The judge continued to drone on and on and on. Each accusation became more and more redundant. At this point, I just wanted to get on with the process. I couldn’t handle the limbo any more. I closed my eyes and reached out to my spider for the last time, seeking comfort in her presence while I still could. I sought to mirror her emotions, sinking into how she felt about this deadly sentence to make sense of my own debilitating grief.
And she seemed content. Bored. She was...excited?
What the fuck?
My brow dipped in confusion, shocking me out of my pity party. What did my spider know that I didn’t?
“I would like to thank the supernatural community for banding together to take down these abominations with my guidance,” Judge Braxton boomed with pride from his spot on a nearby podium. Enforcers flanked him on both sides, looking at me with disgust. I glared back at them, imagined wrapping them in webs and consuming them whole. “I look forward to moving forward past Spector’s indiscretions. I look forward to living as the gods intended us to.” Cheers and yells littered the crowd. My spider laughed within me, amusement filling every cell of our shared souls.
We knew the truth. They just wanted to save face.
Judge Braxton then went on to describe in graphic detail how the council would ensure that we would stay dead. He described the beheading, the burning, the ocean’s depths that would consume our ashes.
“Motley, I love you,” Crow said beside me as a hooded figure carrying an axe started ascending the stairs toward us.
My breath stuttered in my throat and got caught on my panicked fangs. My only consolation was that Risk was safe.
This was really it. After days and days of waiting, we were about to feel a blade at our necks. The wait was over. It felt surreal almost. But this was happening. I was facing it whether I was ready or not.
I didn’t know what was worse—staying dead or regenerating inside a steel box that we’d never escape from. My entire body trembled.
“Hey.” Crow’s soft voice halted my panic, and I turned to look at his steady violet eyes. “I love you so much, Little Spider,” he said, hooking his pinky finger around mine since that was as far as we were able to reach with the magical bindings around our wrists. “My birds won’t ever stop looking for you—either in this world or the afterlife. We’ll find you, okay?”
I gave him a sad smile, wishing his reassurance held merit. I wanted to kiss his lips. Aside from the sadness in his gaze, he was calm. Crow was my sliver of peace. He was my support. My home. My eyes glazed over with tears. “Okay.”
I turned to look at Tomb next, and his eyes were already on me. He didn’t offer words of love or reassurance, but that was because Tomb didn’t need words. He bled love through his adoring gaze, instilling promises in my soul with a deep, penetrating look. His face was pure stone, not letting any emotions slip for the crowd to see, but I felt his love. I felt his adoration.
I realized in that moment how short our time had been. We didn’t have the eternity I craved, but it felt like I knew them better than anyone. Our relationship matured with damage, not with time. We grew together. We loved together. We suffered together. And now we’d die together.
I claimed every second of our bond and felt thankful for it in the end.
“Let the executions proceed,” Judge Braxton boomed while gesturing toward the hooded man holding an axe.
Enforcers stood at our backs, and they pressed us down to our knees with brute strength. Tomb struggled against them, refusing to bow in submission. Crow cursed and kept his eyes on me as he shrugged them off and knelt on his own terms. I dropped with grace, landing on my knees while looking up at the sunlight, letting the bright rays fill my blue eyes. I wasn’t sure when I’d see the sun again, or if I ever would.
The executioner walked up to us, and I looked at the hooded man. The axe he wielded looked big and imposing, and I kept wondering how my head would roll, how the splatters of blood would look against the clean blade. Would everyone laugh when we died? Would they cheer with triumph? Would Cheryl and Stiles be watching from afar? I saw my reflection in the shiny blade as blood pulsed in my ears.
My spider stretched out suddenly, filling my belly with giddy anticipation. A gasp escaped my lips as a deep tether within me snapped into place. Relief, happiness, and shining light bloomed inside of me, and beautiful lace-like webs descend from my fingertips that fell in intricate designs on the ground. I guess my spider was welcoming death with open arms.
The hooded man stood in front of me, his shadowed face hidden from view, but a sense of nostalgia and love overwhelmed me. The axe he wielded glittered in the sunlight, casting glares across my vision. He said two words I could barely hear over the cheering crowd.
“So risky.”
Shock shoved at my pulse. My mouth dropped open, and my eyes widened despite the glaring sun.
And then, all hell broke loose.
The stage burst into flames as he lifted the axe high over his head. But instead of the blade coming toward me, he turned at the last second and sliced behind me. I turned just as a rain of hot, sticky blood fell over the side of my face.
A heavy, wet noise dropped beside me, and I looked down to see a head rolling to my left, landing at Crow’s thigh.
Screams. So many screams as the crowd went fucking berserk.
Enforcers attacked the stage, only to be blanketed in furious flames the moment they got to the hellfire that circled us. The hooded man swiped the bloodied blade of
