“What is that?” Ava asked, her voice barely audible.
“The Eyes,” Nos replied.
Ohfantastic. Becausethatdidn’t sound foreboding. Not at all. Not in the slightest. What was with this place and eyes, anyway?
“Are the Eyes…friendly?” she asked.
“No,” Ibin said simply.
“Are they…dangerous?” Ava pressed.
“Worse,” Nos rumbled. “They’re…curious."
The darkness in front of them began to…part. Like curtains being drawn back. Light seeped in—not the golden light of Book, but something older. Dimmer. More primal.
And in that light, she saw it.
The Eyes.
It wasn’t a spider. Not exactly. It had too many limbs, yes—limbs that seemed to fold in on themselves in ways that made her eyes hurt. But it also had features that might have been almost human once. Eyes—dozens of them—blinked from what might have been a face. Or maybe it was just watching them from every angle simultaneously.
“Oh,” Ava breathed, “fuck me sideways.”
The Eyes’s many, well, eyes blinked in unison, scanning, searching—but they were straining.They couldn’t see them. They were blinded.Holy shit. “Book, I could kiss you,”she whispered.
VISITORS, came a voice—not in her ears, but directly in her mind. Like it was plucking the concept from her brain and replacing it with its response.WE CANNOT SEE.
BUT WE CAN SENSE.
NEW THREAD.
“We're just passing through,” Ibin said, her normally confident voice wavering. “We mean no harm to you, or your threads.”
The Eyes’s attention shifted—Ava could feel it, like a physical weight moving from her to Ibin.
OLD THREAD. FRAYED. BUT STILL USEFUL.
It swung back to Ava.
NEW THREAD. STRANGE PATTERN.CANNOT SEE.
One impossibly long limb reached for her.
Nos stepped in front of her. “This strange pattern is not for you,” he said firmly. “This thread is spoken for.”
ALL THREADS ARE MINE.
“This one is different,” Ibin argued. “This one is?—”
SPECIAL?The concept came with what felt disturbingly like amusement.ALL THREADS BELIEVE THEY ARE SPECIAL.
Ibin spoke up again. “We are sorry to interrupt you. We are bringing this new thread to its owner. We’re simply looking for the exit.”
All those eyes blinked again. Slower this time.STRANGE PATTERN. CANNOT SEE. BUT THERE WAS SUCH LIGHT. YES, OLD THREAD. NOT FOR ME.
Ava didn’t know whether to be offended or not.
THERE IS NO EXIT.
