33. Webs

The lingering taste of Three's kiss burns my guilty lips as I run out of the tunnels to the gardens. A few tiny snowflakes blow in the wind, the red leaves of the Hawthorn blanketing the earth. The cold air soothes my shameful heart, but it does nothing to erase the touch of ecstasy running through my veins.

For a moment there I thought…

Goosebumps brand my flesh, and I wrap my arms around my frame, suddenly chilled to the bone. I had abandoned my jacket in Three's bedroom, and the thin black t-shirt I'm wearing does little to shield me from the elements. I'm scared to double-back to my room and cross paths with the third triplet, his magnetic pull almost impossible to resist.

No matter how much I try, my body really can't tell them apart, and the magic at work in Three's studio even befuddled my brain.

For a moment, I really thought One was in the room with me. I recognized the familiar shape of his lips and the gruff inflections of his voice.

I push open the library's golden doors and cower inside the heated sanctuary. My best friend's gaze zeroes-in on me from behind the desk, and I smooth down my hair with one hand. The strands are so disheveled that Lori is bound to notice, but she doesn't look twice at my head.

Her cheeks are rosy, and a sense of urgency shines in her gray eyes as she hurries over to me. "I found her, Nell. I found Mara."

My brain takes a moment to catch up, still tangled in Three's embrace. "You found Mara? Where?"

I search the room for an explanation, as though Mara might actually be hiding amongst the stacks.

Lori squeezes my hands and pulls my attention back to her. "I've been practicing my tracking all week in the new world, running errands for Two. I figured I could afford a quick stop in Denver. I failed at first, trying to find Mara's magic in the sceawere, so I went to her brother's restaurant instead. She was always going on and on about taking us there one day, and I remembered the name. She was waiting tables there like nothing happened, and when I greeted her, it was like she'd never seen me before."

Air blows out of my lungs. "She doesn't remember us?"

"She doesn't remember anything. All her memories from Faerie—gone." Lori lowers her voice, sneaking a glance behind us to make sure we're alone. "Remember when I said that I couldn't track her by her magic?"

I give her a quick nod.

"She's got no magic left. No bite of power at all. The king must have taken it on Foghar. That's what happens to the seeds who wash out," she explains, a thick sense of relief overpowering her voice.

We both feared that Mara had been killed, so the truth seems benign in comparison, but my heart hammers. Returning home without any memories isn't as dire as what I'd imagined, but the thought fills me with dread and rage.

I always figured that, if I got through the end of the deal and won the bet, I'd fulfill my duty to my kingdom and still…have options?

I didn't know exactly what kind of options, but I hadn't imagined my time here would simply…disappear. My magic, my memories.

"I don't want to forget," I say quickly.

Lori frowns at my sudden outburst and looks me up and down like she's seeing me for the first time. "What happened to you? You look different."

I ignore her question, the swirl of anxiety thickening in my blood. "I know I was forced to come here, but now… I don't want to forget. I don't want to go back home without a shred of understanding of how my life went up in flames. Even if I come back as a blank slate, my father will never treat me the same again. Never."

"You won't wash out, Nell. I'm sure?—"

The tinted glass above our heads smashes to a million pieces, and daylight blares through the library, a thick shadow perched above the hole.

A spider the size of a deer crawls inside the library. The nightmare's edge wavers like a mirage in the sunlight, the dark blaze at its core thickening as it scurries across the ceiling.

Lori spreads her arms on each side of her and summons her shadow daggers to life. The weapons emit a tiny hissing sound at the direct contact with the sun rays, struggling to take shape. They blink in and out of existence as Lori presses her lips together in a grim line.

A second and a third spider creep inside the building, and her arms fall limply at her sides. "Run, Nell!"

Acting purely on instinct, we dash out of the library and bolt the golden-plated doors shut behind us, sealing the monsters in—at least for a moment.

"What are they? I've never seen nightmares like these before, and for them to attack in broad daylight—" Lori starts.

"They're dreamcatcher spiders. One killed one back in New York," I explain quickly.

