Page 58 of Bound By Roses

But not from the Spider, who now twirls a bone-handled golden blade in one hand. They’ll do whatever it takes to protect me fromQuinn.

The Spider doesn’t hesitate. An impossibly cold hand grips my wrist and then fiery hot pain shoots from my hand up the length of my arm. I scream as it overtakes me, and it’s so all-consuming that I can’t even tell which finger she took. It feels as if she may have taken all of them.

“No!” Quinn’s outcry gets lost in the ringing of my ears. Or is that the Spider’s cackle? I can’t tell anymore.

I pull my hand to my chest and clutch it against me. It’s warm and sticky, but I can’t bring myself to look at how bad thebleeding is. My head spins as nausea overtakes me and, without warning, I double over and throw up mere inches from the Spider’s hair.

She makes a sound of disgust and my vision is almost too blurry to make out the absolute distaste on her face. “Can you get one of your dogs to lick that up?”

I regain enough control of myself to shoot her a scowl. I’ve had enough of her games.

She holds up her hands in mock submission, the bloody blade still in one of them. “I was only asking.” Her eyes flash from me to Quinn. “The only way to spare you a fated death is to push someone else into the veil. A life for a life. It cannot be a sacrifice and it must be your hands that push them. You are living on borrowed time, so I suggest you do it soon. The wraiths will come for you if you do not. But, if you mean to drag things out, do so as a wolf. They will not see you as anything other, at least for a while. They are not mindless, but they can be tricked.”

At least she gave a solid answer instead of tormenting us with more games. I don’t so much as offer a ‘thank you’ as I turn away from her. Quinn is about five feet away from me now, the wolves still blocking his path. His face has gone pale, as if the same amount of blood that’s drained from my hand has also drained from him.

“Oh, one more thing,” the Spider calls to me just as I reach Quinn and he slips an arm around my waist. “Consider it a freebie as a genuine thank you for the entertainment. This has been such fun.”

We stop, waiting for her to continue, though neither of us speaks. I don’t think either of us can speak.

“A question you should have asked is why Imelda allowed one half of the soul to remain with you.”

Quinn looks pissed, and I don’t blame him. If this is her way of trying to strike another bargain…

“Are you going to tell us?” His voice is gruff.

The Spider smiles sweetly, as if she didn’t just hack off a body part. “If it were me, I would only incapacitate a weaver if I was already walking the path necessary to secure my goals. Farewell, young ones. Do pop by anytime.” She waves to us, and it might just be the blurring of my vision, but I’m almost certain my finger was in her hand.

We don’t stop until we’re outside the cave, and then Quinn’s firm hands are spinning me around to face him. “Let me see it.” He’d given me his shirt moments after we left the Spider, and the once dry fabric is already soaked with blood. Is it normal to lose so much?

“It’s fine,” I say through gritted teeth, moving around him to continue the short trek back to camp. At least there I might be better able to stop myself from bleeding out. Can you bleed out from a severed finger?

Quinn steps in front of me again. “Please. Don’t shut me out. I know I lied to you, but—”

Rage momentarily overtakes the pain. “There are no buts. You don’t get to say you lied to me,but.”

“I was trying to avoid you doing something like this!” Oh, no. He does not get to be angry.

“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s a finger. I’ll live, which might be more than we can say for you.”

The wolves are giving us a wide berth now, no doubt wanting to afford us as much privacy to have this fight as possible. I know they can’t be far off. Even if they don’t want to hear this, they won’t leave us alone.

“You have every right to be mad at me, but—”

“Again with the but!”

He runs a hand through his hair and then makes a fist, tugging at it like he does when he’s nearing his breaking point. I’ve seen this before, but this time, I can’t bring myself to care. “I’m sorry. Fuck, Abby, I’m so sorry. Please just let me—” His head snaps up before he can finish.

“What is it?”

“There’s something waiting for us at camp.”

“Shift.”

“No. It’s not a wraith.”

“You heard what I said. Shift.”

“I said no.”

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