False Gods by Nazri Noor

Author:Nazri Noor [Noor, Nazri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Published: 2020-02-19T16:00:00+00:00

22

We’d caught the spider-queen in the middle of doing – well, I wasn’t sure what, exactly. Her legs were carrying her around the underside of the great web, her head raised as she trailed her fingers along its length. On closer inspection, I could just see filaments of silk dangling from the web, and little spiders hanging from the ends. They were glimmering, too.

“I hope we haven’t intruded,” I said, careful to be respectful. “It seems that you’re very busy just now.”

Arachne smiled again, then spun slowly in place, her face turned up to the web above us. “It is no great concern, nephilim, I am merely doing what I always do. A little maintenance, if you will. A woman’s work is never done, or something to that effect, whatever it is you humans like to say.” She paused just then, bringing her hands together, favoring me with an odd grin. “Ah, but I hope you do not take offense to me calling you a human.”

“None taken,” I said, approaching slowly, the bag of fortune cookies rustling in my hand. “I’ve been human longer than I’ve been an angel, if that makes sense. I’m still figuring out that part of myself.”

Arachne chuckled, a sound that was both wondrous and frightening. She raised her hand to the strands of dangling silk, collecting one of the sparkling spiders. “Yes, that is true. My children told me that you’d only just learned to fly. What a fascinating gift that must be.”

My legs almost locked in place, but I pressed on, not wanting to show Arachne that her awareness had caught me off guard. The Fuck-Tons weren’t kidding. The spider-queen had eyes and ears everywhere, even in that distant, unnamed meadow that Raziel had taken me to.

“I’m not sure it’s for me,” I said, laughing softly. “It might take some getting used to, assuming I ever try again.”

This time I was just feet away from Arachne, and the closeness really impressed upon me the difference in our size. While her torso was indeed that of a human woman, her spider half was tremendous, each leg as thick and as long as a spear, each ending in a chitinous spike. One of those things through my body and I was a goner, guaranteed.

“For you, Arachne.” I held out the fortune cookies, lowering my head in reverence as I did. Hey, my momma taught me to be a good boy, but Carver taught me to commune right.

“How charming the nephilim is,” Arachne said, tittering as she reached out for the bag. “How sweet is the princeling.”

My skin crawled when she said the word. Arachne really did know everything. She smiled again as she took the bag from me, all eight of her eyes just visible through the gauze of her delicate veils. And up close, I understood why the spiders in the canopy, and the one on her hand, were sparkling. Each had a little gemstone embedded in its back, each a different color of the rainbow.

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