Tangled Webs

She yelped and leaped back, banging into the sink as large, hairy-legged spiders poured out of the drawer Rainier had just opened. He danced back, swearing, as spiders fell to the floor and ran in all directions. And as the spiders ran, they…giggled.

Surreal stomped on the one closest to her—and felt nothing under her boot. Saw nothing on the floor when she raised her foot.

Illusions that disappeared within moments of leaving the drawer. Just enough time to scare the shit out of anyone in the room.

She felt as if she’d been slammed against a wall. In a way, she had been. Under other circumstances, she would have created a protective shield around herself and known she was safe from the spiders. The tight muscles came from denying instincts and training bynot creating a shield.

“You all right?” Rainier asked, his voice sounding sharp.

“Yeah.”No. The damn thingsgiggled. “Is that all of them?”

Rainier approached the drawer and bent just enough to look inside. Then he took one of the pokers from the kitchen table and used it to push the drawer closed. “There’s one left in the back. Since it’s dining on a mouse, I think it’s the real one.” He looked around the kitchen and blew out a breath that might have been a softly muttered curse. “What in the name of Hell…?”

"It’s Tersa," Surreal said. They were alone, so she wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to say the words out loud. Except that she reallydidn’t want to say the words out loud.

"What?" Rainier asked, following her lead.

"The spiders. The mouse in the glass. I’m pretty sure those spells were made by Tersa."

"Are you saying Daemon Sadi’smother is part of this twisted place? Thatshe’s one of the people trying to kill us?"

"No! Tersa wouldn’t…" How much did Rainier know about Tersa? He must have met her, but how much did he know? "Someone must have tricked her into creating illusions for this place. She wouldn’t harm children, Rainier. And as sure as the sun doesn’t shine in Hell, she wouldn’t hurt Daemon."

"So we’re going to run across things that are weird and creepy but mostly benevolent, while other things are really trying to hurt us?"

She hesitated.

"No," Rainier said softly. "It won’t be that simple. By serving in the Dark Court, I’ve had the privilege of spending time with three of the most brilliant and creative Black Widows in the Realm. So I know, from listening to Jaenelle, Karla, and Gabrielle, that illusion spells and tangled webs can be layered and blended. It doesn’t matter what Tersa intended. A death spell hidden in one of her harmless illusions is still going to kill us."

"I know." Glad that Rainier had retrieved all the weapons, she slipped her stiletto into the sheath in her boot, then picked up the other poker and used it to pry open a cupboard. “Let’s see what else is in here.”

Spider, spider. Who found the spider?

Not so brave when someone crippled their power, were they? Not so brave, not so fierce, not so damnably arrogant.

Maybe he should base a character on the Surreal bitch. After all, even with danger all around them, the Blood would still be hot forsome sex.

Landry Langston could have her for a lover while they were trapped in the haunted house. Hot, fast sex. She’d have to have a climax. Female readers expectedthat . Landry would get out alive, of course, but not be able to save her from the last trap. Would he regret her loss?

Or maybe he should show how cruel witches were when they used males. The witch in the story coulduse Landry, adding another level to his own torment as he tried to find a way out of the house and keep the people trapped inside with him safe. Then, when he had to choose between sacrificing himself in order to save her and getting out of the house alive, he’d be justified in leaving her to the fate she deserved.

Yes. Leave her behind, as if she were worthless, less than nothing.

After all, wasn’t that what the Blood had done to him?

“Six candles,” Rainier said, laying them on the kitchen table. “Too bad I didn’t find any candleholders.”

“I did.” Surreal set two chipped cups on the table.

He looked at them, then at her.

She bit her tongue to keep from calling him an innocent. “I told you—I’ve stayed in places like this at times. You’ve got the matches?”

He took the matchbox out of his pocket. She held up a candle and waited for him to light the wick. Then she tilted the candle just enough for the wax to drip into one cup. As she started the same process with the other cup, she took another candle, set it in the cooling wax, and lit it.

When she set the first candle into its “holder,” Rainier lowered the flame in the oil lamp.

“Hopefully we’ll find more supplies in other rooms, but this will do for now,” Surreal said.

A sound in the passageway.

Rainier grabbed one of the pokers and moved toward the sound. She slipped her stiletto out of the boot sheath and waited.

