City of Fae

I bumped back against the window. Tiny curls of green vapor writhed among their countless bodies, as though weaving a thread of light through them. Illegal fae magic. The column of spiders rippled and swayed, and I watched, transfixed in horror.

“You will come with us …” The words hissed from the rustling of their bodies; they didn’t speak so much as create sounds from their numbers churning as one. My stomach heaved. I pressed myself into the glass. The door was entirely too far away, the street outside too far down to jump.

“Aliiinnnaaa …” they churned.





Chapter Five


I worked my fingers at the edges of the Northcliff House windows while holding my body perfectly still. The column of spiders undulated and swelled forward. I couldn’t run without crossing the tributaries of spiders. The windows behind me weren’t going to be much help. Even if I could get them open, I was four floors up. The back street behind Northcliff House had never looked so damn far away.

“We are of the queen … Sssent for you … You must return.”

“The queen?” The fae had a queen? Since when?

The door was my only chance, but to get to it, I had to pass within grabbing distance of that … twitching column of spiders. Okay, after three, I bolt for the door. One, two … I made it two steps when the spiders rippled forward, sloshing across the floor and spilling over my shoes. With a shriek, I staggered back, but it was too late. Five, no six, scuttled up my shin, around my knee. I swept them off, but more came, flooding across the floor, rushing as one, surging over my shoes, around my ankles and dashing up my legs. There were dozens. I knocked them off as quickly as they scurried over my clothes. No, God, no! Get them off, get them off! The cool press of the windows behind, only reminded me I had nowhere to go.

Glass exploded from behind. I ducked and moved away from the window, but a grip as hard as steel hooked around my waist and tugged me backward, hauling me out of the building. For a few brittle moments, my feet dangled uselessly in the air. Spiders tumbled from my shoes to the street several stories below. Any second now I’d follow them, and I would die, never having gotten my answers. Then the arms of steel pulled me around into a bone-jarring embrace so damn tight I couldn’t lift my head to see what or who had me.

“Afraid of spiders, Alina?” Reign purred.

I clung to him, sinking my nails in and hooking my legs around his waist. “Holy shit—Reign—what are you doing?—did you see?—there’s spiders … Don’t let me go.” I made the mistake of looking down. “Oh God.” I squeezed my eyes closed. “This is insane. We’re gonna die!”

He grunted, “If you squeeze any tighter, I might.”

With a monumental effort I lifted my head. One of those know-it-all smiles adorned his lips while he clung to a huge architectural column by a single hand, hugging me against him with the other. His fae eyes blazed bright with the burn of draíocht. “Don’t like heights either?”

Spiders spilled over the sill behind me and rained down onto the street. Fear seized my muscles tight, prompting Reign to suck in a sharp breath. “Only one way down.” He let go of the building. My stomach tried to jump into my throat and we fell. I definitely screamed. I might still have been screaming when I opened my eyes to find us standing on top of the trailer of a parked truck. “I feel sick.” I groaned, and then we were moving again. He leaped. Eyes squeezed closed, I held my breath, and prayed that any second we’d be back on terra firma.

Reign landed with a grunt, bearing my slight load with ease. His grip loosened, allowing me the space to shove out of his embrace. I staggered back, shaking my head. There’s only so much crazy a person can take at one time. This was too much. Organized spiders, scaling buildings … I stumbled away, voice lost.

“Hey …” Reign called.

I waved a hand, gesturing for him to stay back. Nope. Not yet. I can’t deal with this yet. My heart hammered so fast I thought it might punch through my chest. With each step my legs threatened to give up. Springing from the fourth floor of Northcliff House in the arms of a celebrity fae to escape a flood of talking spiders was most definitely not normal.

“Alina …”

He was following. Sure enough, a glance behind me confirmed it. Coat flaring, strides long and powerful, he’d be caught up to me in seconds and he wasn’t even out of breath.