Book Five: Chapter 185

“Non!” She reached into the gap beneath the rock to pull Velvet free, convinced that she had just stopped breathing. But the rigidity of the Arachne’s body indicated that it had been some time since Velvet had passed.

Stunned, Abella sat back on her haunches. How could this have happened? They had just been talking...right? Velvet’s lower half was sprawled out, her damaged legs forming a spiral beneath her. She was hunched forward as if asleep, her dog tags clutched in a single hand and tear stains down her cheeks. The blue blood of the Arachne had formed a pool underneath her body, and Abella watched as a drop of it fell from Velvet’s free hand and splashed in the puddle below.

It hadn’t been water dripping after all.

“Mon Dieu...” she muttered, then backed away and out of the cave.

Velvet was dead. In the light of the rising sun, Abella stumbled until she found somewhere to sit, the world spinning around her. She was no stranger to death, but