Page 1 of The Jorogumo

One

Haruto

"You're coming with us,"Dustin told me in a voice that said he wouldn't be hearing any arguments. For a tiny human, he was pretty damned fearless. While I had a feeling he'd always been like that, it was also because he knew his naga mate would always keep him safe.

I wasn't planning to argue.

While I generally preferred to keep to myself, I'd wanted to go to the human realm ever since Dustin told me about a comic book store only a few blocks away.

A few months ago, Draven—our resident dwarf and tinkerer—had finally perfected the wheelchair he'd been working on. It was a perfect blend of magic and tech that allowed supes like me with inhuman lower halves a chance to go about the human realm without revealing the truth. He now had fourwheelchairs completed, and planned to make more if the need arose.

As a jorogumo, I could have a human form, but the power I needed to do that came from something I really had no interest in, even if it meant spending my life in this half-human half-spider form.

Khush, Dustin's mate, had already made use of the wheelchair quite a few times to go on dates and errand runs with his mate, but this would be my first time going out, and while I was nervous, I was also really excited.

I wasn't really interested in much of the human world, but I wanted to visit that store.

Comic books offered me an escape, and my house here at the Sanctuary was full to bursting with volumes I'd collected—with the help of my more human-passing friends and later online shopping—over the decades. In all that time, though, I'd never been to an actual comic book store before.

"Okay. When are we going?" I asked, and Dustin blinked at me, his brows shooting up. He'd been expecting an argument, hadn't he?

"Uh, in an hour or so, I think. Khush is seeing if Silas will come with us." Dustin glanced around, then peered up into the trees, and I realized he was checking to see if Khush was around. When he was satisfied we were alone, he stepped closer, waving me down until I lowered my body so he could whisper into my ear. "When we go there, I'm going to make Khush go with Silas to do the shopping and take you to the comic book store, okay? I need a little break from Khush. He's starting to get...hovery."

Dustin pulled back, then gazed up at me carefully, as if expecting some judgment for wanting space from his mate. Well, he wouldn't be getting any from me. I completely understoodwanting a few moments away from people, no matter how much you loved them.

At three months pregnant, Dustin was still fully capable of taking care of himself, but I could also understand Khush's overzealous protectiveness. Humans were pretty weak as a species, and this human was growing a maybe-supe, maybe-human baby inside him while living in a place full of beings much stronger than him. Not that any of us would—or could—hurt him, but Khush's instincts probably didn't understand that, even if he himself knew.

"That sounds good. I'm excited to see the store. Is it big?"

"About the size of our library, but it's all comic books and action figures."

I couldn't help smiling as I imagined the place, and I wondered if I might find some new comics for my collection. There were a few ongoing series I hadn't ordered the newest issues of yet; maybe I'd get those from the store.

"You'll love it," Dustin said, his blue eyes shining with confidence.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, Khush and I were in wheelchairs outside the main exit of the Sanctuary, the pocket realm where we lived with other supes who couldn't survive in the human world. Dustin and Silas—a half-troll who wasKhush's best friend and mated to another human in the Sanctuary—were with us as well, and we'd stalled just a few feet away from the exit after Dustin had declared our plans.

"Why can't I come with you? Silas can shop on his own," Khush protested, and Silas opened his mouth before snapping it shut. Like me, he'd realized it was best to stay out of the mates' way.

"Because it's more fun not to shop alone, and we both know you have no interest in comics. You'll get bored and then I'll feel bad, and I don't want to rush Haruto."

Khush sighed, then rubbed his palm over his face. His usually snake-like yellow-brown eyes were hidden behind a layer of magic, making them appear brown and utterly normal, though the worry still shone through loud and clear. "I just want to keep you safe."

"I'll be fine. The guy who runs the comic book store is very nice. And big. He reminds me a little of you, actually," he said, glancing at Silas when he said the last part. "A gentle giant."

Silas grumbled under his breath, though his eyes sparkled above his mask, making me think he liked the compliment.

Khush clearly wasn't happy with the situation, and I understood his worry. Humans could be assholes sometimes, especially to a pregnant man, and I was sure Dustin knew that too. He was probably trying to avoid a situation where Khush might end up revealing himself in an attempt to defend him.

"Fine. But if anything happens, anything at all, you call me."

"I promise," Dustin assured him, then leaned down to press a kiss on Khush's lips. "Be good, and have fun with Silas."

"You too. Go be nerds."

"The correct term is geeks, actually."

Khush grinned. "I stand corrected."

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