Heart of the Fae (The Otherworld #1)(68)

“You’re watching your figure?”

“Isn’t every woman?”

Sorcha couldn’t imagine what figure the creature was talking about. It was hard to force a ball into sensuous curves.

“Why have you brought me here?” she asked.

“All in good time. Get up, girl.”

She looked back up at the man who was tangled in the creature’s web. His struggles were slowing, a few twitches here and there were the only way she knew he was still alive.

“I think I’ll stay here.”

“You want to watch him die?”

“No.”

“Then get up.”

Sorcha couldn’t find an argument. Sighing, she rolled onto her knees and told herself to forget about the man in the ceiling. He was beyond her help, no matter how much she wanted to cut him down and breathe air back into his lungs. She, too, was at the mercy of the monstrous woman.

“What shall I call you?” Sorcha asked.

“You may call me Your Queen.”

“Queen?” Sorcha gasped. “Are you—”

“Yes.

The queen of the Unseelie Fae stood before her, and Sorcha was acting as if she were some beast she needed to squash beneath her heel. She was lucky to still be alive.

Falling onto her knees, she pressed her thumbs to her forehead. “Forgive me, Your Majesty. I am a lowly beast indeed to not recognize royalty.”

“I asked you to get up. Do not make me ask again.”

Sorcha scrambled to her feet again. What did this creature want of her? The darkness stirred, casting out mist in great billows that swirled around the Queen’s legs.

Her legs moved in synchronization Sorcha realized. Not like a real spider which sometimes could seem jerky in their movements. This woman moved with a natural grace. Each leg lifted and was placed so gently that the sound they made was quiet and dull.

“Are you done staring?”

“What?” Sorcha looked up to see that the Queen was staring back. She was immensely tall. Easily two of Stone’s great height. “My apologies.”

“Stop apologizing.”

“I—” she cleared her throat. “I understand.”

“Good. Now, follow me.”

She didn’t want to follow this creature deeper into the darkness. Who knew what waited for her there?

The Queen saw her hesitate. “I’m not going to kill you, child.”

“You have yet to answer why I am here.”

“Because I bade you come.”

“That’s not an answer.”

The Queen sighed. “There is much at play here. You have stepped into a world where you will make a decision that will ultimately affect all the players on the board. I will not leave the fate of the Fae in the hands of an uneducated human. Follow me.”

“What do I have to do with that?”

“All will be revealed in time. The web is large, and there is much to explain.”

Sorcha watched the spider woman disappear into the darkness with her jaw open. There was much to explain? She was just a midwife, what did she have to do with the fate of the Fae?

She wouldn’t go with the Queen. They had obviously coaxed the wrong person through the portal.

Giggles echoed behind her, coming closer and closer through the fog and darkness. Shivers danced up her spine. What manner of Unseelie stood behind her? Was that the wind on the back of her neck or was it the breath of yet another monster?

She bolted after the Queen, steps loud and uncontrolled.

The entirety of the castle was dark. Some small sconces decorated the walls, lit with green fire that did little to cast light in any direction. She couldn’t see, but she could hear the queen.

Thump. Thump. Shhh. Thump. Thump. Shhh.

It was a horrible sound. The dragging of a thick body by legs too thin and hairy. Sorcha shivered again, knowing nightmares would plague her for years to come.

The Queen’s chuckle bounced from ceiling to floor. “Good, you are smart enough to follow.”

“I’m smart enough to not be left behind.”

“Ah, yes. My children are far too curious for their own good.”

“Your children?” Sorcha glanced into the shadows. “How many do you have?”

“Seventeen Tuatha dé Danann children, and hundreds of lesser Fae.”

That alone was intriguing, and went against everything Sorcha knew. “You have children who are both Tuatha dé Danann and not?”

“We are not the Seelie Fae. There is value in lives which are not human in appearance.”

“Do the Seelie Fae not agree?”

“No.”

She had suspected as much. The legends always spoke of creatures that looked like humans as kings and queens. So few people saw any kind of faerie that didn’t look like a human.

A stairwell appeared before them, the stones swept clean and glistening in the green light. Sorcha blinked, trying to bring everything into focus. It was difficult here, where magic was so thick that she could see it like a fog.

“Do you not wear glamour?” Sorcha asked. “All the faeries I have met thus far have worn a glamour.”

“Seelie, I take it?”

“Most.”

“All. An Unseelie would never hide their true form. The Seelie hide to protect human’s delicate sensibilities when the reality is that we are all beautiful, powerful beings. Humans should run in fear.”