Page 34 of The Unseelie War
The spider might as well have been a painting of a man for all he reacted.
“I know.” Ava gestured at her arm with all its winding, spiderweb tattoos. “And now it’s also me. In the same way the Maze is also a cosmicthingbut also Valroy. What about it?”
Abigail walked up to her and gently picked up Ava’s wrist, placing a hand atop her ink. “But it is also a prison, Weaver. It was designed as a cage. You are a Web, and that Web must hold its prey. Itneedssomeone at its center, a single point to which all the threads must attach.”
“A linchpin,” Serrik added, his tone exhausted. “An anchor point. It was meant to be the Morrigan.”
“But then it was you.” Ava frowned. “And when I freed you…”
“It unraveled.” Abigail’s mournful smile never wavered. “And you pulled upon the threads that connected the worlds. It all came together as one. And here we are. So if we are to rebuild the Web? We will need someone to take his place. And it shall be me.”
“Wait.” Ava laughed quietly, pulling her arm out of Abigail’s grasp. “Why you?”
“He will certainly come to stop me. It will provide the distraction necessary for Serrik to destroy the tree at the center of the Maze. That which binds him to his physical form.”
“No. I’ll be the anchor point. Not you.” Ava took a step away from her. “I’m not sending you to an eternity in the Web. It’s my fault we’re in this mess.”
“You are the Web itself. You cannot be what holds it.” Abigail’sshoulders slumped. “Would that it could be that simple. And Valroy would not care enough to be distracted.”
“Then Serrik goes back in, and we come up with another ploy to distract Valroy.” Ava ran her hands through her hair, trying to calm the curls. “No offense Serrik, but?—”
“None taken.” Serrik folded his arms over his chest. “However, consider this: he will remain an unsolved issue.”
“How so? He’ll go back to Tir n’Aill.” Ava glanced to Serrik, then to Abigail. “Right?”
“Why would he? He has broken the treaty. Actions have been taken that cannot now be undone. I have lost all power to hold him there.” A look of pure and total exhaustion came over the Seelie Queen, and for the first time, Ava saw her look…old. Not physically aged—she still looked barely twenty-eight. But still, somehow inyears,Abigail lookedancient.The way she carried herself was the way of a woman who had been through the wringer in the two hundred years she had been putting up with keeping Valroy at bay.
“But if you go in there, you’ll…you’ll be trapped there forever. Or else this will happen again.” Ava felt her chest tighten.
“Yes.” Abigail’s smile was serene. “A manner of death, I suppose.” She chuckled. “Or perhaps a very long interlude.”
“And you’d…you’d sacrifice yourself like that?” Bitty's voice was small, almost lost in the vastness of the theater.
“For my people? For all our peoples?” Abigail chuckled. “Of course. In a heartbeat. A queen once sacrificed it all so that I might have a chance to play the shield against Valroy. And now I must do the same.”
Ava shook her head, backing away from her. “No. Absolutely not. There has to be another way. I'm the Weaver now—I should be able to figure out how to separate the worlds without needing a prisoner. This is too risky. Also, the whole ‘distraction’ tactic isn’t guaranteed to work.”
“You are the bars of the cage, dear one, as we said.” Abigail’s tonewas almost impossibly patient. “The framework that holds it all together. You cannot be both the prison and the prisoner.”
“Then we'll find someone else. Someone who volunteers. Someone who?—”
“Who else could contain the Web's power?” Serrik's voice cut through her protests like a blade. “Who else has the strength of will to maintain consciousness while surrounded by the dreams and nightmares of three entire realities? The anchor point must be a soul of great strength. There are few who could withstand that manner of storm. I fear we are standing in the room with most of the candidates. And likely the only willing ones.”
Ava opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. Because he was right, wasn't he? She'd barely been able to maintain her sense of self when she'd been in the Web, and that was with Serrik there to help her. The idea of someone weaker trying to hold the center…
She hung her head. It was inevitable. They were right. Itwoulddestroy them. She knew it. “But. For serious. What do you think the real odds are that Valroy will show up to try to stop you?”
For the first time since her arrival, Abigail's composure cracked slightly. “I do not know. Despite everything—despite his rage and his need for revenge—he loves me, as much as a creature such as him can love. As for what might happen next? I do not know as any of us can predict it. And if I remove myself from this reality, if I place myself beyond his reach…” She paused, gathering herself. “He will lose his last tether to any manner of restraint.”
“Oh, grand.” Lysander’s tail swished behind him. “That sounds like a fantastic way to get us all slaughtered.”
“Perhaps,” Abigail admitted. “But it is the only plan that I can see before us. Valroy will not be reasoned with, will not be negotiated with, will not be deterred by any force short of love or death.”
Taking a deep breath, Ava held it and let it out in a rush. “Somewhere out here is the Maze. And that tree. And we can find it and destroy it.Withouta distraction.”
“Without his attention diverted elsewhere, it is suicidal. It is nolonger protected by the veil of Tir n’Aill—and if Valroy were to be distracted with his war…” Abigail’s gaze trailed to Serrik. “Then those who remain will have to stop him by any means necessary. We will need someone of nearly equal strength to him to even stand a chance.”
And given everything Serrik had said about his inability to control his rage when facing the fae…
