With another shout, the man punched his fist into the ground, making the entire floor shake with his fury. I scrambled for purchase, throwing my arms out to catch myself as I fell to my knees. The movement made his head snap over to look at me, and then a surge of power and hunger rose up inside of me as our eyes locked.
Out of my control, webs shot from my fingertips and wrapped around the guards.
And this wasn’t the usual few strands that slowly worked their magic. This was like five thousand strands immediately hooking onto the guards and swathing them in the silky ropes. They were thicker than usual—and from the way the guards were struggling to break them free—they were stronger too. Much stronger.
“Oh shit,” I breathed, as power lashed out of me, sending more and more webs to his attackers, watching the guards drop like...well, flies in a web.
When the guard behind me made a choking sound, I noticed that some of my webs had come for him, too. They were wrapping around his neck like a noose, ready to hang him from the ceiling.
Well, that escalated quickly.
A screeching sound made me drop to my knees, its high pitched shriek making pain lance through my system like thick knives. My webs immediately receded as my head sliced with pain.
“Enough, Cheryl. Thank you for your assistance,” a bored voice called at my back as the sound was cut off. I turned my body with excruciating steadiness as I faced the source of my pain. Cheryl was standing with blushing cheeks and downcast eyes, and one of the scientists stood there beside her, removing noise-blocking headphones.
“Tomb, it’s as if you want to be locked up,” he said with a roll of his eyes while walking up.
His black shoes clicked on the ruined marble tile, stepping over webs and pieces of plaster as he approached. I looked up at him with tear-stained eyes when he stopped in front of me.
“Oh, Miss Coven. I see you were involved in this little hissy fit too,” he said, tsking under his breath at all the webs the guards were still tearing away from their bodies. “You and Mr. Tomb here seem to have a problem with cooperating, so you both can spend a few days without food in the tank.”
“But...you and I both know what happens…” my voice trailed off as I glanced at the guards and the stone man at the end of the hall. “When I get hungry.”
The scientist smiled even more broadly, showing me that he didn’t give two fucks about my ravenous spider and her needs. “I’ve seen firsthand what happens when you’re hungry, Miss Coven. I always enjoy the show.”
I felt wave after wave of disgust hit me like a punch to the gut.
This entire experience was so incredibly violating. I could try to convince myself that it was just feeding, that it was just a necessary transaction where others paid with their life so I could live. But there was something sinister and foul in the scientist’s hungry gaze that made me feel sick to my stomach. It was me on full display, and they were getting off on it. And now, they were willing to risk another hybrid like me to study me even more. To punish us for defending ourselves.
Guards swarmed in on me, but I didn’t put up a fight. If I was going to have a chance at not feeding off the strange stone man’s life essence, I needed to preserve all the energy I had left.
Chapter 6
The tank was named appropriately. It was probably a bit larger than my cell room, but it felt even more isolating. The shape of a capsule, it was buried deep under the winding halls of Spector, and took thirty minutes to get to. The human side of me hated it.
But my spider? She felt right at home, enjoying the seclusion and the company.
Tomb was brooding in the corner, looking at me like I was a rock in his boot. I couldn’t help but stare, though. He was completely naked, nothing but chiseled stone muscles for as far as the eye could see.
And a cock, of course. I know I should’ve been mostly concerned about the protruding, hard, scary-big cock staring me in the face, but I was trying to be mature in this weird situation and not put all of my attention on his rather impressive appendage. I found myself way too curious about it. Like...did he jack off while he was in his solid stone form? Could he jack off? Did his cum come out like sand?
See? Way too curious.
“You might as well sit and get comfortable,” he said in a gruff voice. I hadn’t even realized I was pacing the floors until he’d said that.
“How long do they usually keep people in here?” I asked before placing my back against the wall and slinking down it until I was a pile of frustrations on the floor.
He shrugged a shoulder, the harsh light glinting off his body. “However long they like.”
I studied him, wondering why the hell my spider had this urge for me to slide closer. “So you’ve been put in here before? They must really like you,” I said sarcastically.
Tomb grinned, which was a somewhat odd look coming from a walking, talking statue. “They’re gonna really like you too now. You probably shouldn’t have shot webs at them. Best you choose more carefully next time before fighting alongside me.”
“I don’t care who it is. If they’re fighting against Spector, I’ll fight with them,” I said vehemently. “Besides, my spider kind of acted for me. I wasn’t in total control.”
My
