Evolution (Demon's Grail Book 2) (9 page)

“I'm out of here,” Ash hisses, trying to twist free. “You can keep your coins!”

“Hold her!” I say firmly, turning to Jonathan.

“Abby -”

Grabbing his hand, I force him to hold Ash's shoulder. “If you let her go right now,” I continue, “she might rat us out, and then we'll either be killed or worse, do you understand?” I wait for a reply but, as Ash continues to struggle, I can tell that my brother is unsure. “If you let her go,” I add, “you'll be putting everything at risk. I know you're new to this, I know you don't even know me that well, but...” I step back and leave him to keep her in his grip, and to my relief he seems to have understood. “Trust me,” I add. “Please.”

He pauses, before nodding. When Ash tries to get free, he pulls her closer and holds her tight.

“Where is it?” I whisper, hurrying to Absalom and then leading him up toward the top of the ridge.

“Careful,” he replies, grabbing my arm to hold me back. “We can't afford to fight one of these things right now. Even with three of us, we wouldn't have much of a chance. We just have to verify that they're passing this way.”

Pulling away from him, I crouch down at the edge and lean over, and to my horror I see that a large, meaty spider is slowly clicking and scratching its way up from the depths, reaching out into the moonlight with its long, spindly legs. My whole body tenses and I reach down for the hilt of my sword, only for Absalom to grab my hand, as if he was expecting that reaction from me. Unable to take my gaze away from the sight before me, I keep low as the spider continues to make its way up between the rocks, and finally the beast emerges at the crest, its legs and body glistening as it seems to pause briefly.

For a moment, my gut tightens with fear and I can't help wondering if it might have sensed us, but a couple of seconds later it starts to make its way past, just as Ash described. Wherever it's going, it seems to have a single-minded determination to get there, as if it's following orders.

“It's hurt,” I whisper suddenly, as I notice damage on one of its legs, along with a hint of blood around the lower side of its abdomen.

“It takes a lot to damage one of these things,” Absalom whispers in return. “Still, if it's been traveling through the southern Navarian region, there are packs of wild Psy-Wolves that could cause that kind of injury. They wouldn't have survived the encounter, but if they were desperate for food they might have tried an ill-advised attack.” He pauses, as the spider continues to crawl past. “It'll heal soon enough, though.”

“Why give it the chance?” I ask, turning to him. “If it's injured, we could take it down and make sure there's one less spider in the world.”

“Absolutely not,” he replies. “Even a wounded spider could put up a hell of a fight.”

“But -”

“Abby,” he hisses, “I swear in the name of the gods themselves, you will listen to me? This is not the time to take on a spider!”

“It's injured!”

“It could still kill us all!”

“I managed to bring Keller down,” I point out. “They're tough, but they're not invincible.”

“Keller was on his last legs,” he replies, glancing over to watch as the spider continues on its way. “Congratulations, Abby, you managed to kill an old, ailing spider thanks to a little skill and a lot of luck. That doesn't make you a master slayer, so just hold back. This isn't the time to -”

“I'll show you!” I hiss, pulling away from him and getting to my feet, ready to go and finish the goddamn creature off. I reach for my sword, but suddenly Absalom grabs me and pulls me down, slamming me hard into the nearest rock.

“Are you a complete idiot?” he whispers. Turning to look back over the edge, he quickly ducks down. “I think it heard us! Damn it, Abby, did you learn
nothing
at Jagadoon?”

“I can kill this thing!” I tell him.

“Oh, you're a fool,” he replies, his eyes wide with shock. “Abby Hart, you are a goddamn fool of the highest order!”

I glance over at Jonathan and Ash and see that they've taken cover. My heart is pounding now, and I still want to go and finish that injured monster off, but Absalom is holding me down far too firmly. I remember Oncephalus telling me once that I need to learn how to suppress my instincts, and I guess this is one of those moments.

“If it comes to look,” Absalom whispers after a moment, “and it finds us hiding here, it'll kill us, do you understand that? Even injured, even hobbled, it will
kill us
!” He pauses. “And it'll be your fault.”

