Aerik and Valentine stare at the Demon Queen, who laughs as she steps back away from them. She's so busy gloating to them, but I then seize my opportunity to call Nermov to the room. She's a badass cat, who comes each time I call, regardless of how loud, or where either of us are.
"Nermov, sic 'em!" I whisper.
"She will be coming with me," says the Demon Queen, laughing triumphantly.
I then hear the sound of Nermov appearing, and just as the Demon Queen is stepping back, Nermov slashes her in the back. The Demon Queen stumbles, releasing me. Nermov pounces, digging her claws into the Demon Queen's skin.
Aerik runs to my side, and he pulls me back away from the Demon Queen. Nermov snarls, and as the Demon Queen screams again, there are a dozen or so demons that appear in the room. They all have weapons in their hands, and as they close in on us, Aerik morphs his massive wings. He folds them between us and them.
Valentine raises his hands, and red energy appears in his hands. The magic swirls, and then, it bursts free, wrapping around the demons. They freeze midstride and Aerik pulls me back from them, shielding me with his wings. Nermov snarls as she paces back towards us, the Demon Queen is frozen with Valentine's power.
The three of us keep backing away, and Nermov hisses at something behind us. I turn, and see someone I'd hoped I wouldn't see.
The Flesh-Strider. He smiles down at me, his vicious, fanged mouth too long, too big for most normal people. I stumble back, staring up at him, and Aerik turns, too.
"What the fuck?"
The Flesh-Strider is a gray skinned creature with an elongated mouth, full of razor sharp teeth. His bloody red eyes seem to lock on me, and he drags his claws against the wood steps as he descends. He stops at the second-to-last step and snarls, tilting his head and causing his bones to crack as he does so. The Flesh-Strider wears no clothes, and his black veins beneath his skin seem more prominent than ever. The demonic shapeshifter approaches us, and Nermov snarls.
"Down, kitty kitty," hisses the Flesh-Strider. He tilts his head, his gaze flicking to Aerik once more.
Nermov's claws elongate, and her mouth opens into four petals once more. Her back arches, and then, gray leather wings erupt from her spine, curling around her body. The demonic shape-shifting cat is always ferocious, but tonight she is ten times more angry than ever. Probably because of the whole fact of our library being under attack.
The Flesh-Strider hunches forward, and he growls back at her. But Nermov doesn't back down. She's taller than us in this form, her claws at the apex of her wings scraping the ceiling. She advances toward Flesh-Strider, and he laughs. The raspy sound is downright evil.
"We need to get upstairs," I whisper. "Luce is there. She's alone."
"No, Karlyk is there, too," Aerik whispers. "But yeah, I get it. We need to make sure that Lucy's okay."
The Flesh-Strider leaps, moving too fast for me to see. He is batted away by Nermov, and he crashes into the far wall. I am pulled toward the steps, Aerik holding my hand as we quickly ascend the steps. We race into the main floor of the library, and the smell of blood fills the air.
Panic seizes me, and I call out for Lucy and Karlyk.
Suddenly, there's a loud cracking sound above us. And a big, creepy Spidermaiden descends from above on her silken string. She laughs as she sees the horror on my face, and Aerik pulls me against him, wrapping his wings around me. I glance around, and I see Nermov appear beside us. She has a cut on her leg, but she's otherwise fine.
"This is insane," says Aerik. "What do we have to do? What can we do?"
The Spidermaiden laughs. "Oh, how delicious your fear smells. I cannot wait for you to fill my belly!" She skitters towards me and Aerik, so lightning fast, I don't have time to duck as she grabs me by the arm, her claws digging into my flesh. Blood trickles down my arm, and the Spidermaiden chuckles, leaning down to lick the blood from my arm.
Aerik screams in outrage, and he flies at us, at the same time Nermov does. But then the Spidermaiden leaps into the air, riding her silk up to the ceiling. Aerik banks, and flies up, as does Nermov. The two of them rush to meet us, but then, the Spidermaiden coils me up in her silk.
