Spider's Game ((Book One) #Wattys2016 Winner!)

Chapter 18- Silvia

The diner came into view, and Silvia smiled as the few scattered people on the street crossed away from her. Their fear petted the air around her, and she took a deep breath letting the terror stroke her throat. There was no darker energy than fear and in front of her Havoc laughed, his bright beautiful infant laugh, delighted with the dark wiggling around him.

Silvia could have found Darith with her eyes closed. He existed in a bright space absent of emotion. But she didn't deny herself the vision of the boy, sitting in front of the diner at their one rust tinted table. From the first moment she saw the boy, she knew he was special. Even then his energy had a lack of emotion, a selfish darkness that complemented his pristine beauty.

He has met his potential. And he wants me dead, just look at that hate. But something else burned in Darith's eyes. For the moment, she was safe. That looks screamed need, and people don't kill those they require.

"Silvia," he said.

"Boy," she said.

"I should slit your pretty throat."

Silvia sat down in front of him. The rickety table rocked, the cold metal of the chair reaching her through the thin silk of her black dress.

"You won't. Because you've thought it through. You can't get to Marim on your own, and you begin to feel the crunch of time. How long will finding your answers take on your own? Every moment you delay, Marim remains in the Brothel's hands."

"None of that matters if you can't help me."

Silvia reached across the table and touched Darith's neck, on the soft skin where over a year ago she'd bitten him. "We are distinct, Darith, in our abilities. Our magic mingled with the dark web makes us something different. Halis tells me, no other before me could use the blackness as a venom. That is my trick, Boy, and being the only one with the venom makes me the closest thing to an expert you have."

"Why would you help me, knowing I mean to cure myself and kill you?"

"For the fun of it? Out of familial love? Because I want Annabelle and you can't cure her? Maybe I don't need a reason...and maybe, I think I can change your mind." Maybe, I'm not at all sure anymore that I am in the right. That I don't need to be put down like a rabid dog.

Darith's mouth moved but the sound was lost in a sudden flare inside Silvia's mind. The web burned, like an eclipse the world went dark. The diner disappear, the chairs, and sky faded to nothing only Darith remained against the flaming black.

Blood, everywhere. Gunshots rang and blistering pain tore through her. The flame faded to a shower of dark blood. And then there was a hole, a crippling vacancy at the core of her being. The essence of him disappeared, smudged out, lost in a sea of bodies she couldn't recall. But she felt them, millions of still cold legs, glazed spider eyes staring into a flare of agony.

Silvia screamed, unable to contain the suffering of the Drambish.

***

"...and maybe, I think I can change your mind."

"You help me save Marim, I'll give you a chance to run. I'll give you a head start," Darith said.

Her eyes were black, and for an instant a color like the flame of a dying sun rolled over them. Darith sank back and touched the web. Halis, Berrick must have found Halis.

Even as Silvia's mouth opened, Darith lifted his hands, pulling at energy around himself. He braced.

When her voice tore through the air, the shell of light around him shivered. Faces, black wisps of terror and pain billowed against the shield. Each hateful wisp bit into his shelter, spider fangs, and human teeth alike.