Chapter Forty-One
Seen through the peephole I'd carved out of one of the wood planks of my crate, the House of Silk was a luxurious sanctuary of scantily dressed men and women, intoxicating drinks, and, of course, lots of silk.
I noticed that the wrists of every prostitute in the many rooms we passed were not only tied with silk ribbons, but the ribbons were stitched onto them.
No accidental untying here. Probably necessary with what they were doing.
I couldn't decide if it was worse than what Eliel had gone through. Here, they wouldn't have to be at a monster's side constantly, but they'd have to fuck multiple people, all while trapped inside themselves. Dear Gods, just kill me. I couldn't have survived that. But I hoped they would.
There were so very many of them.
One of the hosts led the Hulfrin, including Drellan, upstairs with the crates. I was grateful for those men now. Without them, this plan wouldn't have worked. As it was, we were taken directly to the Spider.
The rest of my crew would be entering one or two at a time.
They'd spread out in the rooms below and wait for the sound of fighting.
Once they heard the signal, they'd rush up to help us apprehend the Spider.
And yes, I wanted her alive. I needed her to tell me who murdered and cleaned bones for her.
She would have a crew of her own, and I wanted all of them.
I held my breath as the host escorting us told the Hulfrin to set the crates down. I couldn't see much of the room, but I was certain the Spider wasn't in it. The host had spoken too casually.
“One moment, and the mistress will be with you to inspect the delivery.”
“Yeah, sure,” Drellan said.
The man left. After he was gone, I removed my dagger, loosened the lid on my crate, and prepared to emerge.
If possible, Drellan would direct the Spider to my crate first. Vas hadn't liked that, but this was my crew and my operation.
I had put too much on the Raltven already. This time, I would take the lead.
Footsteps came. Dainty. Heeled. I saw a deep-red silk skirt swish toward me.
“You're early.” The voice was sweet, grating on me because of its sweetness. “I wasn't expecting the next shipment for another month.”
“I just deliver the stuff. You want it or not?”
The Spider paused. “Hold out your wrists.”
Fuck! I hadn't thought about the ribbons! Oh, well. It didn't matter. She was there. That's all I needed.
“What? Fuck you, lady.”
As Drellan distracted her, I came out of the crate.
The others were seconds behind me, all of us emerging to circle the woman.
I was on her in a moment, my dagger at her throat and my arm around her waist. It wasn't until then that I realized she was an Argaiv.
Her delicate wings, much like a dragonfly's, pressed against my chest, the tips vibrating.
With her exit cut off, we had her pinned.
Or so I thought.
She spoke a strange word. That was all. It could have been anything—an exclamation of fright in an unknown language or a savage expletive. It was neither. There was magic in the word. Magic that changed the world in a heartbeat.
I was suddenly in a room full of spiders, and I was holding the biggest spider of all—a giant arachnid with glossy black legs the size of my arms and a pair of pincers that could snap my head off.
I screamed and jumped back. Around me, I heard more screaming, but I couldn't see anything but spiders.
Spiders and spiders and more spiders. Over the walls, the floor, even the ceiling.
They rushed up my legs and enveloped me.
I batted them away, mouth shut to prevent them from entering. Still, I screamed behind my sealed lips. I thrashed and fought. A shout came from my left, but was suddenly cut short. Oh, Gods, Vasren.
Someone cackled insanely. “Did you really think you could trap a spider in its web? Fools! But what pretty fools,” the voice whispered in my ear.
I knew it was an illusion. It had to be. So I struck out toward the voice. I hit nothing but spiders. The tiny, glossy bodies formed columns that I smashed apart, clicking sounds accompanying their fall.
“You will make me a lot of money, pretty fools. Especially you.” My hair was lifted.
“So lovely. Such a perfect face and a delicate body. Those golden eyes alone will fetch a higher price. Men and women alike will pay handsomely for your company.” Her voice drew back.
“And I'll be the only pleasure house with a Dragon. You're going to be very busy boys.”
“Vasren!” I shouted.
Another scream ended abruptly. She was taking us out one by one.
I could only hope she wasn't killing anyone.
A thud came. Another. My legs were drawn tightly together, and I looked down to see white threads enveloping me.
A cocoon. They were putting me into a cocoon!
Even knowing it wasn't real, I couldn't push down the fear that clawed at my chest. I screamed and thrashed, but the spider silk was stronger than steel.
And then a growl came from my right. The spiders burst into a black spray as Vasren broke through them. As Vasren grabbed my waist, a tinkling pressure filled my ears, as if I were submerged in water, and then burst. The enchantment was broken.
The spiders vanished, the room returned to what it was, and I instantly looked down to see that my legs were free.
Several Hulfrin lay unconscious on the floor, including Drellan, but their chests still rose and fell.
