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The clicking sound intensified and the creature scanned them all with its eight eyes, seeming to consider which of them to kill first.

‘Yes. An arachne doesn’t usually wield shadow as well as webs,’ Torj replied, not taking his eyes off the monster.

‘Wonderful,’ Cal muttered.

Heart in her throat, with only her dagger in her hand, Thea reached for her magic on instinct, rallying the power of the storm within and without, waiting for that first flicker oflightning to spark at her fingertips, ready to unleash the chaos she craved.

I am the storm, she told herself, digging deep.

A shot of web came flying at her. Thea leapt from its path, rolling across the floor and flipping to her feet with a hiss of frustration.

Her magic was gone. She’d have to deal with this beast the old-fashioned way.

‘Warswords!’ she shouted. ‘Three-point formation!’

Thea didn’t look to see if they followed her command. She simply threw herself into action, springing off the stage, ducking the first swipe of shadow and dodging the next, running in a zigzag towards the creature’s body amid the darkness swirling around it.

Gods, she hoped Kipp would hurry up with the swords. She could hear the shouts of the others, could hear their cries as they rushed the monster in their own attacks, but she focused on her own path. If she could just get the dagger close, she could do some damage. All her dealings with shadow monsters had taught her that nothing was impervious to Naarvian steel —

She skidded to a stop, her blood running cold as several eyes latched onto her, burning with a bright, otherworldly malevolence.

And the creature scuttledup the fucking wall.

Shuddering in disgust, Thea flung several throwing stars. The tiny spiked discs became but blurs of silver as they spun through the air.

The thing screeched, the sound utterly blood-curdling, as two of the stars found their marks in its eyes and it slipped from the wall.

Wilder lunged forward, and with an almighty strike, stabbed the monster through the leg with one of his chair leg spikes, pinning it to the floor.

‘Thea, now!’ he shouted.

Thea threw herself into action, using the immobilised leg to wrangle her way towards its body, ducking swipes from its other legs, barely dodging a shot of sticky web that came from somewhere she couldn’t even see.

‘A little help!’ she ground out, before putting her dagger between her teeth and continuing her scramble through the rough surface of its legs, grimacing at the spiked hair that met her hands.

An iron poker soared through the air, spearing another of the arachne’s legs to the far wall.

The monster’s body jerked and Thea held on for dear life, slowly closing the distance between her and the human-like part of the arachne.

Its six remaining eyes latched onto her and Thea jumped, landing on the lower part of its body, palming her dagger. She had killed reapers and wraiths without magic; she could kill this monstrosity too. Surely in that purplish chest cavity there was a beating heart she could carve out —

A shout of pain – Wilder’s – caused her to falter, and suddenly, she was falling.

Thea hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the wind out of her and rattling her teeth.

Someone grabbed her by the arm and hauled her back, just as a wet mass of web slapped against the marble floor where she’d been a second before.

Panting, she looked around madly, seeing it was Kipp at her side.

‘Swords?’ she gasped, wincing at the pain throbbing through her body.

Kipp pressed the scabbards into her hand, but just as Thea went to unsheathe Wilder’s blades, a roar shattered the icicle chandeliers.

The arachne ripped its legs free in a shower of black blood. Darkness flooded the ballroom in a physical assault, sending everyone flying.

Thea’s back hit an upturned table, something sharp sticking into her side. But she was on her feet in an instant, swords in hand, the taste of ash in her mouth.

Slowly, the shadows receded.