Carpathian 22 - Dark Predator

his head to stare at her. His hands fell away from Lea’s throat. Lea slid to the spider-covered floor of the hole, coughing, desperate for air. DS staggered backward, half turning toward Marguarita. He reached one hand toward her just as Esteban threw another shovelful of dirt over them.
    Marguarita stepped around DS, and tugged at Lea’s arm. She had to get her up. She knew she had to get Lea on her feet or they’d never make it out of the grave. They couldn’t take the chance of the dirt imprisoning them.
    Lea staggered to her feet at the exact moment DS sat abruptly. He looked up at both of them with shock on his face. Marguarita realized she still held the knife and nearly opened her hand to drop it.
    Keep it. You may need it. As Esteban shovels in the dirt, step up. You can help each other out of the hole.
    She wanted out desperately. DS was dying in front of her. Spiders streamed up his body, covering every inch of him until she couldn’t see his face. It was like a scene from a horror movie. She couldn’t look at him—or the spiders. She looked up at Esteban. Maybe Lea could get through to him.
    Esteban seemed intent on burying them alive, burying the spiders. Looking up at him, she didn’t think there was much hope. He had a strange slack-jawed expression and his movements had become mechanical. Lea opened her mouth to call out, coughed and grabbed her throat.
    Marguarita shook her head, warning her to stay silent. Something was terribly wrong with Esteban. He didn’t look as if he even knew what he was doing any longer. As long as he pushed the dirt back into the pit, she found if they stood to one side and allowed the dirt to pile higher, he created a way out for them. She feared if Lea distracted him, he might try to find another way to kill them.
    Eventually some of the spiders made their way to the surface. Instead of dispersing, they crawled to Esteban. He didn’t seem to notice even that. He filled his shovel and threw the dirt and returned for more like a robot. The spiders moved over his boots and up his legs, a steady stream of them, silent and stealthy, the numbers growing. Beside her, Lea held her breath and gripped Marguarita’s shoulder.
    “I have to warn him,” she whispered, the words barely audible. She sounded hoarse and immediately went into another coughing fit.
    Marguarita shook her head, fearing Esteban would try bashing them over the head with his shovel. She couldn’t imagine trying to stab him. DS’s body toppled over, a slow-motion action that drew her attention in spite of her resolve not to look. The spiders appeared to be a moving blanket with a second stream steadily climbing out of the pit to swarm up Esteban. Her stomach lurched and she turned away from the hideous sight.
    Esteban suddenly frowned and looked down at himself. The spiders were already moving up his neck and face. Every part of his body was covered, weighed down with the sheer mass of small bodies. Hundreds turned to thousands. He dropped the shovel and screamed. The moment he opened his mouth, spiders poured in, rushing down his throat, cramming themselves inside, filling his eyes and nose. Esteban fell backward, his boot heels drumming in dirt.
    Stop it. You have to stop. You’re killing him.
    Of course I am. Zacarias was still so calm. Did you think I would ever allow such a man to live?
    He’s Lea’s brother.
    She is better off without him. I must rest. Alert Cesaro.
    He had already dismissed Esteban from his mind. She knew there was no use in arguing, but she tried anyway. We don’t have the right to take his life. It’s murder.
    He attempted to kill you both. He allowed his friend to beat both you and his sister and he would have stood by and allowed his sister—and possibly you—to be raped before you were murdered. I will not argue with you.
    He was gone. She felt the loss instantly. After being filled with him, the isolation, the complete sense of being alone was overwhelming. Thankfully, Esteban rolled out of sight and the continuous drumming of his boots faded into silence. The spiders had abandoned both Lea and Marguarita for the two men, leaving the women a little dazed and confused and slightly ill.
    “We have to get out of here,” Lea said in her hoarse voice. Tears streamed down her swollen face. “We have to help him.”
    Marguarita wiped DS’s blood from the blade and slipped the knife back in the sheath, pushing it down into her pocket just in case. She spat to make