my chest. As soon as we leave the Hollows, Merikh will heal them.

For now, we embark out of the Queen of Hollows nest city and through the forest. Jinxy trots ahead of us as if he’s leading the way, which he honestly is since I’d probably have no idea how to get back. He guides us past cities to the thinnest area, where the obsidian gates blot the white silk landscape.

Blood thrilling and heart somersaulting, I tug on Qora’s hand to make a beeline for the gates. Only to meet with the sudden inertia of her body refusing to move.

“Qora?” I croak, turning back to her, finding her lowering her chin, her eyes glassy. The recognition is like a punch to my gut. Make that a thousand punches. Tears sear my throat.

“Don’t be like that, you mad little fool,” she teases and cups my cheek. “You found your monsters. I found mine...well, he found me. I’m bound to Shade. I have to go back, Quinn. But I know we will see one another again.”

I knit my brows, the seam of my lips tight. “How can you possibly know that? Malachor...he could kill us all. And you’ll never...” I croak, choking on the emotion before finishing, “...you’ll never meet Aislynn.”

“Why did you follow them through the Veil, Quinn?”

I gaze at her, at how her face has softened. Her palm hasn’t left my cheek. “I had nothing to lose.”

She shakes her head with a smile. “No, we both know it was more. You felt Drago. For the first time, you felt, Quinn. And for the first time with Shade, I did, too. It’s so much more than self-gratification. It’s not even love, which can fade. It’s hope. And hope makes you do reckless things. And I believe you have many more reckless things to do, Quinn. I’m putting my hope in you. Please, I have no right to ask, but please put your hope in me.”

Nothing can stop the tears as she leans in, touches her brow to mine, and says, “Your half-soul is too big for this world, Quintessa. You’ve won three monsters’ souls. So, go out there and claim your man. I’m sure his soul is right under your nose.”

She taps my nose, and we share a smile, but the throbbing in my chest doesn’t leave. Not when she embraces me. Not when she kisses my cheek. Not when she waves her hand and reminds me of hope.

As I turn and follow Jinxy to the black gates, I know no amount of healing in the Sea of Bones will help this pain.

27

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