Chapter 4 #2
“What if the spider already got to your partner?” I turned away to ransack McCallum’s kitchen, looking for anything else I could use. There were canisters of flour and salt, and I took both. Olive oil got tucked into my bag and a small lighter went in my pocket.
“Then we run,” King said. “But the spells I used should be hard to break through. He should be safe for a while.”
“This feels a little familiar,” I said. “You know, if you wanted to date without a chaperone, you just had to ask.”
“That easy?” he asked.
“Yeah. You wouldn’t even have to buy me dinner.” The look I sent him was suggestive, and he laughed. “In all seriousness, we have to stop meeting like this. It’s not good for my heart.”
“I have to admit, giant spiders are a first for me.” King sketched one last circle and nodded his head as he mouthed the words, going over the pages that he had used.
The spiders finally moved aside the twitching towel and black bodies poured under the door. There were more than before, thousands upon thousands of them.
I yelped, startled at the sight and had to take a deep breath to remind myself that they could no longer get up my pants legs. King seemed to have forgotten, because he was doing his awkward wedding dance again as he tried to squish as many of the arachnids as possible.
“They can’t get up your leg,” I started, but then they approached my shoes, and King and I were doing a synchronized why-is-this-happening-to-me dance.
Drawing the salt out of my bag, I held the small canister in my hands.
Loudly, I chanted a spell that I hadn’t used in years.
Actually, I’d only ever used it on clothing or towels.
Now, I pressed new meaning into the words.
When I was sure the spell was ready, I began sprinkling salt on the surrounding spiders.
Cognitively, I understood spiders didn’t actually scream, but as their bodies twitched, arched, and danced, I was pretty sure they were making some high-pitched sound going straight into my brain.
When they were finally still, I had thousands of spider corpses littered around me, their legs curled up and their bodies lifeless.
King swung his gaze around the room, checking for any survivors of my massacre.
“What did you do?” There was a slightly horrified expression on his face. “That was —”
“Gross,” I said. “Very, very gross.”
“What was that spell you cast?”
“A desiccation spell,” I said. “Usually I just use a few grains of salt or something else to dry off wet clothes.”
“A dryer doesn’t work?” His tone would have made a very good substitute for the salt I had just used.
“Ha ha, funny man,” I said, shaking my head. “So, what’s the plan?”
“We have to get my partner away from the spider,” King said.
“I’ve been thinking about that spider,” I said. “I don’t think it always stays big.”
King nodded. “If it did, it would only be able to stay in the entryway, and the living room that’s adjacent. How does that help us, Ferro?”
“I don’t think it does. I think it’s something we need to be aware of,” I said. “But that big chandelier…”
King squinted, and then nodded slowly. When he had turned on the light, most of the illumination had come from the massive chandelier, covered in what I hoped were faux crystals. It had been exactly the sort of thing I imagined McCallum would have. Big, ostentatious, and very expensive.
“Okay,” I said. “So, if we can land that chandelier on the spider, we have a very flat spider and your partner is no longer in danger.”
“That’s not a bad plan,” King said. “We just have to figure out how to get the chandelier down.”
“And deal with the spider on the ground with us.” Even as I said the words, the plan seemed impossible.
“Which one of us is going to distract the spider, and which one of us is going to get the chandelier down?”
“Rock, paper, scissors?” I suggested.
King shook his head, a small smile quirking his lip. “I’ll take the chandelier. I don’t trust your accuracy with dropping it, and we only get one shot at this.”
“You know, you haven’t even seen me shoot,” I said. “You don’t know how accurate I am.”
King moved forward, his feet crunching the dead spiders as he backed me up against the countertop. “Well, you’ll have to show me your… accuracy… when our lives aren’t in danger.”
My mouth dropped open. The guy who was going to charge me for breaking and entering an abandoned house, who wouldn’t leave his partner behind, who probably knew every rule and regulation that I was breaking, was flirting with me?
He leaned forward, his body pressed against mine in all the right ways. Then his lips were on mine, and it was the most erotic contrast: soft lips, hard body. Everything inside of me lit up saying yes.
“For luck,” he said, drawing back. The look he gave me said he knew exactly how much his kiss had affected me.
“You are on spider crushing duty. I’ll take getting it to the ground and ready to be squished.” I poked him in the chest with enough pressure to get him to take a step back and let me slide out from under him.
When I was clear, I tugged my shirt down and adjusted my bag. He frowned at me. “Why are you covered in dirt?”
I glanced down at the thin layer of dust that I had loosened when I adjusted my clothes. Explaining about the dust would mean explaining about the job I just finished for McCallum, and then how he tried to murder me.
“Long story,” I said, avoiding the conversational landmines. “You ready to go play exterminator?”