Page 50 of Elixir of Strife
Vera sighed. “But we all have our reasons, yes? You would find out eventually. May as well hear it from me now. I called in a favor from a patron entity. I suppose you might call her a matron, then. Like I said. Leonardo has his dragons. Some of us spiders have our own pacts and bargains.”
My lips parted, but I found I had nothing to say, my mind still racing through the many options. Leon asked for us both.
“Is she a goddess, Vera?”
“Not in the exact sense of the word, no. But with what she’s amassed in the modern world, one that trades in knowledge and information? She may as well be.”
She leaned in closer, a greenish wisp of smoke escaping from her mouth as she pressed a finger against her lips.
“I am devoted to Arachne, our Mother Spider. She is a huge part of why I know as much as I do. The Mother has her brood secreted all over the world, lurking in their cobwebs, skulking in their darkest corners, watching, waiting, listening. I mean actual spiders, of course. Eight legs and all.”
Hot damn. The entities really did live among us.
“And when we, her devotees — the ones with two legs — tell her things that may please her, we are rewarded in turn. So to protect my ability to continue trading in secrets, I delivered you to a pocket dimension that resembles her own, to let you duke it out in a way that wouldn’t end up destroying our beloved bar. You do understand, don’t you, gentlemen? You aren’t angry with old Auntie Vera, are you?”
“Not at all,” Leon said, again answering for us both. “All’s well that ends well. Mostly. I really think I need to pee, though.”
Vera raised her eyebrows, her eyes widening. “Ah. How exciting. And so it begins.” She strode off, perhaps in search of a drink.
“It was spiders,” Leon told me, his gaze on mine, and then unfocusing, like he was looking through my head. “Spiders all along. Everywhere.”
“Don’t let it creep you out too much.” I pressed my forehead against his. “So you’re okay, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Mostly squishy. And bloated.”
I kissed him, a quick one, short and sweet. “I like squishy. And bloated, we can fix.”
Leon grinned as he swept his hair out of his eyes. “I’m gonna go see what’s up at the bar. No more drinks for me, though. Possibly forever.”
“Cool. Okay. I’m just gonna step out for a breather.”
I nodded at the bouncer, pushing past the front door. I gathered my jacket closer around me as the cool of night settled on my skin. We’d had a hell of a night, and I needed the space to decompress. After the risk of almost drowning, I very much appreciated the freedom of breathing, too.
I groaned as I sat down on the sidewalk. Somehow I hadn’t noticed that I’d just sat myself next to Edel Wise, hagriculturist extraordinaire. Tunnel vision, maybe, the single-mindedness of fight and flight survival. Weird how the adrenaline of magical battle could linger.
She gave me her same toothy, witchy grin, the tips of her teeth tinged blood-red, just like her fingers. Edel held up her hands. “Back in the prime hells, we had to work with crimson plants, you know. Beautiful crimson gardens. Deadly as heck, too.”
“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to stare.”
This was odd, but not unpleasant, being all friendly with one half of the partnership that tried to screwed us. Despite technically being a demon, Edel really was the nicer half of Succulence. A lot nicer.
“Oh, it’s fine. I like it up here. The fresh air, all these fancy Earth plants I never got to really study. Very strange that they’re all green.”
I smiled, her story resonating for me, reminding me of Leon and how he’d set down roots in Dos Lunas himself. A strange new world, one that he was happy to conquer.
“New home, new workplace,” she continued. “And a new name, too. I thought it was appropriate. My true name is actually Hagatha. Risky telling people that sort of thing, but you’re a nice boy. You won’t use it against me.”
I smiled harder when she patted me on the back of the hand, this initially terrifying but grandmotherly demon gardener. “I think Hagatha’s a lovely name. But it’s your choice, of course. Edel Wise is cool, too.”
“Oh, yes. I really like the name Edel Wise.” She placed her hands under her chin like a model, grinning. “It softens me. Humanizes me. I’m really glad I didn’t go with my second choice. Which was Hazel Knutt.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Good first choice, then.”
“Well, I’m glad you think so.” She reached into her robe, then offered me her open hand. “Care for a snack?”
My heart leapt up my throat. A pair of evil olives stared up at me from her palm, shiny and black and ripe with knowledge. Maybe I shouldn’t have been too hasty about finding hags all that friendly.
“You should see your face! They’re only regular olives.” Edel slapped her thigh, cackling as she popped one in her mouth. “Just a little bit of hag humor.”
