I reached to the left and brushed my hand down the wall, looking for the light switch. Something skittered across my fingertips, and I yelped and jumped backward—straight into Azriel. He grabbed my arms and steadied me.
"It was only a small spider," he said.
I snorted. "I don't care if it's big or small; they're all spiders and they all deserve to die."
"Spiders are generally harmless creatures."
He reached past me. A second later, I heard the light switch being flicked up and down. No light came on, so the bulb was obviously blown.
"Can I remind you that this is Australia? We have some of the deadliest spiders known to man."
"That does not alter the fact that the one that touched you didn't actually harm you."
"That isn't the point." I stared at the darkness a moment longer, then drew Amaya and took a wary step. Lilac flame flared down her sides, providing enough light to view the immediate area. The room was small and furnished sparsely. There was a dressing table with an office chair in front of it, as well as a small sofa and a minibar fridge. I stepped farther inside and swung Amaya around. There was nothing and no one else in the room. Our musician had fled.
"Well, I guess that points to her—" Something dropped onto the back of my neck, and I swiped at it irritably. "What the hell?"
Something else dropped, but this time it raced under the collar of my shirt and down my spine. I yelped and flung myself backward at the wall, hoping to squash the hell out of whatever it was.
"Risa, I think we'd better get you out of here."
I gulped, my heart in my mouth and fear twisting my stomach. "Why?"
But I knew why even as I asked the question. There were more than just a couple of spiders in this room. I raised Amaya and looked up.
The entire ceiling was alive and moving.
Chapter 7