Scared of Spiders

Eve Langlais Scared of Spiders

Copyright © January 2011, Eve Langlais

Prologue

“I need control of this city.” The sibilant words hissed in the gloom of the cavernous basement made the ranks of bowed heads shiver.

“Tell us what we must do, Master,” asked a man kneeling directly before the cloaked figure.

“The pack alpha of this city and his beta must die. With them gone, the rest will follow. But are you strong enough to prevail, my furry children?”

Brown eyes wild with fanaticism, rose to stare at the darkness within the cowl. “Their leader is old. I will force him to challenge me, and when I defeat him and gain control of the pack, I shall hand the reins of leadership over to you, Master.”

“Excellent. Do not disappoint me.” The unspoken words ‘or else…’ hung in the damp air. The figure in the heavy, hooded robe spun and walked to a table laden with esoteric items-skulls, crucibles, stoppered bottles-but from the panoply of objects available, he came back with a scrap of cloth. The Master dangled the fabric before the nose of his minion. “Mark this scent well, for I seek the descendent of the one who once wore this. The portents all point to her residing hereabouts. I must have her. Find the girl, but do not harm her. She is mine.” The possessive words hung in the air, tainted with cold cruelty.

His faithful follower breathed deep of the scent, and at his growled urging, one by one, the members of the Master’s accumulated army crept forward to inhale and mark the scent.

Only once the last minion had returned to his kneeling position did the Master address them again. “Go forth, my children. Cause havoc. Take lives. Kill the leaders of the pack, but most important of all,” he said, his voice low, yet resonating loudly within the minds of his followers, “find the girl.”

Growls erupted, and clothing flew as the ranks of kneeling men, many still boys, let their beasts-wolves with mad eyes-burst through. They raced from the underground chamber and fled to the city streets, their eerie howls rising in the night sky and announcing to all, the Master had arrived.

And he’d brought death with him.

Chapter One

The horrible hairy creature scurried toward her, its evil intent evident. Josie squealed and backed up, wanting to escape but too frightened to turn her back on the approaching menace. Her plump ass hit the wall. There was nowhere left to go. She closed her eyes, said a quick prayer, and stamped her foot down to end the spider’s reign of terror, all the while cringing.

“Eeew! Eeew!” She hopped off the black smudge, the remains of the icky critter that dared terrorize her in her own home, and sat down hard on the couch, her whole body shaking.

For years, her father had patiently tried to explain-to deaf ears-how the spider was more scared of her. Yeah, right. She knew that someday one of those hairy, ugly suckers would kill her; she’d even dreamt of it. It would wrap her in a sticky cocoon, leaving only her nose and eyes uncovered. She’d have to watch as the eight-legged killer approached with its fangs bared, hungry for lunch. And, when her end came, she hoped her ghost lingered long enough for her to haunt her dad and say “Told you so.”

Josie freely admitted she wasn’t a brave person, and her fear wasn’t limited to spiders. Itemizing the things that freaked her out, though, would take too long, and she had an interview to get ready for. The idea of trying to sell herself and her abilities to a new employer made her nervous-make that scared the bejesus out of her-but she didn’t have a choice. She’d had to quit her previous job after the owner made some unwelcome advances. She’d only barely escaped his pawing and tendered her resignation by e-mail, unwilling, and unable, to face him again.

However, her landlord wasn’t likely to care that her unemployed status was because of sexual harassment. Not to mention, she still had to eat. She’d swallowed her trepidation and scoured the help-wanted ads to find the perfect job. Now, if only she could pretend confidence for her upcoming face-to-face meeting with the company owner. A meeting that she simultaneously dreaded and looked forward to, for the voice on the phone-deep and wickedly sexy-had sent shivers down her spine. The good kind. Not that she intended to date anyone she worked with. Ha, like I’d ever muster up the courage to try. However, it would be interesting to see if there was a hot body to match the voice. He’s probably short, has a comb-over, and married.

Nevertheless, she dressed carefully for the interview she’d finagled, reminding herself that this should be a piece of cake with her spotless resume. The butterflies in her stomach mocked her inner pep talk.

Armed with a small can of Raid in her bag-perfect for muggers and bugs alike-she caught the first of two buses to reach her destination.

The company, located in a warehouse in the docks district, wasn’t exactly a prime location, but beggars without jobs couldn’t be choosers. As she got off the bus, Josie eyed the gray edifice with its trademark rows of windowpanes set high and the several, rollup, bay doors. Since they were all shut tight, she made her way to a gray door to the side marked Office. After taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked in.

Chaos met her. A noisy cacophony of forklifts, music blaring, and men talking. Really big men who suddenly, as if controlled by one mind, stopped what they were doing and turned to look at her.

Caught by so many eyes at once, she felt like a bug under a microscope, and it took all of her will not to turn and flee. Her eyes, in a millisecond, scanned the various rugged faces turned toward her. She found herself visually captivated by one man in particular-a giant of a man whose chest strained his shirt and whose tousled dark hair begged for a hand to brush it. Within seconds of noticing this manly piece of eye candy, she found her gaze snagged by another equally big man with a carefree grin and wavy blond hair.

Logic dictated they should scare her. They were, after all, huge and eyeing her like some yummy treat that had landed in their lap, but she warmed instead under their frank appraisal. So this is what the books mean when they talk about instant attraction.

She took a step forward, meaning to introduce herself and ask for directions to the office, when her gaze was caught by a movement in the upper corner of the vestibule. From a dusty web, layered thickly where the ceiling met the wall, dangled a spider-a huge spider-that, as if sensing her regard, spun to face her. Josie took a step back, terror riveting her in the face of the large arachnid with the hairy legs. When it began dropping down… It’s coming for me!… all reason fled her, and she whirled to escape. Good-looking men or not, job or not, irrationality won, and she quickly exited the building to escape the eight-legged monster.

As she quick walked her way up the sidewalk, she pondered something odd: for despite her phobia, and mouth-drying fear, she had an urge to go back and somehow brave the critter waiting for her. Damn it, I should have pulled out my Raid. So that she could find out the names of the two men who’d woken her libido. Totally out of character, and it just went to show her just how attractive she’d found them. For a moment, she allowed herself a quick fantasy of dating one of those hunks, of being his woman. Her body shivered, pleased at the thought.

Of course, first I’d have to decide which one is hotter.