Tales Of The Sazi 02 - Moon's Web (33 page)

She threw herself back into my arms for a moment and I held her close. When we finally broke apart, there were tears in her eyes and a few stray ones had managed to find their way into mine, too. The keening was growing faster. It was time to go. I nodded and gave the thumbs up sign to Lucas just before I put on the storm windows to close down the connection with Sue. I'd have to trust that she would be safe. I couldn't afford to be two places at once.

Lucas and I moved toward the back of the building, leaving Bobby to find his own entrance in the front. When we reached the hole in the wall, I stopped Lucas, and threw open the screen door so that I could watch the spider through Sue's eyes. It was still nest building, oblivious to our presence. That bothered me. I had to assume that there was a reason it was so confident in a location so close to wolf headquarters.

"We'll move slow. Something about this set-up smells bad."

Lucas nodded and responded in a similar whisper. "I was thinking the same thing. It's too confident. Either it's stupid— which I doubt— or it's booby-trapped the place."

I raised my brows. "Or there are more of them than we think. There could be guards." I could see Lucas shudder and take a deep breath. "I would rather not believe that. But let's load up every spare pocket with ammo, just to be safe."

I wish we would have had the time to go back to the apartment for my military camo. The pants have pockets all down the legs. They're incredibly useful. But the jeans were what I was wearing, so they would have to do. I had Lucas hold onto my legs so I could stick my head inside and recon the place before we crawled inside. He could pull me back out quickly if there were problems. It looked clear, which— again— bothered me. I tapped my left foot twice, which was the signal that everything was okay. He let go of my legs and I shimmied inside the building, slow and silent. The interior was pitch black, but we couldn't afford a light. Once I was standing, I listened for any movement, but there was only the sing-song wailing in the next room. I stuck a hand outside the wall and gave the thumbs-up. Lucas pushed in the duffel and then slowly worked his way inside until he was standing beside me.

We couldn't afford to speak, so I was surprised to hear his voice. But then I realized it was all in my mind—

literally. I winced a bit, because his intrusion into my head was painful.

I don't do this often, Tony, but it's an ability that most pack leaders have. It's part of the package. You won't be able to answer back, though. Let's move to where there's a little more light so we can see hand motions. I nodded and stepped forward, but then stopped suddenly and put a strong arm across Lucas's chest to halt him in his tracks.

He put a hand on my shoulder. What is it? Did you hear something?

I shook my head. It wasn't something I heard, it was something I saw— or sort of saw. I tried to focus my eyes as I peered into the darkness.

Yep, there it was again— glowing fragments; ribbons of something pale and silver right in front of us. I took a deep whiff before I remembered it was useless.

I took Lucas's hand off my shoulder and put mine on his. I pressed down, which is the universal signal for

"stay down." I moved forward an inch, and then slid sideways along the faintly glittering line of luminescence. When I got to the adjoining wall, I swore silently. It was a goddamned web! It covered the whole room from wall to wall. Now that I was looking at it from an angle, the glowing ribbons formed a pattern I recognized. I reached down carefully and felt along the floor until my fingers found about half of a brick. I pressed it against one of the radiating strands. It stuck to it and I couldn't pull it away. Nor would the webbing budge from the wall, even when I pulled sideways on the brick with all my strength. Just fucking wonderful! No wonder she could be confident— and we'd nearly walked right into it. I was starting to be grateful for my second sight. I returned to Lucas, who was standing right where I left him. I had no choice— I leaned over and whispered into his ear. "It's a web, right in front of us. You've dealt with them before. Is there any way past?" The hiss of air from him told me he was swearing internally. I heard him reply in my head and I winced again. No, damn it! I should have remembered! It was how they caught all the eagles. These are Sazi webs, meant for Sazis. Once you're stuck, there's no escape. I hope Bobby isn't already trapped. Something clicked in my head. If it was a Sazi web…

I leaned and cupped my hand to his ear once more. "Would silver cut the strands? I've still got Nikoli's push knife."

Lucas started. I don't know. We never had any in the jungle. But you'll have to try it. I can't see the damn thing. And, be careful. They usually had noisemakers attached, like bells or hollow sticks to tell the spider when the web was full.

