Page 79 of Sinful Curses
He should run around the demon and leave him to deal with these things while he went for Sahira. It was whatallhis instincts told him to do… exceptone.
He had no idea where that one, traitorous, far-too-kind-for-him instinct came from or how it clamored louder thanallthe others, but it screamed at him to help.
What about Sahira?
As he thought it, the spiders parted enough to give him a glimpse of her. For some reason, the monsters were holding back from her. He had no idea what she’d done to establish that, probably conjured another spell, but for now, she was safe.
That might not last, and if he helped Zeth, it could spell her demise. But he didn’t have to help for long; the demon could take care of himself, and if he couldn’t free himself after Orin’s assistance, so be it.
Lowering his shoulder, Orin crashed into a spider and sent it flying into another one of its brethren. Alerted to his presence, another spun toward him and lifted its claw.
Orin grasped the claw and bent downward and up, pulling it toward the spider’s middle. He caught the edge of the mouth in its belly and yanked upward.
The spider shrieked as it reeled backward, slicing itself open further with its movements. Orin ducked the next claw flying toward his head as he climbed the back of another spider.
The thousands of bristly black hairs covering it were prickly against his palms and made them itch, but he ignored the discomfort as he lifted his dagger and jammed it into the thing’s skull. The spider sank its fangs into Zeth’s shoulder a second before he stabbed it.
Spider legs kicked and spasmed as Zeth gripped its head and pried its fangs from his shoulder before flipping it to the side. Orin rode the spider to the ground before jumping off.
When more spiders swarmed them, he grasped the demon, yanked him back, and drew the shadows around them.
It wasn’t much of a disguise considering the spiders knew where Zeth stood. He shoved the demon’s head down and pointed for him to go low as the spiders charged.
There wasn’t much room between the spiders’ abdomens and the ground to crawl under, but these creatures wouldn’t expect them to be closer to the ground. It could give them a chance to get out of this.
Orin plastered himself against the cool rock and between the legs of one spider as it crawled over him. Lifting his dagger, he drove it straight through the spider’s heart.
When the creature started screaming, he braced his legs on the ground, lifted it, and threw the thing at the wall. As the others came for him, he rolled away from the crush pushing toward the wall.
When he rose again, Zeth was standing beside him. While separated by the spiders, the shadows had fallen away from the demon, but Orin drew them around Zeth again as the scent of smoke intensified.
When the spiders released a screech and spun toward the web, Orin knew he didn’t have to worry about himself or the demon anymore. The spiders had become fixated on a new enemy… Sahira.
No!Orin wanted to get to and protect her, but the spiders had formed a wall between them.
CHAPTERSIXTY-NINE
Sahira placedthe flames of her makeshift torch to the strands of webbing while holding her palm near the fire. Focused on the blaze, its heat warmed her cheeks and hand as the power in the flames, the air, and the earth beneath her feet fueled her abilities.
“Flames of fire soar ever higher. Let the air bring you there.”
Lifting her palm, she pushed the fire upward as her powers and air increased the flames. Smoke choked the air as fire flowed over the webbing, crackled across the thick filaments, and covered the strands until she couldn’t see what lay beneath the blaze.
The noise grew so overwhelming that, only a few feet away from her, Sahira couldn’t hear what Elsa recited before she lifted her hand too. More flames surged across the webbing and up the towering structure.
Buried beneath the flames and smoke, Sahira couldn’t tell if the fire affected the web. She hoped the loud crackling meant the fire was devouring this thing while sparks rained around her.
As the inferno climbed higher, the spiders started their awful, hissing scream again. She didn’t have to see the creatures to know they were now the focus of their fury.
The flames on her shirt started sputtering; there wasn’t much material left to fuel the fire. Taking a deep breath and working to keep her hand steady, she lifted the shirt she’d draped over her shoulder in preparation for this.
It was the last shirt she had with her for this trip. Once it went up in flames, she’d have only the shirt on her back to get her through the rest of the way, but she’d burn it too, if necessary.
Biting her lip, Sahira braced herself for what she had to do.This is going to hurt.
With that knowledge blazing through her mind, she didn’t hesitate before wrapping the newest shirt around the dagger. The fire leapt and danced as it sought to engulf the clothing. She was careful not to smother the flames while also giving them a chance to set the new shirt ablaze.
Unable to keep her hand from the flames, blisters bubbled across her skin as her flesh peeled away and sloughed to the side. When her skin crackled beneath the heat, she gritted her teeth to keep from crying out as the fire devoured more than her clothes.
