Somewhere along the way, I’ve come to care for the arrogant jerk.

I love him. Not that I want to admit that to myself, but isn’t that why I’m not going to return to Earth? Why I’m going to let that connection thread snap and take with it my hopes of living past all this? Because I can’t abandon Aron.

Because I love him.

I am such an idiot.

Shaking my head, I bury it in my hands again, marveling at how stupid I must be to fall for a guy that’s been nothing but an arrogant prick since I met him. A guy that holds me tightly and strokes my hair, who touches me and makes me come because he wants me to think of him and only him. Who got jealous when he thought Solat was flirting with me. Who won’t let anyone touch me because he wants to be the one touching me. I wipe away my tears, sniffing.

Yeah, Aron’s a jerk and a half, but I still love him. His arrogance is the perfect foil for my salt. He doesn’t care that I’m a potty mouth, that I’m surly in the morning, or that I have a soft heart underneath all my vinegar. He likes all of that about me.

Thunder crashes outside, and I lift my head, surprised. Uh oh. That’s not a good sign.

I get to my feet, rubbing my temples. So far, no brain-shattering migraine, which means this is just a show of temper and not an actual drawing on his powers. Even so, I need to find Aron and talk to him, calm him down.

I head down the ramp, mindful of what the Spidae said. Bottom of the tower. He’s there. I head in that direction, picking up my football and my skirts so they don’t drag on the floor. I can still see the discarded strands everywhere at the Spidae’s feet and fight back a shudder. I can’t imagine those were anything good.

Another blast of rage echoes through the tower, and I wince as the parapet I pass by lights up with lightning. The sky outside is fading to twilight, the evening sun bleeding red across the horizon. I need to find Aron before it’s dark because I don’t see a single torch, and I don’t want to think of what’s waiting in the shadows. I clutch my football to my chest, suddenly a little afraid of this tower and its denizens. I know I saw a giant spider in the room with the Spidae. I don’t want to know what he eats.

I mean, the answer could be “travelers” like Yulenna suggested. Then all my choices will be made for me. I bite back the hysterical laugh bubbling in my throat and walk a little faster.

I pass by a new pair of rooms, where I see Markos and Kerren lying on pallets on the ground. They get to their feet at the sight of me, Kerren pulling out his sword. I shake my head, indicating that they should stay, and continue on. The next room has Solat and Yulenna, but they’re completely unaware of me, judging by the way Solat looks like he’s trying to suck Yulenna’s face off. Okay then. I don’t say anything to them, just continue on as more thunder rumbles.

Aron’s the one that matters. I have to get to him.

Every crack of lightning, every peal of thunder hurts my heart. Not in a physical sense, but in an emotional sense. I know Aron’s hurting. He’s upset, and I want to help him.

He thinks he can save you.

Has my big arrogant jerk fallen for me, too? My heart hammers at the thought, and it makes me speed up.

I can hear Aron before I see him. The boom of his voice carries through the hall, shaking the cobwebs as I approach.

“You have to let me see her! She is mine!”

“I do not have to do anything,” the Spidae says, the voice cold and utterly familiar. It sounds just like the man I left upstairs…but this is future, isn’t it? Unless the one I talked to was future. Unless they don’t have divisions like that at all. Unless he was just fucking with me the whole time.

Entirely possible, given that he’s a god of fate. Or an Aspect of one.

Thunder crashes again, and I inwardly wince, imagining Aron’s fury. My head is still okay, and when I put a finger under my nose, it’s still dry. No nosebleed. This is all just flash.

“You don’t understand,” Aron’s voice carries as I hesitate outside the doorway. “I hurt her. I have to let her know I didn’t mean to. I have to make it up to her. She’s mine to protect. My responsibility.”

“Why should I let you see her at all?” the Spidae asks.

Thunder crashes so loudly that I jump. “Because she’s mine,” Aron roars, fury making the small hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The air is charged with lightning.

“And look at how you break your things.”

The thunder dies away.

I’m surprised to hear this—that Aron’s anger is over me. That he’s demanding to see me. Wasn’t the whole purpose of coming here to find out where Aron’s other Aspects are? Wasn’t that the whole goal?

“Tell me what you need from me,” Aron says, his voice deadly calm. “I know you have her hidden away somewhere in this tower. Tell me what you need to return her to me.”

“Well, you can ensure me that you will not harm her after we’ve gone to the trouble of saving her.”

“You know I would never—” More thunder, but it dies just as quickly. “I need her back, my old friend. I need you to return her to me.”

“Mmm.” There’s a long pause, and I wonder if I should enter the room. Just before I decide to step forward, the Spidae speaks again. “What if I told you that you could have another anchor? Surely the raven-haired wench would suit your needs.”

I stiffen, horrified. That fucking bastard. Is the Spidae trying to replace me? I’m convinced now more than ever that the fates—the spider gods—are toying with us, holding information over our heads and using it to confuse.

“I want no other anchor. I need no one but Faith. She is mine.”

“Any anchor will belong to you, Aron—”

“Faith is MINE.”

I wait to hear more thunder, but instead, all I hear is a faint, eerie chuckle. The Spidae laughs. “Have you fallen in love with a human, Aron? After all this time? How many Anticipations have you gone through and never given your heart? Such a thing has never occurred before. You know no good can come of a mortal pairing with a god.”

Silence.

My heart pounds in my chest, and the only sound is that of my quick breaths.

“What if I told you,” the Spidae says, “That to ascend to your place in the Aether you must destroy her?”

I hold my breath. Is that their game? Turn us against one another and see which one of us breaks first? But if so…the Spidae has to know I’m listening. He has to know I’m here. He knows what I chose.

“Impossible,” Aron says after a moment.

“Is it?”

“You spin lies to confuse me.”

Fuck yeah. You tell ’em, baby. I silently fist-pump, wishing I’d had the balls to go back and give the Spidae hell for throwing so much misery on me.

“Fate is a tangled web,” the Spidae agrees, amusement in his voice.

“Just let me know she is safe,” Aron says, and there is such weariness in his tone. “Nothing else matters but her.”

“She is safe. I do not keep her from you to play games.”

There’s a long, slow exhale of breath.

Aron was…holding his breath? He was that worried about me? Does he not realize that I was just upstairs chatting with the other Aspect?

I clutch the football to my chest. He really does care for me. He might even love me, in his Aron-ish way.

“You know you cannot take her with you, Aron,” the Spidae says, and his tone is surprisingly gentle.

“I am an Aspect and she is my anchor. That is all that matters.”

I can practically hear the scowl in his voice.

The Spidae laughs once more. “Yes, well, your anchor awaits you, my lord of storms.”

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