Never by K. D. Mcentire Page B

Piotr fought to keep his mind to himself.
    Piotr's chest was aching, the pain ramping up the closer they got to a thicker mass of the webs. He…no, they…pressed a hand to his/their ribs, silently willing the pain to disperse. The last time he had felt this kind of pain had been before Sarah, the Lost girl, had healed the Lady Walker's poison coursing through Piotr's system, before Sarah'd buried her fingers in the diseased, overcome shell that acted as a body and blessedly burned the pain away.
    But…when Sarah had healed Piotr, had she destroyed the spirit web seed growing within? At the time Piotr had assumed so—there'd been no niggling pain, no ache in his gut to tell him otherwise—but now the outcome wasn't so certain. Piotr's insides, where they didn't ache, tickled…as if something small was growing there.
    Wendy, gasping, yanked her hand free. Lily, frowning, brushed her palm against Wendy's elbow and Wendy twitched away, terrified for an instant that she'd be yanked into another soul's body, but Lily's touch was calming and cool. Nothing like the quiet havoc of Piotr's malfunctioning body.
    Troubled, Wendy tucked into her little corner, rebuffing all attempts at conversation as the spirit webs grew thicker and wilder around them.
    They left the bridge, headed for the hotel at the top of Nob Hill.The going was slow—even at this time of night, the streets were flooded with people staggering from place to place. Most were laughing, raucous, unaware of the spirit webs wrapping around their bodies and digging thin, pointed tendrils into their hearts, heads, and guts.
    One rip-roaring drunk woman stumbled up to their car and pounded on the hood, laughing and demanding a ride. Her face was coated with a thick mesh of web; the tendrils had worked their way past the corners of her mouth and were snaking down her throat. Her low-cut dress couldn't cover the fine weave of web that curled around her entire body—she wore the web like a bodysuit, from head to heels, and the web was growing thicker by the second, feasting on her years and willpower.
    Chel cringed away from the window. “Can't you hurry?” she hissed to Jon.
    “I'll run someone over,” he snapped back, hunching over the wheel and trying to see past the mass ropes of web dangling down. The closer they got to Nob Hill, the heavier and thicker the spirit webs became. “I'm having a really hard time differentiating between living and dead as it is. Don't make me add to it.”
    A long, undulating howl cut through the air, originating deep in the heart of the forest, near the Palace. Even the living stilled as the howl rose and broke on a high, rough note, only moving again once the echoes had faded away.
    “I don't like the sound of that,” Elle murmured suddenly, breaking the utter silence in the back seat. “I think our Walker-eating beastie buddy's back, Pete.”
    “You may be correct,” Piotr replied, palm pressed flat against his gut. He would not look at Wendy but she found that comforting. She needed a little space after that intense dive into his head. “But we can't concern ourselves with the monster at the center of the forest. It is a dog, da ? So long as we do not breach its territory—”
    “You mean like we're doing now?” Eddie asked. He'd takenWendy's hands in his own, their fingers wound together as they sought familiar comfort. Wendy saw Piotr's face twist as he spotted their linked fingers and she felt a stab of sadness at his quickly smothered dismay but she wasn't willing to let Eddie go. They'd been friends forever; Piotr had to accept that.
    “We should be fine,” Piotr insisted, but Wendy knew that he wasn't so certain. Wincing, he gripped his chest again. No one else seemed to notice his increasing distress but Lily. She said nothing but Wendy noted the knowing look in Lily's eyes, the drawn frown that darted across her lips. Piotr's pain had caught her attention, she wouldn't be willing to pretend everything was fine