Book Five: Chapter 87

“Oh, I will only be honest with you, Mike Radley.” Those crimson eyes glowed, as if burrowing into Mike’s soul. “You see, I wanted to do this long before you took notice of this place. It would have been so easy to take this land, to become part of the Great Game before you even knew what was happening.”

“So why didn’t you?”

Leeds shook his head. Mike still couldn’t see his features. “Because the spell I used to get everyone in required too much time. I couldn’t accomplish it while that human was about, the father of the Arachne. On more than one occasion, he disrupted my runes without even knowing it. When he died, I only had to wait for the spiders of the forest to slumber to complete my plans.”

“My dad?” Velvet lowered his gun. “You were afraid of him?”

“Afraid is the wrong word, little spider. I respected him. He demonstrated true dedication to defending this place and an attention to detail that his progeny lack.”

Yuki started to ask something, but