Page 71 of Hunted By Her Demon Wolves

“Come to me, my sweet,” the demon whispered in a scratchy voice, crooking a long talon toward her.

Terror immobilized her, robbing her mind of reason until acrid smoke filled her nostrils and she struggled for breath. She turned her gaze to the direction of the smoke. The poison from the spider’s fangs dripped onto the tips of her hair fanned out beside her, turning it to dust.

“Please,” she cried again, turning her gaze to the spider when he arched back, his fangs extended.

A surge of magic crackled in her palms when she dug into her pocket and clutched the claw. She prepared to strike him when he reared back. But then he flew off her with a squeal, rolling through the sand like a bowling ball as he curled his legs into himself.

Cadmus fell beside her, a manic look in his eyes as he dropped the spider fang and grasped her shoulders. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.” She sat up, hissing when a drop of poison burned her shoulder. “Save him. Please.”

She stumbled to her feet when Cadmus snatched up the fang and ran after his brother. Clutching her throat, she barely managed to summon a celaris spell. Damon had stopped rolling and uncurled long legs, towering above Cadmus as he slid beneath him and thrust the fang into Damon’s abdomen before blowing him back again.

The spider rolled away, then stopped as it solidified into a crusty, black boulder. She ran to Cadmus, releasing a sob as she clung to him. Together, they stumbled toward the black, crusty cocoon that was once Damon.

“Don’t get too close to it,” Cadmus warned, sniffing as steam poured from the shell.

“My mother told me about this,” she said. “Damon is inside. We have to get him out.”

Though she was beyond exhausted after using so much magic, she clutched the claw and summoned her magic. Several bolts shot out of her fingers, converging into one stream that smacked the shell right in the middle. A loud crack rent the air, ricocheting in her skull. Pieces fell away from the shell, until they revealed her mate curled up on the ground, black soot covering his body.

Cadmus pulled him out, dragging him across the sand until they were far enough away from the shell as well as the Tigress spider that was still, thankfully, immobile. Phoenix fell beside him, checking him for injuries.

He blinked up at her, his mouth hitched in a lazy grin. “Hello, my love.”

She shuddered in relief, too choked up to answer.

He sat, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “What happened?”

She flung herself into his arms while pulling Cadmus with her. Pressing their foreheads together, they remained in that position for several heartbeats, wordlessly holding each other while their chests heaved. She didn’t want to think on how they’d almost perished. On what would’ve happened had they all turned into jorogumos.

“I’m fine, guys,” Damon reassured while rubbing her back.

She let out a shuddering breath and looked into his glowing golden eyes. “I know you are.” She swallowed back her emotion. “Now we have to save your other two brothers.” And somehow find a way to escape this nightmare. She looked over Damon’s shoulder at the spider that was once Tigress. Wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands, she let out another shuddering breath. “We need to heal her,” she said to Cadmus. “She may know what happened to the other shard.”

He grimaced but didn’t argue as he stumbled to his feet and held a hand down to her. “Stay back,” he said. “Until after I stab it.”

Breath hitched, she held tightly to Damon’s hand as Cadmus dragged his feet to the pile of ash that had once held Damon. He picked up the fang, shaking off the ash with a sneer. After wiping sweat from his brow, he let out a howl and charged the spider, jumping on top of it while slamming the fang into its back. The spider exploded in a cloud of ash, and Cadmus stumbled and fell face-first into the sand.

A cry tore from her throat. Releasing Damon’s arm, she ran to Cadmus, choking on spider dust while helping him to his feet. They stumbled away from the smoke, falling to their knees while watching the dust cloud dissipate, leaving nothing behind but blackened sand.

She clutched her hair by the roots. “No, no, no!” she wailed. “Tigress, I’m so sorry.”

Phoenix had done this, she’d killed her sister’s friend by blasting her too hard.

She was vaguely aware of Damon kneeling in the sand opposite Cadmus and her. “She’s in the third dimension. She’s fine.”

“Fine?” She gaped at him. “How do you know?”

When Damon and Cadmus shared a dark look, she turned on Cadmus, giving him an expectant glare.

Cadmus dragged a hand down his face, cutting lines through the black soot marring his skin. “Because her mates are there.”

She jerked back in surprise. “What? Gorgo doesn’t have them?”

Guilt reflected in their fallen expressions.

“I remember now,” Damon said with a grimace. “We killed them. One of her mates had cupius powers, but he refused to grant Gorgo wishes, so he fed them to us.”

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