I cry out as the silk wraps around me, and I struggle. She lifts me toward her mouth, which grows bigger, and I am halfway in her massive maw before Aerik's hands grab me, and pull me free. The Spidermaiden screams in rage, clawing at the air, and Nermov dives down, slashing her across the chest.
Aerik flies me away from the Spidermaiden, and we land on the other side of the library. Lucy and Karlyk are here, both of them hunkered down in the corner, behind the stacks. Lucy looks up at me, her dark blue eyes full of tears. Her face has been slashed, and I can tell her faerie blood is trying to heal it fast, but they don't. Something is wrong.
Karlyk unfurls her wings, getting ready to fight, to defend Lucy, when Aerik cries out. He is wrenched from my grip, and I whirl around. He is dragged across the floor, his wings flapping like mad. I look up as the Spidermaiden drags him back from me, the silk wrapped around his legs. He screams out, and I race after him.
"Charli! No!" Lucy cries.
But then, the Spidermaiden coils the silk around his wings, too. "Aerik!"
He tries to thrash or move at all, but then, the Spidermaiden lifts him up into her arms, laughing like a lunatic as she ascends on her silken string. I try to reach out to him, but I can't reach him, as they're above the library stacks.
"Aerik?" I call.
"Charli, go! Run!"
His voice is cut off, as the silk wraps around his mouth. The Spidermaiden chuckles as she returns to the other corner of the library, placing him in her web. The Spidermaiden is a half woman, half spider. She has a torso of a woman, and the lower half of a massive spider with all eight legs. And she grins as she wraps herself around Aerik, who is thrashing again.
"No," I whisper. "Nermov. Rescue!"
I hear Nermov scream. The sound is terrible, and I bolt in her direction. She is fighting the Flesh-Strider, and he has slashed her chest. Lucy and Karlyk run after us, both girls racing after me.
Fade and Farley appear then, both looking as exhausted as we feel. Farley's brown hair is messy, and her amber eyes are dull. She looks at me, and says, "Aerik?"
"Spidermaiden," I say, breath hitching in my throat. My voice breaks on that word, too. "She .... has him."
"I'll get him," Fade whispers. They vanish once more.
Farley flicks her wrists, and two daggers appear in her hands. She runs toward the Flesh-Strider. Karlyk looks at me. "Is it always like this?"
"Yes," says Lucy, as I say, "No."
Valentine appears in the center of the room, and he turns to the Flesh-Strider, who laughs as he sees Valentine. Nermov is still fighting him, but she comes to me, her leg bleeding. She limps to my side, and I brush my hand down her side as gently as possible.
Nermov purrs, and faces the Flesh-Strider.
"Stand down, Nermov," I say. "Good girl."
"So," the Flesh-Strider growls. He looks at Valentine. "You are the one who's going to seal me away."
"Yes," he says. Valentine winks at me. "Go, help your friends. I have this."
Fade appears beside me. "Charli. She has her book, and she's going to drag Aerik into it with her. If that happens ...."
"We will lose him," I whisper. I turn to Lucy and Karlyk. They stare, wide eyed.
Fade holds out their hands, and I take them. Lucy and Karlyk do, too.
"Where are we going?" asks Karlyk.
"The Spidermaiden left the library."
"Ah, fuck," I whisper. I look over to Nermov. We can't all leave the Library. I mean, Karlyk can. But ....
"We need to save Aerik," says Lucy. "We can't let him get eaten by that.... thing."
"What about the siege on the library?" Fade asks.
"I need you with me," I say. "But what can we do about Aerik? And the library? Oh, gods...."
Lucy looks at me. "I'm going with you, Charli."
"So am I," says Fade.
"I'll stay here, help the Underworld King, and your.... cat," says Karlyk.
"Are you sure?" I ask, turning to her.
She nods. "Yeah. I just want to join you. I want to help you with the library, anyways. So, let's go and split up. You can go, find Aerik. But be careful, you three."