Page 59 of Loving Amari

And then I see everything.

I’m tethered not just to my spider children, but to every arachnid in existence all over the world. The connections slam into me one after another. A jumping spider in Sydney, Australia watches through a window as a couple argues about money, their voices rising. A garden spider in London spins an intricateweb in the corner of a newly opened bookstore, listening to the owner’s nervous hopes for success. Tofi crouches on the rooftop of the academy, her many eyes scanning for threats, fierce and protective, ready to die for those she guards.

A tiny spider in Tokyo observes a businessman closing a major deal, unaware of the creature witnessing his triumph. A tarantula in the Amazon senses the approach of a jaguar, freezing in its burrow. A black widow in California guards her egg sac with lethal devotion.

And there, in the vents of Brookstone and Blackburn, a spider I don’t recognize watches as Alexis argues intensely with Henry. Their voices are sharp with tension about next moves and failed plans. About Nathaniel’s usefulness. About what comes after Wintermoon falls.

I grin at that connection especially.

Everything goes pink. The white void disappears, reality folding in on itself.

I’m standing in the black void of limbo, but I’m not myself anymore. I’m a goddess. I’m power incarnate. I’m the Guardian of Realms, Queen of Limbo, Mother of Spiders ascended. And I understand everything now. Every thread. Every connection. Every possibility.

Aya’s standing in front of Verto, her ghostly form flickering weakly. “No, don’t protect me. Let me die first. I deserve it.”

I look to where my shield used to be. The mob of spirits bursts through, charging toward us.

I just hold up my hand. Power oozes from my fingers, pink and devastating and absolute. It wipes out the entire mob of spirits like dust in the wind. They dissipate into nothing with barely a thought from me.

“Holy shit.” Aya spins to face me, her eyes wide. “You went through with it. You ascended.”

I look at her, really look at her with my new sight, and see everything. Her centuries of pain. Her regret. Her loneliness. Her desperate attempt at redemption. Her sacrifice that sent me here.

“Time for you to go home.”

“What? I can’t.” Her eyes widen with something like hope and fear. “Mother Fate said I have to stay here until?—”

I shoot pink magic from my palm. It forms a web around Aya, delicate but unbreakable, wrapping her completely until it envelops her like a cocoon and turns brilliant white. She disappears, sent back to the white void of Mother Fate where she belongs. Where she can finally rest. Where she can finally be free.

“Thank you for making the right choice,” I say to the empty air where she stood. “See you around, friend.”

Now it’s just me and Verto in the void. I look at my massive child, my protector, my guardian. He approaches cautiously, sensing that I’m different now.

“Go rest up in your web, baby.”

Verto hesitates.

“I’ve got this.” I smile at him, projecting love and certainty through our bond. “I promise. Go rest. You’ve earned it.”

He obeys reluctantly, skittering away into the darkness of limbo until his massive form fades from view. I can still feel him through our connection, settling into his web, exhausted from the battles.

I close my eyes and focus. My new power extends like threads across reality, connecting me to everything. I see through a thousand eyes at once. Ten thousand. A million. Every spider on earth is now my eye, my ear, my messenger.

And there he is. Nathaniel, walking through a door of limbo into what looks like the front entrance of the academy. His spirit form is more solid now, strengthened by Solomon’s stolenmagic. He’s about to use what’s left of his power to kill my children so he can use the possessed little shifters to infiltrate the royal island. To get to Solomon. To complete his plan.

He doesn’t know I’m here. Doesn’t feel my presence. Doesn’t sense the goddess I’ve become.

I open a portal to the academy with a mere thought. The tear in reality is effortless now, like breathing. I step through, my form solidifying in the living realm.

Let’s end this shit.

20

AMARI

Istand over Torin’s sleeping form, watching the boy’s chest rise and fall with steady breaths. The blue aura still pulses around him, faint but undeniable. He’s still possessed. Still trapped inside his own body while that bastard uses him as a puppet.

The boy’s face is peaceful in sleep. His sandy locs fall across his forehead, and his small hands are curled into loose fists. He should be dreaming about playing in the forest with his friends, not being used as a vessel for a vengeful spirit