Cyprien frowns, reaching down to rub his sore foot. I don’t know. I just know I did.

My gods. I bring a hand to the bridge of my nose, exhaling a shallow breath as I try to calm myself. Watch where you step from now on. You’re lucky you didn’t alert one of those horrible creatures to our loca⁠—

Shut the fuck up! Fenryr interrupts, bringing a finger to his lips as his eyes scan the shadows. Be quiet for a second. I think I heard something.

We form a protective circle around Dagny, our muscles twinging and primed to strike down anything that would dare have ill intent toward our mate. And then, from deep within the shadowed forest comes that rhythmic, low-toned clicking—piercing through the stillness and filling my veins with adrenaline.

Fenryr whips his head to the side, his mouth wide and eyes filled with a terror I’ve never seen before. “Cover Dagny no⁠—”

He doesn’t get to finish. Before the last word passes his lips, a giant white ball of movement slams into his side, knocking him off his feet and sending his body cartwheeling through the air with a piercing scream. My muscles coil, preparing to lunge after Fenryr when another sound makes its way to my ears, clearing my mind of anything else and freezing me to the spot.

Dagny’s horrified gasp shudders through the clearing as my head whips toward her, finding her eyes wide and face paling as she gazes at something standing just past the tree line.

I shift my gaze to the side, and a bolt of horror spreads through my veins at the sight of the massive white spider demon crawling out from the shadows. All eight of the spider's milky white eyes hone in on Dagny as it rears up on its four front legs, the clicking sound replaced with a low-toned hiss as the creature inspects her small frame, debating whether the fight will be worth it.

That horrific clicking breaks the air once more, vibrating beneath my skin and slipping between the cracks in my ribs, then stopping my heart as a dozen more arachnyx materialize from the shadowed forest. The horde surrounds us in the next blink, their mandibles tapping together and filling the air with a chorus of gut-churning chittering sounds as they prepare to strike.

“Oh gods,” Dagny whispers, her voice hoarse as she takes in the horrifying creatures. “Holy fuck… we’re going to die… we’re going to fucking die…”

“Shh.” Malice brings a finger to his lips, his eyes scanning the horde of arachnyx, carefully assessing each twitch and slight movement. “It’s okay, little one… everything is okay…”

“I fucking hate spiders,” she whispers, sounding close to tears.

“I know,” Malice says, shifting his eyes to her briefly. “But you have to be brave. You have to calm down.”