----------------------------------------
My brain felt like it was full of a swarm of bugs. So many thoughts buzzed around my head, all hard to distinguish and each one just as bothersome as the last.
“What?” It irritated me how often I’d been using that word lately. I rubbernecked between Marigold with tears streaming down her face and Roi who kept on rubbing his hands and nodding.
“Why are you trying to protect him?” I asked Marigold.
“I’m not. I’m trying to protect you. I don’t want you hurt.”
I leered at Roi, grudgingly taking into account his size. The guy wasn’t huge, but he was covered in taut, hard muscles. When I had tackled him, it was like hitting a stone pillar. Without the element of surprise, I doubt I could have taken him down again. I had to take in a few deep breaths, any measure of calm difficult to capture.
“She is right.” Roi stood up to full height, passing me up by a few inches. “I not kill this Alana. The bad family, the thieves kill her.”
Thoughts still jostled in my head. Things wouldn’t connect. “But my father said spiders killed Alana. He saw the tracks. He saw proof that it was spiders.”
Roi shook his head. “Not my spiders.”
“What spiders then? The only spiders are yours.”
“Not all.”
I threw my hands up in the air, pacing back and forth. “I am so confused right now. Marigold says her brothers killed Alana. My father says it was spiders. Mr. Spider here says it wasn’t his spiders.” I rubbed the heels of my palms against my eyes. I was so tired. “None of this makes sense. Somebody has to be lying. It’s not my father, he never lies. I don’t want it to be you Marigold. Who knows with Roi.
“Your brothers are psycho. They killed Sam, I can see them doing awful things. But it’s not like they have spiders of their own.”
Marigold turned away from me, refusing to meet my gaze.
“Wait.” I didn’t like the way things were coming together at all. Terrifying possibilities were surfacing from the mess in my brain. “Your brothers don’t have spiders do they?”
Marigold still wouldn’t look at me. I took her by the shoulders, making her face me. “Please, for the love of Yuan’s Light, please tell me they don’t have spiders.”
Marigold’s words came out in a sobbing squeak. “Only a few.”
“Only a few? How…where…why?” I fell, more than sat, on my bed. My two worst nightmares—the Thurn brothers and spiders—had apparently joined forces. The only explanation that made sense was that the universe hated me.
“I don’t know where they came from. They’ve only had them for a few weeks.”
A shiver ran down my spine. “A few weeks? Heretic’s hell, Marigold. Why didn’t you tell us? Tell me?”
Marigold knelt in front of me by my bed and took my hand. “Please don’t be mad, Xander. I only found out a couple of days ago. When you came to the valley yesterday, that’s why I didn’t want you to stay. It was dangerous. I was trying to get out myself, but Deek threatened to send the spiders after me if I left. I was trapped.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
That made sense enough. Her brothers were horrible. They’d never kill Marigold, but you could hurt someone a lot without killing them. One question plagued me. “Where did they get them?”
“I don’t know.”
“No more secrets, Marigold. You have to tell me everything.” She flinched as if my words slapped her across the face. She sat on the floor and wiped at her tear laced face.
“I promise, Xander. I don’t know. Please believe me. All I know is that some pigs disappeared a while back. Deek and Boyd got real angry and set traps in case whatever took the pigs came back again. Then all of the pigs were gone. That must be how they got the spiders.” She buried her head into my leg, quivering and crying. “I’m so sorry.”
Roi emitted a forlorn chirp. “Thieves. Stole spiders. Stole hatchlings.” He’d scooted closer to us, regarding Marigold as she cried. Making more moans and chirps.
Why I tolerated Roi’s presence was beyond me. Maybe because everything else was so damn messed up that he really couldn’t make things worse. “So they were your spiders?”
“No. Me and spiders come back for hatchlings when moon was hidden.” Which must have been about month or so back, judging by the moon cycle. “All hatchlings safe except for some missing.”
“Hatchlings?”
“Yes. Hatchlings. This valley is nursery. Baby spiders born here.”
“When. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Long season between hatchings. Like twenty years. Spiders leave valley during that time.” Roi’s language was improving, but I really didn’t like what he was saying.
“That still doesn’t explain how the Thurns have spiders.”
“Stole them. Stole their minds and souls with heartstones.”
“Thanks. Makes a lot of sense.” I rolled my eyes.
Something Marigold said crept into my mind. “Marigold, you said all of the pigs were gone, but Boyd was cooking pork yesterday. I smelled it.”
She tensed, backing away from me. “It wasn’t pork, Xander.”
“Well it wasn’t crelix. What was—” Realization dawned on me. Her brothers used spiders to kill Alana and we never found the body. “Oh blight! Please tell me it wasn’t—”
“It was.” Marigold cut me off. “That’s why I wouldn’t let you eat any.”
My stomach clenched, threatening to empty itself. “Why?”
“Bad woman.” Roi clicked his teeth and clapped his hands.
“Hey!” I jumped up. “You don’t talk about Marigold!”
“Not her.” Roi smiled at Marigold. “The other. The mother.”
“Ma Thurn?” I looked to Marigold.
“My mother told my brothers to cook her. All of my family was so excited about it. Xander, they’re monsters. They tried to make me eat it after you left. I wouldn’t. I fought them until they just left me alone. Laughing.”
I knew the Thurns were sick, sadistic people, but this was too much.
“They want more, Xander. That’s why they killed Sam. They want more. That’s why they will kill Jamus.”
My father. Dass. Call. Tama Jans. They were in danger. And I was sitting in my room, chatting with my messed up girlfriend and the local wild boy.
“We have to go. We have to help my father. He thinks he can talk to your family.” I jerked Marigold to her feet. “Let’s go.”
“How? There isn’t any time.”
“We’ll take my shortcut,” I said heading down the stairs and out the door to outside.
“What about the spiders. How will we stop my brothers.”
“With my spiders,” Roi said from behind us. I didn’t even know he followed us. He chirped, a high shrill sound. A dozen huge spiders emerged from behind buildings and out of the shadows. Marigold grabbed my hand. I don’t know who was squeezing harder, her or me.
My breath hitched, but I was able to say one thing. “Aw, hell.”