"Meaning," Azriel said softly, "that it feeds the darker souls, be they human or spirit."
"So, basically, it's the beginning of hell on earth?" Two steps and I'd be in the living room. My stomach began twisting into knots. I flexed my fingers and forced reluctant feet forward.
"Basically, yes."
"Great." As if the weight on my shoulders wasn't already enough, I now had the sanity of the masses to worry about.
I entered the living room and saw the body.
Or rather, the body-shaped parcel.
Because Hunter had left out one very important fact when she'd described Wolfgang's death.
Not only had he been sucked as dry as a fly caught by a spider, but he'd been entangled in the biggest damn spiderweb I'd ever seen.
Chapter 2
"Oh god," I said, and immediately backed away. Unfortunately, I couldn't retreat far, because Azriel was right behind me. I might as well have backed into a concrete wall. "She could have mentioned some kind of spider got him. I hate spiders."
"Whatever was responsible for this death was something more than just a spider," he commented, a slight trace of amusement in his voice.
I scowled up at him. "You think?"
He obviously didn't catch the sarcasm, because he added, "Either that, or this was the work of a multitude of spiders, and the pristine nature of this house precludes that possibility."
A multitude of spiders . . . A shudder went through me at the thought. I rubbed my arms and forced my feet forward again. Wolfgang had died lounging comfortably on the well-padded leather sofa that wrapped around the corner of the room. He was fully clothed, though his shirt was undone to his belly button, and his tie and shoes lay on the floor near the coffee table. His feet were crossed at the ankles, and there was a dreamy, relaxed expression frozen on the remains of his face. He'd obviously died totally unaware that anything untoward was happening.
The web that encased him was anchored to the floor near his feet, then spun up his legs and along the entire length of his torso, enclosing his arms and his body in a fine, transparent filament. Two tears on either side of his belly button indicated the puncture site and, if the size of those wounds was anything to go by, we were dealing with a damn big spider.
Another shudder ran through me. I took a deep breath that did little to ease the growing sense of horror, then stopped near his feet and flared my nostrils, drawing in the air and sorting through the scents. That odd, alien aroma was stronger here, but it didn't appear to be coming from the body itself but rather the surrounding air. It was as if the scent of the creature had so heavily perfumed the room that it lingered long after it had gone.