I nodded and removed the silver push knife from the boot sheath. I inched along with my back to the wail once more, being really careful not to touch the thing. When I got to the right angle, I eased the knife in front of my face and pressed it against the glowing strand just under where the brick was stuck. There was a hiss and a small wisp of smoke floated up. The strand released from the wall and the web sagged a bit. There was a small sound above— probably the noisemaker Lucas had mentioned, but it wasn't loud enough to be noticed over the spider's trill. Unfortunately, the smell might bring the spider just as quickly as noise would. I knew what burning silk smelled like. I used the knife to release two more strands along the wall and a couple on the floor, so that one corner was free, but the integrity of the web remained. Still, there was no way we could get under the web without being trapped, unless…

I moved back to Lucas and leaned close. "Pick a long gun you can do without." Why? His voice sounded suspicious in my head.

"We'll have to lift the web to go under it. She'll be able to smell it if I do any more." He sighed and handed me his AR-15. I hate to do this, but we have handguns that will do the same thing. I hope you know what you're doing. It'll be a lot slower to kill her.

I shrugged. "If we don't reach her, we can't kill her at all."

Lucas nodded. I took the rifle and eased back to the corner of the room. I held onto the sling and swung the rifle the tiniest bit along the floor, until it touched the loose strands. It stuck like it was bonded with super glue. Then I pulled on the sling and damned if the whole corner didn't move up and out. But then I had a problem. If I tried to attach the web to itself to hold open the hole, the swivels on the sling would shift and I'd get caught, too. If I threw the rifle against the web to attach it, the bell would sound. Nope— we'd have to do it the old fashioned way. I put the rifle on the floor with the sling safely away from the webbing and returned to Lucas.

"You'll have to trust me on this," I whispered in his ear. "You can't see the web, so when you reach the adjoining wall, go on your belly and keep your face in the dirt to go under. Keep going until I tell you to stop." My eye twitched when his voice seared across my brain. I really don't like this.

"Yeah? Well, get over your control issues," I hissed. "Because we've got work to do. I'll slide through the duffel and then figure out how to get myself through when you're past." There was barely enough room for one, so getting me to hold the web and Lucas to crawl along the floor, avoiding something he couldn't see or smell, was quite the trick. I had to step over him repeatedly in a little dance until he was face first to go under, with his legs rising up the wall at my back. I straddled him and used my feet, kicking his legs lightly to tell him the direction to move. He would slide an inch, stop and wait for me to direct him another inch. God, I hoped this was the only web we had to deal with. It was a pain in the ass. Once he was through, I kicked the duffel forward until it was completely on the other side. Now, for me…

I looked the whole scene over while Lucas stood frozen, waiting for me on the other side. We didn't know if there were any more webs, and I couldn't see past this one to tell him.

I looked carefully at the rifle, to see exactly where it was attached. Okay, it was mostly the top of the barrel and receiver. With one hand holding the rifle taut by the sling, I gripped the trigger guard and took the weight onto my other hand. I released the sling and transferred it to the bottom of the stock and pressed the whole works forward lightly. The rifle stuck to the webbing just as planned, but when I let my fingers loose, my right thumb remained firmly attached to the web. Shit!

What's wrong?

My hiss of a response sounded annoyed, even to me. "I'm caught. Give me a second." Lucas started to reply in my head, because I felt a flash of power. But he changed his mind and kept silent. Oh, this was going to be a joy! The whole right thumb was attached, down to the palm. And to top it off, the frigging silver knife was in my right boot! This was a test of balance I hadn't anticipated. I lifted my right foot and crossed it over my knee. It threatened to touch the web. Then I tried to slide it backward and around my left leg, but met the wall. Nope, I couldn't reach the knife while my thumb was attached without making the situation worse.

But if a silver knife can cut it…

I pulled my Taurus from the back of my pants and thumbed the chamber release with my left hand— not easy, but doable. I flipped the wheel sideways and used my forefinger to pull the cartridge release backward a bit and then pulled a bullet out with my teeth. Then I reversed the process until the revolver was safely in the holster and the bullet was still between my lips.