We're near the entrance of the tunnels, but before we take cover under the breezeway, a man's voice blares through the vegetation. "Help!"

I can't identify the voice because the cry is too distorted and faint. Lori and I search the gardens for the source of the scream and follow the sound toward the gym. I snatch a crossbow from the wall and load it with a silver bolt before strapping the quiver to my belt.

The sliding door at the back of the humongous room hangs open, and we hurry over to it, but I slow down near the start of the running trail.

Blood peppers the path I've passed through about four times a day since I first came to Faerie. Way too much blood.

"What are you doing? Leave them alone! Help! Help!"

Lori's daggers burn like black fire on each side of her, and she dashes forward.

James sits in a giant pool of red in the middle of the path, surrounded by death. A hint of frost ices the blood, and I catch a glimpse of a white specter fleeing the scene.

The sight of my fellow seed drenches me in cold sweat, and I run toward him. "James! Are you alright?"

"The spiders came from nowhere. I couldn't help them," he says in a state of absolute shock. A pulse of blood oozes from his mangled neck. "I couldn't fight, so I played dead, and this—this thing came for them."

"A reaper…" Lori trails off, white as a sheet.

Next to James, Fiona's and Mitchell's bodies sag over the earth, their limbs crooked at unnatural angles. Nasty burns riddle what's left of their skin. Lori bends over them to check their pulses in turn, but there's no question that they're already dead. Both were half-eaten by the same type of spider One killed that dreadful night in New York, and my frazzled heartbeats pound at my temples.

No nononono.

"We were heading towards the tunnels. Jo was supposed to go to the bibliotheca to warn you guys," James croaks.

Lori and I exchange a terrified glance. "Can you stand? We have to find Jo."

James wraps an arm around both our shoulders, but he can't hold his own weight, and he's way too heavy for Lori and I to carry.

"Give me a second. I'll heal him." I press both my hands to his wound and push my magic forward. The healing comes quick, with an ease I've never known, and my brows furrow.

James squeezes my upper arm, his breath still ragged but coming in easier than before. "Thanks, Nell."

"Let's go!" Lori pushes us forward, and the shadow huntress watches our rear until we turn the corner.

I clench my hand tight around the stock of the crossbow as we make our way around the hedges to the clearing in front of the trainee's balcony.

"Jo! We're here!" Lori shouts as loudly as she can, and James and I follow suit.

Jo erupts from the library, a long black scimitar in his hand. "You're alright?"

"Yes. Let's get inside the tunnels."

A dark blotch of movement darts out of the bushes, and Jo lets out a guttural scream. The spider runs past him and crawls across the Hawthorn's trunk. Its claws carve deep white scars in the bark of the Shadow Court's sacred tree, and my stomach cramps.

Jo holds pressure to the lash in his injured arm. The spider must have sampled him for dinner as it ran by.

Another spider tiptoes out of the same bushes, and Jo goes on the offensive as Lori dashes forward to kill the one desecrating the Hawthorn. I sit James down on a flat rock. The man is still fighting for breath. He must have lost a ton of blood.

A blur of movement in the branches above catches my eye, and I raise my loaded weapon. "Lori, watch out!"

The silver bolt flies toward a third spider careening directly for my best friend's head. The bolt buries deep in the creature's brain, and the eight-legged abomination topples over to the ground. Venom splashes the earth, an acrid smoke rising from the spill.

The three dead spiders flake off to nothingness, but they are quickly replaced by five others. A fresh batch crawls in from the different paths leading up to where we're standing.

We slowly tighten the ranks around James until we're all facing a different direction, our backs almost touching. I take a couple of the arachnids out from a distance, but come up empty on the third reload. There's no bolts left in my quiver, and I still haven't managed to craft one out of thin air.

Another wave of monsters stalks out of the bushes, and I count at least a dozen.

Jo twirls the long scimitar in his grip and shoots me a regretful glance. "Nice knowing you, Old World."

Lori presses her lips together. "Shut up! It's not over, yet."

We're about to find out exactly how many spiders it takes to kill a duo of hunters and a couple of ill-fated shadow seeds.