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“Pleased to meet you,” I say, and decide to extend my hand anyhow, taking a few steps forward.
“Are you?”
Er. I pause. How do I answer that? Do I tell him I actually find him creepy and u
Choices, choices.
The Spidae—one of three, as he liked to point out—blinks in my direction again. “If you are hungry, I can retrieve you something.”
That’s an odd way of phrasing it. I debate my answer for a half second, but my fiercely growling stomach makes that choice for me. “Food would be great.”
He closes his eyes.
I grimace, because did I just pick wrong? “You know, I’d really just like to see Aron—”
“He is busy dictating his wants to another of my Aspects and will be busy for a time.” The Spidae opens his eerie silver eyes again. The wall behind him ripples, and this time, I see it. A spider, as big as a pony and as pale as the gossamer strands it steps on, descends from the wall. It moves to the Spidae’s feet and then drops a bubble of webbing on the floor.
Oh ew. Now I see what he meant by “retrieve.” Just like that, my hunger dies.
The spider scuttles back into the web, gliding up the wall and disappearing back into the shadowy ceiling, and I fight the urge to scrub at my skin. Instead, I watch as the pale god standing before me bends down and picks up the cocoon, then holds it out to me.
Well, shit. I guess that’s mine now. “Yummy,” I manage, and take it from him. Whatever it is in my arms is the size of a football, about as heavy, and doesn’t move when I hold it. Thank fuck. “I should probably get going.”
“Leaving?”
I’m not sure how to answer that. “Possibly yes? I don’t want to be a bother.”
For a second, his mouth ghosts up into a hint of a smile. “After I took the time to keep Aron occupied so we could speak privately?”
Well that’s completely u
“Are you not curious about how you got here from your world?”
My mouth hangs open. I’m shocked. Of all the things I thought we were coming here for, that wasn’t on the list. But it’s a piece of information I’m desperate to have. “How did you know I’m not from here?” I clutch the webbed football to my chest. “Did Aron tell you?”
He gestures at the singing web, his weird, unfixed gaze on me. “I know everything. He did not tell me. He would not share a secret that would compromise you.”
For some reason, I take that as a compliment. It just reminds me that Aron’s surprisingly decent when he wants to be. “So you know how to send me back to Earth?” I mean, if he knows everything, he’ll surely know that. “You know how I got here, and how I get back, right?”
The Spidae gestures at the web again, his movements elegant. “Come. Let me show you something.”
As he glides forward, I follow after him, careful not to step on his flowing robes. He approaches the web, and as he does, the singing increases, as if welcoming him. He moves so close that it’s almost as if the strands are flowing around him, pulling him into their web. They’re alive around him, whereas when I came closer, they were just strings. Just shiny threads. With him here, though, they’re a symphony of light and color and sound.
It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
He reaches out and gestures at one section of the web, swiping his hand to the side as if swiping right on the biggest dating site ever. That casual flick sends the strands fluttering away, and then he pulls at open air. One shining, bright golden strand fills with light, and I step forward to get a better look at it, fascinated.
“This is Aron,” the Spidae says. He holds the thread delicately, and as I lean in, I can see where dozens of other threads cling to it, crossing over back and forth at various spots. The Spidae gestures again. “The other threads are where he meets with other mortals, where he intersects in their lives. Humanity is a web, crossing back and forth over one another, interweaving. No thread stands alone. Do you understand?”
I follow the beautiful thread of Aron’s, gazing up to see how high it goes, and I’m not entirely surprised to see that it extends far beyond the rest of the web, stretching high into the shadows. “Why does it go so much farther up?”
“Because he is anchored to the High Father’s realm. The Aether. Once he is torn from the mortal tangle and the Anticipation is complete, he will no longer be co
I lean in, gazing at the split in the threads and the messy snarl of what looks like nothing but tangles. Paths crossing, he said. Lives interweaving with one another. Despite my worries, it’s fascinating. I follow Aron’s thread and notice the loose string dangling on one end, cut free from its moorings. I point at it and look over at my companion. “Liar Aron?”
He nods.
It creeps me out to see that loose thread sitting there, dead. It’s what we had to do, of course, but I still don’t like to see it. Farther up, I see another loose strand made of shining gold, and I wonder if it’s Tadekha. Hedonism Tadekha. I follow that thread as far as I can, but I can only see two co
I return to Aron’s thread, gazing at it closely. “Where am I? If I’m Aron’s anchor, shouldn’t I be in the weave here somewhere?”
The Spidae smiles, and I can’t decide if it’s a creepy gesture or a fascinating one. “You catch on quickly, my dear. Allow me to show you.”
He doesn’t point at the front of the web, as I expect him to do. Instead, he takes a few steps to the side, moving away from the main tangle of the threads. Curious, I follow him as he moves behind it and from there, I can see a few strands stretching across from an entirely separate web.
Holy shit. There are two webs.