Page 76 of Sinful Curses
Orin lifted his sword over his head before bringing it down on the thick strands of webbing. Much to her horror, it only cut through a little before catching in the sticky filament.
Realizing Orin was free of the protective bubble, the spiders released a gurgling noise before charging him. Orin yanked at the sword a few times before finally breaking it free.
He swung it into the web again before spinning it to face the monstrous beasts. Throwing his hands up, Sahira sensed the swell of his power before a current of air smacked into the two spiders leaping toward him.
Like all dark fae, he could manipulate the elements. The air hit the spiders and flung them back.
When those flying beasts hit the ground, more creatures scrambled across the shield toward Orin. Before she could scream at him to move, Orin pulled the shadows around him and vanished.
Flattening her hands against the shield, her nose nearly touched the protective bubble as she searched for him. The spiders descended on the spot where he once stood.
He couldn’t have gotten far; there hadn’t been enough time to get around the teeming creatures, but blood didn’t erupt, and no screams filled the air, though one remained trapped in her throat.
The power from the shield vibrated against her palms while she struggled to breathe. She’d planned to go out there with him to cover his back, but she couldn’t go now.
He’d become part of the shadows, and she had no idea where he’d gone. If she went out there now, she could cause a distraction that might get them killed.
Before coming to the Cursed Realm, sheneverwould have considered the possibility Orin might try to save her from these things, but now, he would. She felt that truth in the fabric of her soul.
They drove each other to the brink of madness, but he’d protect her just as she would him. If she went out there now, he’d come for her, and they’d both die because of it.
So, she stood with her hands against the shield as she tried to figure out where he’d gone and how she could help. The sword remained embedded halfway through the webbing, sticking straight out as the filaments kept it trapped.
It wouldn’t take too much more to hack through the web, but it still wouldn’t be enough for them to slip through. Maybe the brownies could get through at that point, but no one else.
They’d have to cut through more for that to happen, but they needed to keep cutting to get free or find some other way past the webbing. Staying here wasn’t an option.
They were trapped, and Orin was out there with those things. It was only a matter of time before the spiders found him and the shield failed.
Five feet away and closer to Zeth, black blood exploded from a spider. She couldn’t see the source of the blow the spider had taken, but she detected a swirl of shadows as the spider squealed.
Blood sprayed from its head as the shifting shadows vanished, and Orin was again undetectable.
CHAPTERSIXTY-SIX
Keeping to the shadows,Orin used his dagger to slice through one spider after another. He slit the throat of one, poked out the eyes of the next, and hacked off the front legs of one scrambling toward him.
He didn’t take them out in order but skipped some as he moved. He couldn’t give them a clear path as to his location and the direction he was heading.
Even with his bouncing around, the creatures finally got smart and created a circle… aroundhim. They couldn’t know for sure that they’d trapped him as their feet clicked on the rock and their claws thumped against it.
Instead of going after another spider, he stayed out of the center and stood only a few feet away from one of the hideous beasts as they crept closer to each other to squeeze him in. They were smarter than they looked, which was about as intelligent as dog shit.
The thousands of bristly, black hairs covering the spiders rippled like they were trying to sense air currents. He suspected they were.
He didn’t breathe as the one to his right took a couple of steps forward, and its claw landed only a foot away. The ground shook beneath the blow that left an indent in the rocks.
Keeping the shadows around him, Orin moved steadily forward, with the spiders squeezing him more and more toward the others. They steadily took away what little remained of his space.
He waited until only a few feet remained before crouching and leaping into the air. While he was up there, the spiders moved closer, and pointing his toes down, he fell with the full force of his weight.
When he hit the spider, he slammed its chin into the ground as another reeled back onto its hind legs and jumped. It wasn’t the creature leaping at him that caused him to spin sideways and nearly tumble off the one he’d landed on. No, it was the white webbing the thing launched at him that had him twisting awkwardly to avoid the sticky goo ensnaring him.
If they managed to trap him with their webbing, that would be the end. It was too thick and clingy for him to evade its clutches before they started spinning him like the rest of their victims.
This was not going as planned, but what had in this Cursed Realm? Nothing, but he hadn’t expected this web-slinging insanity.
Regaining his balance, he ran down the back end of the spider and jumped off. He didn’t get away in time to avoid one of the eight-legged freaks swinging out with its claw and slicing open his arm.
