Page 35 of The Spider Queen

“Thane,” I murmured. I’d never heard of such a name.Can we try it again?I nudged with my mind.

Yes.

Excitement bubbled up inside me. I’d never blown off class before, but I planned on doing it now.

Give me a moment.

I’ll be here.

I slipped out of my room to see Jonah and Anita kissing by the front door.

“Later, Poppy,” Jonah said when he saw me.

“Bye.”

Anita shut the door behind him and turned to look at me. “Aren’t you going to be late for class?”

“I’m skipping it.”

She frowned. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

“Ah, I didn’t sleep well,” I lied. “I just need to lie down for an hour or two.”

“Okay,” she said, not looking like she believed me. She picked up her bag and hoisted it over one shoulder. “By the way, you left your cell phone on the coffee table. So you weren’t talking on it. Why did you lie?”

“You’re going to be late for class,” I reminded her, without answering her question.

“We’re not done talking about this. This is more than just sleepless nights, Poppy. And I’m no longer going to sit by and let you lie to me. Which by the way, you suck at.”

She left the apartment, leaving me to contemplate how to explain the unexplainable.

Are you coming back?Thane asked.

Shaking off my confrontation with Anita, I thought about Thane and this insane discovery.

How far does this connection go? Is it like a walkie-talkie that craps out?

Why don’t we find out?

Chapter 12

Borrowing Anita’s car, I drove forty-five minutes outside of Charleston to the swampy part of John’s Island while conversing with Thane in my mind. Our communication was not limited by space, apparently.

I parked on a hill overlooking wetlands. It started to drizzle, and I wanted to see outside, so I kept the car on, the windshield wipers flicking rain off the glass.

Why me?I asked again, for what had to be the tenth time.

Thane refused to answer. There were many questions he flat out declined to reply to. Why we could speak, why his coloring was changing, why he was in a glass cube.

My phone chimed. A text from Hunter. I shot off a quick response before setting it aside.

My turn to ask you some questions,Thane said.

Maybe I’ll answer them, maybe I won’t.

Fair.

What do you want to know?