The children scuffled into the kitchen, looking scared and defiant. She understood both feelings, but right now defiant wasn’t going to make Rainier warm up to them.

When no one said anything, she walked over to the farthest door and opened it cautiously.

Nothing fell out or sprang at her. In fact, she had no idea what the little room was used for. She closed that door and tried the next one. Pantry. That was promising—especially when she saw a few canning jars on the shelves. She closed that door too, then tried the last one, on the other side of the kitchen.

The moment she touched the doorknob, she felt uneasy. “Rainier.”

He came over and settled into a fighting stance. She opened the door slowly, prepared to resist anything that tried to push it open fast.

Nothing.

As she pulled the door all the way open, Rainier took a cautious step forward. Then another.

“Looks like we found the way down to the cellar,” he said.

A vibration in the doorknob, in the door’s wood, as he took another step closer to the top of the stairs.

“If we were in a book,” he began.

“One of us would be dumb enough to take a candle and go down into the dark, scary cellar, where something would be waiting to gut the dumb one.” The doorknob rattled, pulling against her hand. “Rainier, get away from there!”

He spun and leaped clear just as the doorknob yanked out of her grasp and the door slammed shut.

“And the dumb person, having reached the bottom of the stairs when the door mysteriously slams shut…,” Rainier said.

“Is not only locked in with one of the Bad Things, he’s also in the dark because thewhoosh of air blows out the candle.”

Rainier raised his eyebrows. “He?”

She smiled at him. “Of course the dumb one is a male.”

“Of course,” he replied sourly. But he smiled.

She took one of the chairs that were around the kitchen table and wedged it under the doorknob. When she looked at Rainier, he was no longer smiling. “There’s a spell on that door,” she said.

She saw his hesitation, his frustration. He wanted to Craft-lock that door and keep the nastiness that was hiding in the cellar locked in the cellar.

She glanced at the children. They’d come closer to the table—and the available light—but still hadn’t said anything.

Back to the pantry. Neither of them sensed any power or Craft around that door, but Rainier still braced himself against the door to hold it open, and she didn’t argue with him.

She slipped the stiletto under her belt, took two jars off the shelves, and returned to the table. Using her jacket sleeve, she wiped off the jars, then held one closer to the candles to get a good look at what was inside. “Peaches.”

How long had the jars been there? How long did canned fruit last? Not much dust on them. The witches who had created this place would have wanted food handy in case they got hungry. Most likely, these were leftover supplies.

Using the tip of her stiletto, she pried the lid open on one jar. Thepop of the seal breaking was a good sign, so she picked up the jar and sniffed. Smelled like peaches, but…Was she getting a whiff of something else?

After wiping her stiletto on her trousers, she poked at the peach slices on top.

“Why are you poking those with that dirty old knife?” Ginger said.

“Mind your tone, girl,” Rainier growled. Then he added on a psychic thread, "Whyare you poking around? The seal was good, wasn’t it?"

"It was good," Surreal replied. "But do you really want to trust a good seal when there were three Black Widows in this house?"

“I’ll find a bowl,” Rainier said.

He did, and used his shirttail to wipe the dust out of it.

Wasn’t much food to share between them, Surreal thought as she dumped the contents of the jar into the bowl. But a little food and liquid would help postpone the time when they’d have to use Craft to get to the supplies they were carrying and—

“What’s that?” Sage asked, leaning closer to the bowl. “Are those grapes in there?”

“Mother Night,” Rainier said, turning away.

She felt her gorge rise, but she stared at the mouse heads mixed in with the peach slices.

“So,” she said too softly, “no water, no food. And nothing we can trust.” She set the jar down, then slipped her stiletto into the boot sheath and picked up one of the candles. “Time to see what’s upstairs.”

“What’s down there?” Ginger said, pointing to the cellar door.

“You didn’t go down there.”

“And we’re not going to,” Rainier said. He picked up the oil lamp, then used the poker to point at the table. “One of you take the other candle.”

“There might be food down there,” Ginger said. She walked over to the door and pointed dramatically. “I’llgo down there ifyou’re too afraid.”

“You do that, sugar,” Surreal said. “But I’ll only tell you this once. From here on, we’ll do our best to protect you from whatever is in this house, but we won’t protect you from your own stupidity. You want to open that door after we’ve told you not to, you go right ahead. If something comes after you, you deal with it or die.”