“I have the four of you preserving me,” I point out.
“That’s an unfortunate word choice,” Theo muses.
“Silence,” the spider shrieks. “Bring them.”
The spider turns and scuttles back into the forest, while an army of smaller spiders march out of the brush.
“That’s a lot of arachnids,” Malachi says.
They crawl over the web, tip us over onto our sides, and drag us across the ground. Somehow, I end up on top of Hart. He grabs my hips and raises a brow.
“You know, if you wanted me, you just needed to ask. I could no more deny you than the sun can deny the sky.”
“No sexy time in the evil web,” Nash mutters.
The genie poofs back in, shrieks, and disappears again.
“No counting on him for a rescue then,” Theo says.
“There are five of us,” I point out.
“And five thousand of them.”
“Fair point. But they’re super tiny, so probably have super tiny brains.”
We emerge into a small village filled with small and tidy huts. The stream we paused at runs down the center of the main thoroughfare. The spiders pause in a circular clearing, outlined with curved stone benches.
The giant spider waits, its front legs jerking in the air like it’s excited to see us. The tiny spiders scatter over us, gobbling up the web and freeing us. We tumble to the ground before rolling to our feet.
“You won’t take us down without a fight,” Theo snarls as he releases a puff of smoke.
The tiny spiders scatter to the edges of the circle as Genie reappears with Sir Sweeps-A-Lot before disappearing again with a whimper, leaving my magical broom behind.
I hiccup. The berry wine seems to have gotten the better of me. Probably because I rarely drink.
My broom dusts a few brave spiders away, flinging their tiny bodies to crash against the stone benches.
“What is that?” the spider demands.
I glance at Sir Sweeps-A-Lot. “A broom?” It comes out like a question because I don’t understand why the spider is confused.
Theo’s body ripples in warning. My head swims as I eyeball the shiny metal pitcher next to the stream and hold my hand up. “Before we get to the fighting, I just need a drink.” I stride over to the stream and run my hand through the cool water. That’s strange—it’s not running in any direction. I swirl the pitcher through the water and take a drink.
The spider sucks in a breath. Oh Bunkum poop, is it magical water that is going to turn me into something horrific? I hope not.
“You are a maiden?” the spider snaps.
“I am. I’m also a mistaken damsel, the queen of the ocean, and the girlfriend of these fine knights.”
“The ocean?”
“Technically, I’m the Lady of the Lake, but I got an upgrade while stealing the trident.”
The spider inches forward, and the knights draw their swords in readiness. “So you can control water?”
I skim my fingers across the surface of the water, and it pulses around my flesh, making the still brook bubble. “I think control is a strong word. Persuade, perhaps.” A fallen leaf floats away. That’s more like it. I take another mighty gulp of the water. It’s thirst quenching but not combatting the giddy drunkenness claiming my mind by the tempo.
“And you command a broom?”
