Book Five: Chapter 38

“Have you ever run across one before now?”

“I hadn’t. I’m still young for my kind, and the Arachne had largely migrated to Europe. Between the big cities clustered together and a population unfamiliar with them, they were better able to thrive.” Yuki paused, then looked back. Her ears twitched. “You feel that?”

He stopped and looked where she was looking. The forest was silent, other than the occasional thud of falling snow. “I’m not picking up on anything dangerous, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Yuki frowned. Her tarot cards appeared in her left hand, and she fanned them out. “I feel like we’re being watched.”

“Maybe some of the Nirumbi got locked out?” He readied the rifle, his finger resting on the trigger guard. While not a sharpshooter by any means, he had been able to earn the Marksmanship merit badge when he was a scout. If anything came out of the woods, he was confident he could at least hit it.

“Not Nirumbi,” she said.

They stood this w