They all had ribbons on their wrists. The Raltven, however, were nowhere to be seen until they dropped their shadow-form and revealed themselves, pressed against the walls.
Even amid an illusion, they had found a way to hide. I was damn impressed.
In the center of it all stood a beautiful Argaiv woman with pale blonde hair hanging between her wings in a braid. Her face was slack, and her dark eyes wide. Her slender fingers held a long silk ribbon spotted with blood, and the glow of magic hovered around her hands, dimming until it was gone.
The sound of fighting came through the door behind her, but none of us moved. Until the ribbon in her hand burst into flames. The Spider shrieked and let go of it. I looked up at Vas to find his ice-blue eyes glowing.
Vas tucked me in tighter against his side and glared at the Spider. “You're the fool if you thought you could separate a Dragon from his mate. I can scent him across kingdoms. Your pathetic illusion has no power over Dragon magic.”
She grimaced. “Well, shit.” And then she yanked open the door and ran into a battle.
“Gods damn it!” I ran after her.
The rest of my crew had come to help as planned, but had been delayed by a bunch of Ricarri.
The muscular, gray-skinned men wore no ribbons.
I thought that was wise of the Spider. It's better to have an honest relationship with those who protect you.
If an enslaved prostitute got free, it would be troublesome, but if a Ricarri soldier got free, he would have slaughtered her.
Or maybe she didn't have enough room on her arms for more ribbons.
Whatever the case, the Ricarri fought willingly and well, noting the presence of their mistress immediately.
They made a path for the Spider, providing her with an escape route while protecting her.
She tucked her wings against her back and darted through.
“Stop her!” I shouted.
But my team was too busy defending themselves to grab the Spider. Vasren, the Raltven, and the awake Hulfrin joined the fight. As they handled the Spider's guards, I climbed over Ricarri and slid through holes in the battle until I reached the stairs.
A swath of red silk vanished around a corner at the bottom of the stairs.
I jumped three steps at a time, came out onto the second floor, and dashed through an erotic scene that would probably haunt me for years.
Men and women writhed in various positions, moaning through pleasure so great that they didn't even glance at me as I passed through.
Walking among them, however, were more people dressed in silk, holding leather-wrapped sticks that they used to prod or stroke the others while they offered suggestions. They noticed me.
One of them shot into my path.
He wore a ribbon, but I saw several spots of blood on it.
Motherfucker! The Spider had slave keepers.
She didn't have to wear the ribbons that controlled her prostitutes.
She paid other people to wear them! Which meant this asshole was fair game.
I dropped into a crouch, punched him in the belly, and then sliced the ribbon from his wrist. As the silk fell away, the erotic moaning stopped.
A flurry of movement came as several prostitutes started to scream and fight off their partners.
The “masters” who'd been moving toward me to help their friend suddenly had to deal with an uprising.
I wanted to free the rest, but catching the Spider was more important.
I shot out of the room and through a corridor.
It had taken mere moments for me to handle the obstacle, but it had given the Spider the lead she needed.
By the time I made it to the first floor, the Spider was gone.
I ran out of the open door and down the white steps.
Standing before the House of Silk, I glared up and down the dark sidewalks, searching for a spot of red. There!
I dashed after the Spider. She darted around pedestrians, glancing back to track me.
I ran into the road to get a clearer path, but had to dart back onto the sidewalk when a carriage approached.
Up ahead, she ducked into an alley. People moved into my path.
I moved like water, flowing around them, and reached the alley seconds later.
It was empty.
“Motherfucker!” I shouted.
A vibrating sound came to me, and I looked up. A spot of red vanished over the lip of a roof.
“Fuck!”
Wings. The woman had wings. And I didn't. I turned and raced back to the sidewalk, hoping to find some of my crew following me. Maybe it would be one of the Tyasmorans, and I could send him after her. But no, there was no one.
I trudged back, furious with myself for not planning on her wings. But how could I have known she'd be of a winged race? Still, I should have considered it as a possibility. Fuck!
“Kat.” Vasren's hand landed on my shoulder.
I looked up. I had made it back to the House of Silk. “Vas, she fucking flew away!”
“We'll find her. For now, I need you to come inside.”
I grabbed his hand. “Can you scent her? We have to get her, Vas! I need you to shift.”
“Mate, I need you inside! Now!”
I went still. Vasren's expression strained his face into harsh lines. His lips trembled and his eyes . . . shit, I'd never seen him look like that.
“What is it?” I cupped his cheek. “Are you all right?” I searched his body for a wound. “Did she enchant you?”
“No.” He grabbed my wandering hand. “Kat, you need to come inside with me. I can't do this alone. I . . . I can't.”
“All right. I'm with you. Whatever it is, I've seen it before, Vas. It's going to be all right.”
“Dear Gods, Kat. I hope you've never seen this before.”