Page 74 of The Spider Queen

The lights flickered a few times and then winked out. The TV made a noise and then went black. A flash of lightning lit up the living room, making Thane’s black eyes glow. Even I wasn’t immune to the fear factor and let out an involuntary squeak.

“Sorry,” I said, pressing a hand to my racing heart. “Didn’t mean—just, sorry.”

Guess you are only human,he thought in humor.

I mentally harrumphed at him.

It’s only eight,Thane stated.It’s too early for bed.

We can watch Netflix on my computer until the battery dies. I reached for my closed laptop on the coffee table.

After another hour, my eyes struggled to remain open. I sprawled out on the couch and nestled my head on a couch pillow. I was asleep in an instant.

I dreamed of wasps. A swarm descended, landing on my skin, stinging me over and over. I cried out in my sleep, trying to wake up, but like in so many nightmares, I couldn’t seem to open my eyes.

Poppy.

Thane!

Open your eyes, Poppy.

I can’t. The pain—

OPEN YOUR EYES.

My eyes flew open, encountering darkness. The storm continued to unleash its fury; the sound of it was loud in my ears. A wave of nausea hit me hard and fast. I turned my head and threw up. Shakily, I leaned back down but refused to close my eyes. I was terrified of what would happen if I fell back asleep.

Why had my nightmare felt so real?

I ran a hand across my arms. Phantom dream-pain lingered on my skin, causing me to cry out in discomfort.

Thane?

Here. On the couch cushion.

I lifted my hand and rested it on the couch cushion. A moment later, I felt the brush of Thane’s legs against my palm. I brought him to my chest and let him rest there. A friendly cat would’ve been better in this situation, but I settled for the unique spider who had a way of calming me down by just being there for me. Maybe I was crazy, maybe I wasn’t, but in that moment I knew true comfort.

I wished Hunter was with me. I wanted to feel the warmth of him, knowing I could fall asleep. Safe. He would stop the nightmares—just like he’d stopped the sleepwalking.

Are you awake?Thane asked.

Yes.

My skin still stung, but when I ran my hand along my arm, I encountered nothing but smoothness. Those wasp stings had felt real. Too real. But that was my problem, wasn’t it?

At this moment in my life, I didn’t know what was truth and what was imagination.

I didn’t fall asleep until dawn.

I thought I knew insanity when I began to communicate with a spider. Turned out, that level of insanity had nothing on the past four days. Every time I fell asleep, the wasps were there, stinging me, numbing me into submission. And every time, Thane’s voice was in my head, urging me to wake up.

I hadn’t been taking the sleeping pills because I’d been worried that I wouldn’t be able to wake up from the nightmares. But now, it was getting to the point where I wasn’t even functioning properly. I wasn’t sure I had a choice anymore.

Wrung out and exhausted, I wondered if I’d ever sleep normally again. I missed Hunter. Our conversations were brief and scattered, and I didn’t mention my nightmares to him. He was busy in North Carolina.

It was the middle of the afternoon and I could barely stay awake. My eyelids drooped, but I forced them open. I dropped my pencil and reached for my tepid mug of herbal tea. No caffeine for me. My nerves were already fried.

Thane sat on the kitchen table, one of his legs gently pawing the paper I was drawing on. My cell phone buzzed causing me to jump and spill tea all over the sketch I was doing of Thane. Sighing, I answered the phone and forced a jovial tone.