We wait, but there's no sound coming from beyond the edge of the ridge. I want to get over there and take a look, to see whether the spider has changed direction and is coming to investigate the noises we made, but my heart is beating far too fast and all I can do is wait as the seconds slip past. Finally, Absalom leans over again and peers beyond the edge, and a moment later he relaxes his grip on me.

“It's leaving,” he whispers, slumping down next to me. “Abby, you have no idea how close you just came to bringing disaster down on our heads.”

“We could've beaten it,” I reply.

He shakes his head.

“We could!”

“I once saw six vampires try to bring down one medium-sized spider,” he says with anger in his eyes. “Six! And do you know how many of them survived the attempt?” He pauses. “None of them. The spider killed them all, and then it continued on its way with barely a scratch. These things are tough, even when they're injured. There's a reason why the war lasted for so long. If you really think you can defeat one of them on your own, Abby, you're doing a great disservice to the memory of millions of vampires who died in that war, and to the memory of vampires like your father who knew when to respect an enemy's power!”

I want to tell him that he's wrong, but deep down I think maybe he's right after all.

“I wanted to prove myself,” I reply finally, feeling as if I've been rebuked like I'm some kind of child. “I wanted to show you I could do it!”

“You don't need to prove anything.”

“Of course I do!” I hiss. “I heard you and Oncephalus talking back at Jagadoon! I know what you really think of me!”

He sighs. “Is that what this display of petulance is about? Abby -”

Suddenly I spot something moving in the shadows behind him, and I barely have time to react before the spider's vast shape comes charging over the crest of the ridge, lunging straight at us as it lets out a piercing, shrill scream. I grab Absalom's shoulders and throw us both out of the way as a thick black leg slices down, missing us by inches and slicing into the rock where we were sitting just a moment ago.

“Move!” Absalom hisses, scrambling to his feet and shoving me back as the spider turns and lashes out at us again. This time the leg strikes Absalom's back, cutting him down in an instant.

I reach out and grab him, pulling him away before another leg can follow through to cause even greater damage.

As we stumble to a rock and duck down for cover, I feel hot, wet blood on my hands from Absalom's injury. Glancing over at another set of rocks nearby, I see that Jonathan and Ash have taken cover, and I can just about make out my brother's shocked face in the moonlight.

Before I can call out to him, however, I feel the ground starting to shudder as the spider crawls toward us, its shadow cast long across the rocky ground.

“I told you to keep quiet!” Absalom whispers to me, his voice filled with pain. “Until you learn to respect the power of these things, you'll never be able to defeat them!”

Pulling my sword from its sheath, I take a deep breath, trying to calm my pounding heart. “We can bring it down,” I say firmly, even though my voice is trembling a little. I know I screwed up, but I can still put things right, I can still make everything okay. “It's already hurt. We can finish it off. I got us into this mess, and I'll get us out.”

“Abby -”

“Trust me!” I tell him firmly.

Spotting one of the spider's legs out of the corner of my eye, I roll out from behind the rock and slash at the creature, catching its flesh but not managing to slice through. Instead, my sword glances harmlessly from the spider's thick hide and I have to duck out of the way as it lunges at me, trying to snare me with its thick, venom-coated fangs. I feel a splash of something hot and acidic on the side of my neck as I hurry over to a nearby rock and take cover, and the pain is intense as a spattering of venom burns through my flesh. I try to wipe it on my shirt sleeve, but there's not much relief.

Still, the worst it'll do is leave a scar, and a scar might serve as a good reminder of the mistake I made tonight. As long as I'm not directly bitten and venom doesn't reach my heart, I'll be fine.

Hearing a loud roaring sound from the spider, I watch as it lumbers toward Absalom. He lashes out with his sword, trying to keep it at bay, and I take the chance to rush the creature from behind, ducking between its legs and hacking wildly at the underside of its abdomen. This time my blade sinks deep, slicing through flesh and bringing blood cascading down. The spider backs up slightly, but I fight the instinct to run and instead I keep slashing at the main part of its body until one of its legs reaches under and flicks my waist, knocking me down.

