Page 100 of A Fate so Cruel

Water pooled at his feet and the dirt walls were about six inches taller than he was. There were more unlit torches lining the walls, but Rion wasn’t certain they’d catch with all the moisture in the air.

He turned to find Selina pulling her cloak up as she peered inside. He swore she’d turned a shade paler.

“Absolutely not,” she said.

“Do you have a better idea?”

She scowled at the webs hanging overhead, her gaze searching through the nearly translucent strands. “The window.”

“How original.”

“I’m not walking through this. It’s disgusting, and it looks like the entire spider population of Brónach is living along the walls.”

“Don’t be so uptight. I’m sure you’ve had to crawl through worse.”

“Not willingly.”

He rolled his eyes. “Come on.” Rion stepped inside, moving thick webs as he crept through the dank space.

He turned slightly to find Selina holding her cloak close as she watched the ceiling.

“You’re not seriously afraid of spiders.”

“We’re not going to talk about it,” she snapped.

Rion held the torch higher. “Would you like to take point?”

She glared and Rion laughed before venturing further inside. He might have even pulled a few webs down, just as a courtesy.

Selina followed at a slow pace, carefully watching her surroundings.

“If the rebels are using the tunnels to smuggle things in and out, they’re certainly not using this one.”

“Or the information you found is dated.”

She grimaced. “Let’s hope not.”

A slight gasp, then fear flooded the tunnel in an overwhelming wave. He whirled, magic out, ready to silence whoever had snuck up behind them.

Selina had her head ducked and shoulders scrunched in tight, cursing under her breath. “Get it off me.” She inched closer, her body curling in on itself. She kept her eyes shut. “Get it, get it,” she begged, putting her back to him.

Rion smirked and moved fast, plucking the tiny offending creature from her shoulder. It dangled from its web, legs fanned out, then twisted to climb back up the single strand.

Rion simply placed it on a root that jutted out from the dirt wall and let it climb to safety.

Selina shuddered. “Did you kill it?”

He laughed. “No.”

She looked around as if she’d spot it coming for her again. “You should have killed it.”

“I’m not going to kill something just because you and others find it wretched.”

“Do not,” she said, “make this about you. I am allowed to find little creatures with far too many legs creepy, and I’m allowed to be disgusted by the thought of them crawling over my body.”

He tried not to laugh. “Should we include said little creatures as part of your training? One only learns to conquer fears by confronting them.”

“If you do, then I quit. I draw the line at spiders.”

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