#belsevere

This wasn’t the center of an outbreak like they initially thought- Rather, it seemed a gargantuan BOW had gone and made its home here. Hunnigan wouldn’t have sent her in alone if she knew that, but it still wasn’t something she could rightfully leave standing.

That was until the creature that lived here suddenly made itself know, gabbing her by the face out of nowhere and lifting her off the ground just enough that it made trying to escape difficult.

Getting a look at her through a single squinted eye was a struggle, but it told her most of what she needed- While the body was a spider, the top half was undeniably human.

Maybe she could be reasoned with? Monsters like them were only trying to survive at the end of the day.

Though, none of that mattered if she was about to become lunch, and she grabs the womans wrist and arm and squeezes as hard as she can, digging her thumb and index finger into the soft muscle and carpal tunnel, either to break it or to make it hurt enough to let go.

The adrenaline spike immediately caused her virus to spike, though. Her breathing becoming strained and wheezing as the harsh, yet sweet smell of acetone and fire- the unholy marriage of G and T-veronica- flooded the space.

If he supposed she possessed the ability to read, Jakob would've tossed a dictionary overboard and bid her find the words predator and siren among its Bible-thin pages. The look on her face would've been worth the trouble of a ruined book; the hell was a bit of waterlogged lambskin or smudged ink when life--storms, scars, and people (fins and all)--proved itself a helluva lot more interesting?

And interesting Nylnysa was. Down to the skittish flicker of unnaturally bright eyes, the uncertain way her bare legs once carried her, knees wobbling like a newborn calf, across the ship deck. That indignant tail splash the morning Maksim tried to toss her a handful of honeyed bacon like he was feeding a common dog...

"I no more keep Lys than I, you. She wouldn't cannibalize my men, either."

Leaning his elbows heavily against the rail, cheek to knuckle, Jakob watched her with more amusement glittering in his eyes than his slash of a mouth should've allowed for. Her confession didn't shock him; Lysandra had an unrivaled way of unsettling men and rankling at women with her beauty and sweetness alone--and that was before they'd learned of her proclivities. He tipped his head as Nylnysa lingered closer; the chain of gold that dangled from his earlobe seemed to wink at her in the overhead sun.