Mick leaned over. “Between you and me? I hate these things. But I hate quitting more. Now eat your damn steak before I finish it for you.”

The Throne of Spiders

The three sat on log stumps inside the cage. A solar-powered screen flickered to life. Julia Morris’s grinning face appeared, but her voice was unusually serious.

Danny sat down. He picked up his fork. His hand trembled.

Priya’s breath hitched. She could handle snakes, heights, even the dreaded fish eye smoothie. But the thought of spiders crawling on her skin while she tried to enjoy a steak? That was a new layer of hell.

The Throne of Spiders was a carved wooden chair draped in velvet. On a small table beside it sat two plates of perfectly cooked steak, golden roast potatoes, and a shared bowl of chocolate mousse. Above it, a thick glass dome swarmed with spiders—legs twitching, bodies skittering over one another.

The screen displayed: