Bound by Devotion

Chapter Thirteen

A/N: Okay, SD. This is for you. 

~~~

Three days of non-stop walking and Eve was ready to hit something. The constant thump of that heartbeat was wearing on her, stretching her nerves to the breaking point. THUD THUD THUD THUD. She was going to scream.

She had been able to forget it for a time. Between the shock of finding out that her dream was true and she was two months pregnant with Kornae's baby, it was easy to push it away. The sex didn't hurt either. But now that they were moving again, had been moving for days, and her teeth were suffering as she ground them together.

She tried to occupy herself with thoughts of the future, a future with her men and her child, but her thoughts kept coming up blank. Was that because she still thought she was going to die, or because she simply had no idea as to what she was going to do?

Being honest with herself, she didn't fear for her life so much anymore. With what Cora said about how difficult it was to conceive, she didn't figure the gods would smile on her only to rip it away. Could they be that cruel? What did she know?

Beside her, Kornae dropped to the ground, a sickly looking gray substance across his back, and rocks. She spun and if it wasn't for Micah and Gideon, she would have lost her mind.

The size of the spider that crawled from beneath the gray silt could only be found in her deepest darkest nightmares, and yet, here it was. Transfixed, it sent the same stuff at her and once again, one of her vampires saved her. Alex rushed her, grabbing her before the goo could hit her.

The others attacked as she came to her senses. She couldn't use magic, but she had a knife. Alex knelt by her side as she began sawing at the thick ropes of sticky shit that held Kornae to the ground. She glanced up in time to see Gabe fly off the monstrosity. He landed on his back and before getting immediately back to his feet. From what she could see, they were keeping it distracted, but that was about all.

She tried to cut faster through the webbing but it kept trying to take her knife. Alex moved to help him, but she was afraid he would get caught in the substance and she would have to free them both.

Finally, she had him free enough that he was able to lift his body. He touched the milky material and it dried up, turning to gray dust. A dust that looked an awful lot like what they were walking on.

She looked up with terror in her heart and Kornae's eyes widened in understanding. They were walking over a spider nest.

Alex grabbed her and she screamed for the others. They had to get off the ground.

She stood helpless on the rocks now, begging Alex to go get Kornae. "I can't leave you, Eve."

A rumble dried her throat and she turned. A mound of gray dirt rose behind the father of her child and as Kornae spun to face it, it split, hundreds of tiny spiders headed his way. The nightmare played out in real life as Kornae threw up a shield to keep them from him. Underneath the horror in front of her, something felt... off. She wanted to laugh hysterically at that, but the feeling only intensified as she watched. She glanced at the vampires and they were still attacking the thing that seemed impenetrable. Thick chitinous plates were protecting it. But even as she studied her biggest fear, she couldn't help but notice it's attacks were coming slower. The piles of goo were smaller and less frequent, though that had nothing to do with her vampires.

She looked back to Kornae. The small spiders were trying to get through his shield and even they were moving... weird...

Her eyes widened.