Or worse.
The fae were terrible.
“Promise me you’re not lying to me.”
“About what, precisely?” Serrik watched her from beside the harpsichord. He was giving her space to think. She appreciated that.
“That the fae are dangerous monsters. That they all deserve to die.” The tears were coming back. She felt them stinging her eyes. “What you’re asking me to help you do…”
Placing his goblet back onto the mirror with a clink, he walked back up to her. There was the hint of empathy in his expression as he carefully reached up and rested his palm against her cheek. “Yes, little butterfly. We are a rot. A poison. And we should have been expelled long, long ago.”
What was she supposed todo?
Rock and a hard place.
Fae pet or…fae executioner.
Shutting her eyes, a tear escaped.
He gently wiped it away with his thumb. “I do not do this task with joy.”
Ava couldn’t help herself. “Do you do anything with joy?” she muttered.
If she wasn’t mistaken, that earned her a nearly silent chuckle. “Your razor tongue will be the death of you. You must be careful.”
“Noted.” Taking a breath, she held it, and let it out in a wavering exhale. “I don’t…I don’t want to stay here. And if what you’re saying is true, then…all right. I agree. I’ll help you.”
That earned her a real smile from Serrik.
And it wasn’t a kind one.
A shiver of fear ran down her spine.
“Very good, little butterfly…” The hand on her cheek snapped to the back of her neck. He yanked her toward him, nearly knocking her off balance. She had to grab hold of his coat’s lapels to keep from falling over. “Let us seal our contract, shall we?”
“What—”
Serrik lifted his other hand. Crawling between his fingers was an ornate, golden spider. Set into its back was a series of emeralds. If it weren’t moving, she wouldn’t have known it was alive and mistaken it for a beautiful and delicate sculpture or piece of jewelery. Its body alone was the size of a quarter, before she included the legs.
Avahatedspiders.
She screamed.
That was a very bad idea.
As Serrik pressed the spider into her mouth.
It was the legs she felt.
The legs as it crawled down her throat.
The slidingraspof it as the spider wriggled and squirmed and forced its way into her body with its stabbing, skinny legs.
She tried to scream again.
But no sound came.
Darkness was closing in around her.
