Page 12 of All Out of Flux
“And how can I help you today, dearies?”
I opened my mouth to say something charming and polite, but Max muscled his way to the front.
“We’re here to commune with the Mother Spider.”
The old woman narrowed her eyes, the sweetness fading from her face, replaced by hard suspicion. “You a cop? You gotta tell me if you’re a cop.”
Max blinked. “You mean one of the Masques? Absolutely not.”
She dragged a hand under her nose and sniffed. “Good. We don’t like Masques around here. Too nosy, trying to sniff around for our priceless information.” She beckoned as she led the way to the shop’s back room. I glanced over my shoulder, very much aware that she hadn’t done anything to lock up.
“Umm, is all this stuff going to be okay? Just that someone might walk in and swipe something.”
The old woman gave a short bark of laughter. “Hah. I’d like to see them try. In here. Yes. Right in the middle.”
I held my breath. Max and I stepped into what looked like an eclectic art installation, the kind of thing where you might be invited to actually touch the artwork. Multicolored strands of yarn hung from the ceiling and from the corners, pinned inplaces, dangling loose in others. A spinner’s web made of every color known to the human eye.
“Now, normally,” the shopkeeper said, “you’d have to perform every step of the communion yourselves. But the circle is cast and the doorway is half open. I only need the offerings. Did you bring them?”
I lifted the bag of fortune cookies. She nodded.
“Good. She likes that place. They make great dim sum, not that the Mother cares much for dumplings.”
Max rotated his hand at the wrist. “Not to be rude, but could we maybe speed this up a little?”
Mr. Efficiency over here getting all impatient. Max could deal with small talk, but he was even more excited to speak to Arachne than I was. This was the closest we’d gotten to finding any real dirt on the Quartz Spider.
Our gracious hostess clearly didn’t feel the same way. Her face had wrinkled into something resembling an unhappy prune.
“Very well. The Mother will see you now.”
She raised her hand at the two of us, but for whatever reason kept her eyes locked on Max and Max alone. Not unusual in and of itself — who could keep their eyes off him, anyway? But then she opened her mouth. I waited for the words to come, but the woman remained silent.
Threads of spider-silk burst from her fingers, wrapping both of us in their embrace, but again, especially Max. The woman’s mouth opened wider and wider. A spider emerged from within her throat, leaping straight toward Max’s face. Then another. And then another.
I screamed. Max screamed. The woman laughed and laughed as the room itself filled with cobwebs and spiders.
6
MAX
Iswatted at my face, thrashing and sputtering as I peeled away endless strands of cobweb, batting away the spiders. Through the terror and panic, I could only make out the sound of Leon’s voice.
“Um, Max? Buddy. You okay there, big guy?”
I opened my eyes to a place far darker than the back room of the craft store. I blinked, realizing that the tingly feeling of being webbed and spidered had gone away. Leon blinked back at me, kneeling just by my head.
“We’re here,” he said. “Time to get up.”
I pushed up against the ground. It was glossy and hard to the touch, like black marble. Like an insect’s back. I allowed Leon to pull me to my feet, and then I turned in a circle and scratched my head.
“But — the spiders. My face.” I patted my cheeks, felt at my forehead. “Was it all an illusion?”
Leon shook his head and tutted. “Honestly, you really should let me do the talking next time. I think the old lady at Snitcheswanted to fuck with you a little. She didn’t seem to like you very much.”
I brushed off my clothes, sulking. “Oh, as if you’d do any better.”
“Absolutely, I would. I’m positively fucking delightful.”
