Page 12 of The Jorogumo

Five

Haruto

Liam hadn't run offscreaming yet, so that was good. Right?

I wished I'd talked to one of my supe friends before I came here today, preferably one who was mated to a human. I hadn't meant to reveal myself, but I also couldn't let Liam get hurt, and I'd reacted before I could think things through.

"So you're a half-spider, half-human supernatural being, and you use a wheelchair to hide your spider side?" Liam summarized, and I nodded quickly.

"I only need to use it when I visit the human world."

When he just blinked at me, I realized I'd skipped some important details.

"I live in a place called the Sanctuary. It's in a pocket dimension, and it offers a home to any supernatural who doesn't or cannot pass as human."

Liam nodded slowly, and I could almost see his thoughts whirring as he processed everything I'd told him.

He brought his hand up to his mouth and bit down on his thumb, his dark eyes scanning my form for a long moment before he blew out a breath.

"You know this sounds absolutely crazy, right? I mean, I know you aren't lying. I can see it." He glanced pointedly at the webs he was sitting on before continuing, "But it's still so... surreal."

"Is there anything I can do to make it easier for you to accept?"

Liam pursed his lips, then nodded. "Can I see you? All of you?"

My brows shot up, but I nodded gamely. "Fair warning, though. You might find me... unnerving to look at."

Most humans seemed to have an inexplicable fear of spiders, and while Liam hadn't mentioned disliking spiders, he might still find me terrifying. At least I had eight legs instead of eight eyes. That would have beenmuchworse.

Liam nodded, then straightened up as if he was bracing himself.

With an exhale, I pulled away the thick cloth that kept my legs hidden and stepped out of the magical pouch that made it possible for me to squeeze all eight of my legs into the small space.

When I stood upright, Liam followed, but now I was more than a foot taller than him, and I gazed down at him as his eyes roamed over my full body, taking me in.

While above the waist I looked completely human, my lower half was all spider. My abdomen ended with a bulb behind me that allowed me to create the webs I used to weave things, while my legs sprouted out of my sides, four on either. The front andback ones barely touched the ground, and I mostly used the back ones to spin and weave my webs, though I could do it with my hands in a pinch, like I had to keep Liam from falling.

My legs were covered in a fine coat of black silk, making them gleam like sharp blades when the light hit them even though they were actually very soft to touch. I wondered what Liam thought of them. Was he scared of me?

I hadn't yet checked to see his reaction, and I forced myself to look at him, finding him staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Liam?"

He jerked, then rubbed his hand over his eyes, looking me over once more. "This is wild."

I couldn't agree more. When I'd left the Sanctuary this morning, I hadn't known I'd be revealing myself to him. I'd planned on asking him out, and I'd thought I would tell him once we'd grown a little closer. Once I knew he wouldn't freak out and leave.

Yet Fate seemed to have other plans, because here we were, and we hadn't even been on our first date yet.

"I'd understand if you wanted to cancel now."

"Cancel?"

"Our date?" I reminded him, afraid his confusion meant he'd already decided the date wasn't happening.

"What? No!" Liam straightened up, shaking his head as his dark eyes met mine. "I still want to get that coffee with you. I just...I have so many questions. This is a big deal, you know."

Nodding, I slid my fingers through my hair, pushing it away from my eyes. "I understand, trust me. Some of my friends have human ma—boyfriends, and they all struggled to deal with it at first too."

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