“Feed me!”
“Call them off!” Agrios screamed. “For the love of the gods! I’ll go! I swear. Just please, send them back to wherever!”
Valynda had to stifle a laugh. Honestly, given the horrifying things they’d encountered, she rather liked these. They looked much more cuddly and cute.
Without thinking, she reached out toward one. Its eyes widened before it opened its ravenous mouth and lunged for her.
Gasping, Valynda smacked the demon on the nose. It bit her forearm.
“You little bastage! How dare you! And here I thought you adorable!”
“You’re going to die! All of you!”
“I’m already dead.” Frustrated, she felt a peculiar surge within her. One she couldn’t explain. The next thing she knew, a bolt of lightning shot from her hands and blasted the demon back.
Both Nibo and Agrios turned to gape at her.
“What did you do?”
She shrugged at Nibo. “No idea. I’ve never done that before.” Amazed, she stared at her hands as if they belonged to a stranger.
As did Nibo. He took them each into his own so that he could study them. Then, he kissed her palm. “We will marvel over this later. For now …”
“We need to go before we’re eaten.”
He winked at her.
This time, Agrios didn’t argue. He followed along like a dutiful pup as they made their way through the dark, murky depths of a hell realm where the souls of the damned echoed.
Valynda scowled. “Where are we?”
“Tartarus.”
They approached a river made of fire. One that crawled with giant slithering snakes. “Nowthatis what you should have feared.” Valynda shivered at the sight of it.
“And spiders,” Nibo added.
Valynda drew up short as they turned a corner and found a giant spider’s web. “Nay …” she breathed as her heart lodged itself in her throat to choke her. There was something you didn’t see every day.
Nibo cursed. “Forgot where I was.”
“How so?”
Agrios sighed. “You say your fear …” He gestured at the web. “You manifest it.”
Beautiful. Leave it to Nibo to pick such a lovely terror.
“Spiders?” she asked. Of all the things in the universe to fear, she’d have never put that one on his list.
Nibo gave her a sheepish grin.
The web around them began to shake.
So did her legs. Especially when she could hear the horrendous sound of the arachnid moving from somewhere in the darkness, out of sight, and judging from the echoing clacking and clamor, it wasn’t just one great big spider.
It came with friends.
And neighbors.