A moment later, another leg slams into me from the side, sending me crashing into a nearby rock with such force that I'm barely able to keep hold of my sword.

I turn, ready to defend myself again, but the spider is already lumbering past me, heading straight for the spot where Jonathan and Ash are hiding.

“Run!” I scream, scrambling to my feet as Absalom and I both charge at the beast. We take a side each, trying desperately to hack at its legs, and for a moment I'm lost in the melee as I'm spun around and slammed into another rock. All I can see are spider legs swinging at me, and I feel several heavy impacts against my chest and shoulders.

Finally I duck down, desperately trying to get some breathing space.

I try to get up, but the spider slashes at me with the tip of another leg, slicing across my chest and digging deep into my left breast until it crunches through a section of my ribcage. I let out a cry of pain, momentarily impaled on the leg as it swings around, dragging me through the dirt in the process. The whole world seems to be spinning, but suddenly I manage to slip from the leg and land hard on the ground, winded by the impact and cracking my skull against the rocks.

Despite the pain in my chest, I turn and stagger to my feet. My vision is a little blurred, but I can just about make out Absalom trying to force the spider back as it attacks Jonathan and Ash. I stumble forward, tripping and landing hard on my knees. For a few seconds I feel as if I won't be able to get back up at all, but finally I force myself to my feet. I can hear the spider still screaming, maybe with pain or maybe just with the pleasure of an anticipated victory, and a moment later I hear another cry, as if someone is hurt.

“Abby!” Absalom shouts.

Still not quite able to see properly, I rush toward the vast, blurry sight of the spider. Somehow I'm able to duck past its legs again, and as I look up at the glistening, moist underside of its body, I realize I only have one chance to kill the damn thing.

Reaching up, I press my left hand deep into the spider's abdomen, pushing my fingers into the wound until I'm able to haul myself up and start slashing at its underside. I try to push all thoughts from my mind and focus on unleashing pure, unbridled fury. During training I always held back, but not this time.

The creature's screaming intensifies and it starts to sway violently, but I manage to hold on as I slash frantically at the softest parts of its body. I can't see what I'm doing, not properly, but I can feel its blood flowing down onto me, soaking through my clothes and spraying into my mouth. I close my eyes and keep stabbing my sword deep into the creature's body, and although I expect to be swatted away at any moment, I realize finally that the spider seems to be struggling, as if it can no longer coordinate its legs properly.

Reaching up, I drive my sword straight through the thick flesh and meat and then I twist the blade, and a moment later the spider lurches to one side before falling, collapsing on top of me and pinning me down with its vast, bleeding mass.

Too exhausted to get free, I nevertheless manage to keep gouging at the creature with my sword, even as blood flows all around me. I can feel a few twitches from its body still, but I can't stop, not until I'm certain that it's dead. I try to turn, to get a better angle, but the weight is overpowering and all I can do is stay right where I am, soaked in warm blood as I hear the spider's scream starting to become more pained. Blood is pouring from its body and into my mouth, and the creature's vast bulk is crushing me down into the dirt with enough force to start crushing my chest. I never realized how heavy these goddamn spiders are...

And then suddenly the beast's scream comes to a gurgling, spluttering halt.

I wait, with my sword still dug deep into the spider's body. Although I can feel some twitches still, most likely from the legs as they continue to lash out, I'm starting to think there might just be a chance that we've brought the damn thing down.

I made a mistake, but I fixed it.

A moment later, I feel something moving deep in the spider's body. I brace myself, terrified that some new threat might emerge, but suddenly whole chunks of flesh are scooped away from above me and I realize that Absalom has chosen to dig down to reach me rather than trying to roll the corpse away. Reaching up to him, I grab his shoulders as he pulls me out, and we emerge in the broken, mashed center of the spider's body, bathed in moonlight as a few of the thick black legs continue to twitch around us.