CHAPTER 97

"This one tried to pinch me!" She dropped it on the sand and chased the crab in circles, laughing as the frightened crustacean scurried away into the water. As she continued her dance, he realized that a beam of golden light surrounded her, sending the darkness away. He craved that light, and everything it meant to him.

His arms felt wet. When he held them up, he saw that the dark lines had become even shorter now, and vanished around his elbows. There were no more Nirumbi on the beach.

With a laugh of his own, he joined her. The two of them played together in the surf as a patch of darkness peeled away up above, revealing a blue sky behind it.

It was almost two in the morning when Eulalie felt movement in her web and her eyes popped open.

She was hovering in a woven web over Murray's breakfast nook. Down below, a pair of rats were watching the monitors with strict instructions to wake her if they saw anything. Whoever had disturbed her web had somehow snuck past the rats monitoring the exterior of their current base.

"Sofia." Eulalie's voice was little more than a whisper, but the cyclops, who had stayed up to watch the house, heard her. Sofia leaned around the corner of the kitchen, concern on her face.

"Front door." Eulalie closed her eyes to concentrate on the near-invisible threads she had attached onto the doors. "Someone is coming."

Sofia nodded and then disappeared. Eulalie frowned, wondering who it could be. Sulyvahn was busy watching Mike's house, so he wouldn't be of any immediate help.

There was a loud yell, followed by a flash of light. The rats below her took up weapons and created a protective ring beneath her as the sound of roaring fire filled the front entryway. Eulalie almost panicked but managed to keep her cool long enough to wait it out.

A minute later, Sofia appeared. Her sword was in her hand. "Got him," she said. "He's taking a nap right now, but he was expecting trouble. Tried to use this on me when he saw my sword."

Eulalie's eyes widened in surprise when Sofia tossed a magic wand onto her table. It rolled to a stop against a recharging drone.

"That thing real?" she asked.

Sofia held out a portion of her robes with a hole burned clean through it.

"Let's get him upstairs," Eulalie said. "See if he can answer some questions." Obviously this intruder had realized that someone here was watching the house. The fact that he had a magic wand made it even more disturbing. Was he part of the society she had heard about? What was he up to?

"Okay, but..." Sofia frowned. "Is that a good idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be? As long as we take precautions, he should be rendered harmless. And if he's traveling with friends, we need to know. Maybe prep an escape route."

"It's not that, it's..." Sofia groaned. "I'll just be direct. He's a man. What if you see him and want to mate with him? Is that something you can even control?"

Eulalie snorted. "Even if I wasn't molting, which is super uncomfortable, by the way, the answer is no. I've just never had any interest in mating. Not even when I met Mike, who is definitely the hottest guy I've ever seen. I suspect that may be due to his magic."

"That's...unexpected." Sofia looked puzzled. "I thought all Arachne had a high drive to eat and reproduce.

Eulalie shrugged. "You have to remember that my mother deliberately waited to have defective eggs. For the longest time, I assumed that just meant a lower than normal prey drive, but there's room for interpretation. I thought maybe it was something that wouldn't happen until I met the right person, but I've never actually had any of those thoughts. I've been curious about it, but it's been more like a spectator sport. No desire to participate. But my mom and sister? All the time. The only reason Velvet ever uses the computer is to watch p**n and look up new modules for dungeons and dragons." She almost mentioned her own fascination with rope binding, but figured it was something Sofia didn't need to know. The thought of tying someone up excited her, but sex itself? Meh.

"I literally have no words. But if you say it's fine, I believe you."

Sofia folded up her sword and left. She reappeared with a man slung over her shoulders. When she headed for the stairs, Eulalie followed. She cocked her head to get a better look at his face as it dangled over Sofia's back. His face was pockmarked with scars, and his wrinkled forehead and grey hair gave away his advanced age.

When they got him into Murray's bedroom, it was an easy feat to strip him to his boxers and tie him to the bed. Eulalie secured a pillowcase over his head and then unscrewed the only bulb in the room. The last thing she needed was for him to scream in terror upon seeing her.

Once they were finished, Eulalie attached her silken line to the man's toes and then they headed back downstairs. She nestled back into her little hammock, making sure that she was connected to their new guest.

Sofia just shook her head in amazement as she dug through the man's white coat. It was like watching a cartoon as the cyclops kept pulling objects from his pockets that were far too large to fit.

"Wake me if anything else comes up," Eulalie said with a yawn.

Sofia nodded in the affirmative as she tossed the coat into a nearby closet with the rest of the man's clothes.

Steepling her fingers together, Eulalie used a leg to swing her hammock, her mind racing as her body relaxed. This was a new development, a thread that demanded to be pulled. What secrets would she unravel when their new guest awoke? One way or another, she would get some answers.

If not, maybe she would eat him. Smirking at the silly thought, she drifted off to sleep, but not before she noticed that some of the rats were using the butts of their spears to keep rocking her.

When Beth opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Lily sitting at the foot of Mike's bed. The succubus was staring at the opening to the bathroom. Lily was also unnaturally still, which was unnerving.

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