When Audra approached the spot where Darius was held, suspended and immobile, he nearly died of panic. His warning taps seemed to have had exactly the wrong result; she’d come to check out the strange noise rather than running for help like he’d hoped. And in the meantime, he’d managed to get his claws stuck too, so there was no way to signal to her as she crept closer in the darkness.
His head was stuck in the right direction to watch as she came closer, a glowing cloud suspended over her head. It looked like a giant halo to Darius. It was both strangely fitting and quite impressive. He hadn’t known she could do that, and he only hoped he’d get a chance to ask her how.
When Rebecca confronted Audra, he thrashed about, trying desperately to free himself. The two people he cared about most in the world, and they were at odds with each other. He still cared about Rebecca, even if she’d made a stupid mistake that might cost them all. She’d done it out of love, and while he hoped she’d learn from that mistake, he couldn’t fault her for wanting to do anything she could to make things right. He felt exactly that way right now, only as stuck as he was, he could do nothing. It burned at him.
All of this flailing around accomplished nothing, although he kept on doing it anyway because he was desperate. But then another thought occurred to him. Perhaps if he thrashed away from the web and shifted at the same time, he might break free. It was worth a try. Anything was, because now the sand was lifting from the ground and Rebecca and Audra both looked strained as they tried to envelop each other in the miniature sandstorm. It hadn’t reached the spot yards away where Darius hung, but it might do so soon enough. He needed to free himself before all hell broke loose.
He strained against the strands of the web, trying to time his shift just right. As his body shrunk down into his human form, many of the strands pulled free, but not all of them. As quickly as he could, he shifted again, hoping to move fast enough that he didn’t get recaptured. Before his form had quite settled, he returned to human once again in a rapid-fire shift that drained every ounce of energy he had in his body. His skin tore in places as he finally pulled himself free of the web, and he gritted his teeth against the pain, falling flat on his belly on the ground. His muscles quivered, starved for energy, but he still managed to push himself to his knees. Audra. Rebecca. They needed him.
The stress of the repeated changes had distracted him, and he’d missed out on what was going on. So he was quite surprised when he looked up only to be hit in the face full blast by a wave of sand.
He snapped his eyes closed just in time, but the stinging sand pelted against his face. It seemed to find every bit of exposed skin that had been flayed by the spider web, and he could only be grateful that he’d landed on his belly. Some of the more tender bits of him were protected from the onslaught, and for that he was grateful.
It only lasted for a second, and then the air was still and dry. He didn’t hear anyone. Not Audra. Not Rebecca. No one.
Terror gave him strength where he’d had none a few moments before. He launched himself to his feet and staggered in the direction they’d been only moments before.
“Rebecca! Audra!” he croaked.
There! A body sat still on the ground, half covered in sand. The blonde hair instantly identified her—Audra. Still breathing. He knelt at her side and began cleaning the sand from her face even as he searched for Rebecca. But she was nowhere to be seen. Had she run off?
The alternative was unthinkable.
Audra began to cough as he brushed her face clean, and he couldn’t help it. He leaned down and kissed those grainy lips. She smiled weakly.
“Are you okay?” he asked, pulling her up to sit. As he did, strands of spider silk disintegrated off of her arms. He noticed that the bits that still clung to him were also evaporating into nothingness.
She nodded silently, coughing again. Little puffs of sand expelled from her lungs with every exhalation. Within moments, her breath had evened out, and she began to scramble to her feet. He followed suit.
“What happened to Rebecca?” he asked. “Is she…?”
But he couldn’t finish the sentence. He wouldn’t blame Audra if she’d had to end it, because Rebecca wouldn’t have wanted a life held captive in her own body by the djinn. He wondered if she’d been aware of what she was doing, or if the djinn had been pulling the strings all along. He hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to her. Maybe because the djinn knew that he of all people could have reached her no matter how deeply she was buried inside herself. He knew he could have.
“I put her in the void,” said Audra tentatively. She watched his face as she spoke. “She’s safe there. We can figure out how to get the djinn out of her and pull her out again. It’ll be like no time has passed for her; I’ve been in the void before myself, and it’s perfectly safe. She’ll be okay there, and the djinn can’t hurt anyone. Okay?”
She seemed anxious to reassure him, but he couldn’t understand why. After thinking Rebecca was dead, this was the best news he could have gotten. He threw his arms around Audra, his face breaking out into a wide grin.
“Thank you,” he said into Audra’s sandy hair. “Thank you so much.”
She nodded and slumped against him. For the first time, he realized she was trembling too. Shock? Pain? Exhaustion? He didn’t know, and his fear returned again in force.
“Are you okay?” he demanded, forgetting his own weakness in the face of hers.
“I’m just…so tired.”
Her face cracked into a giant yawn, and she pulled away from him only to stagger and nearly fall over.
“Here. Let me.”
Before she could answer, he swept her up into his arms. He would not drop her, no matter how many times he’d shifted or how much his muscles screamed for fuel. He would get her safely to the car, and he would drive her to his house, and he would clean the sand from her and put her in his bed where she could sleep safely. Then and only then would he find something to eat.
That is exactly what he did.