I held onto the bullet by the brass and eased it forward— no sense ruining both hands. I pulled backward on my thumb until it was taut, and steeled myself.

The silver bullet seared both flesh and silk and I gritted my teeth against the pain. I don't know which one gave out first, but the two separated. I was glad that Sue was safely behind the storm doors. That hissing sounded painful.

I belly-crawled under the web and stood beside the old wolf. I whispered tersely while my thumb pounded. "I'll heal, but I'm glad I'm ambidextrous. Let's get moving."

We'd only gone a few feet when the singing stopped. I felt Sue blast through the storm windows. Tony! She heard you, or smelled you or something. But she's moving your way. Get out!

No doubt she smelled me burning my own flesh! But there was no getting out. I pushed aside her fear and closed the door again, gently shutting her out.

"It's coming," I said quietly to Lucas. He tensed and nodded.

I kept my eyes trained on the darkness while Lucas unloaded the duffel. He handed me weapons, and I didn't even bother to figure out what they were before I slid them into pockets and my waistband. I'd know them by feel when I drew them to fire.

I told Lucas that there were no other webs as far as I could tell, and fortunately we couldn't smell the reeking stench of the spider as we neared the door to the main warehouse. I looked up and could see the three cocoons near the ceiling. Bobby was nowhere to be found. I could only hope for the best. We decided silently to take the high ground and each climbed opposite staircases to balconies that overlooked the main floor. There was no movement, but there was sound— the whisper of wind through broken panes of glass near the roof, dripping water from somewhere in the depths of the basement, and a ticking, scuttling sound of movement to my left. No, now overhead. I looked around me frantically and caught sight of a blur of light as it raced across the ceiling, toward—

"LUCAS! Lookout!"

He turned and saw the spider just as she pounced from an overhead beam. He dropped and rolled, while I bolted down my stairs and raced across to climb his. He moved fast, but not fast enough. One fang caught him in the upper thigh. A brilliant flow of raw white light exploded and the spider was pushed back, but only briefly. I pulled two handguns at random and was pleased they were both semi-autos. I ignored the pain in my thumb and I emptied them both in the spider's direction. The silver bullets caught her in the chest and cut one leg off at the knee. She fell backward off the balcony. The resulting crash told me she hit hard. But when I glanced over the balcony, she had disappeared. But, at least she was wounded for the moment. I raced over to Lucas, who was gritting his teeth in pain. The leg was already swollen and the entry point of the fang was black.

"Are you going to be all right?"

He chuckled a bit, but it was a raw, bitter sound. "No."

"So you'll go paralyzed like the girls?"

The bitter laugh turned sharper, like jagged, broken glass. "Don't I wish! Nope. Different venoms for different uses. She used the good stuff on me." I knew what that meant. It was only a matter of time. He pulled out a pocket knife and cut off the pant leg just above the wound, and then used the cloth to tie a tourniquet around his upper leg at the joint. "And I gotta tell you— it really screws up my plan to kill her. I won't be able to walk any second now, so you'll have to do the hard part. I hope you're as fast as Jack."

"Tell me what I have to do." The words were cold and sure, because he was right. This thing couldn't be allowed to live, much less breed. "I don't know how fast I am. I've never put it to the test." He explained his plan, and by the time he was done, my eyebrows had nearly raised right off my forehead.

"You have got to be kidding!"

"It's the only way, Tony. It has to be heart and then head."

I looked at him incredulously before glancing around again to watch for the spider. "You're expecting me to go find this thing, let it chase me, get it to this balcony, and then somehow get behind it, slide underneath it while firing my weapons at her heart while you're firing through it— toward me, I might add, while your hands are shaking like crazy— to cut off the head. Is that about it?"

Lucas nodded, satisfied. "That's about it."

I shook my head. "You're insane. Did your buddy, Jack, ever tell you that?" He actually smiled for a moment, even through the pale skin and sweating. "Frequently. But it works— as long as you're fast enough. You've seen it, Tony. You'll have to push yourself to your absolute limit to beat her. But for the record, I managed to cut off the head last time after getting bit. I can do it this time, too."