Chapter 31: The Spider's Web — Part One
The unknown contact never showed.
Cole arrived at the coffee shop at 9:45 AM, fifteen minutes early, and found a table with clear sightlines to both entrances. He ordered an espresso he didn't intend to drink and waited.
By 10:30, no one had approached. By 11:00, the morning crowd had thinned and the staff were giving him curious looks. By noon, Cole accepted that the meeting had been a test—or a distraction—and left.
Someone wanted to know if I'd come. Wanted to see how I'd respond to a summons.
The implications weren't comforting. Whoever had sent that text knew about his meeting with Adalind at the coffee shop where Renard's people operated. They had his number, which meant they had access to information networks Cole didn't fully understand.
Another problem for another day. Tonight is about the spider.
He spent the afternoon running final reconnaissance on Sarah Winters' property. The Victorian in Alberta Arts sat quiet in the December grey, its cheerful exterior hiding the predator inside. Morris's car arrived at 7:30 PM, right on schedule.
Cole waited.
Morris emerged at 9:47 PM.
The tech executive moved slowly, gripping the porch railing as he descended the steps. Even from Cole's surveillance position across the street, the man's deterioration was visible—sallow skin, hunched posture, the shuffling gait of someone decades older than his actual age.
She's been feeding aggressively. He's got maybe two weeks left if she keeps this pace.
Morris drove away in his Tesla, probably convinced he was suffering from some mysterious illness that doctors couldn't diagnose. He'd never know how close he'd come to dying in the web of a creature that shouldn't exist.
Cole gave Winters thirty minutes to settle—enough time for post-feeding lethargy to set in, not enough for her to fall asleep. Spinnetod were vulnerable after meals, their metabolisms focused on digestion rather than defense.
At 10:17 PM, he approached the house.
The back door lock was a Schlage deadbolt—good quality, but nothing Cole couldn't handle with the picks he'd added to his kit after the Volk operation. The mechanism yielded in ninety seconds, clicking open with a soft snick that his enhanced hearing amplified to something almost thunderous.
The house was dark.
Cole slipped inside, using the Hundjäger tracking sense to map the interior. Kitchen—clean, empty, smelling of disuse. Dining room—dusty, rarely entered. Living room—
Wrong.
The tracking sense screamed warning before his conscious mind could process the data. The air carried traces of something organic and sticky. The darkness felt occupied in ways that had nothing to do with Sarah Winters being home.
Cole reached for his pistol.
Webbing exploded from three directions simultaneously.
The strands hit his arms, his chest, his legs—sticky, strong, wrapping around him with the efficiency of something designed over millions of years of evolution. His hand never reached the weapon. His feet left the ground as the web contracted, hoisting him toward the ceiling.
"The Collector."
The voice came from above. Cole twisted in his bonds—which only tightened them—and looked up.
Sarah Winters descended from the corner where wall met ceiling, her body unfolding from impossible angles. She was fully woged, and Spinnetod woge was nothing like what he'd seen before.
Eight limbs arranged around a torso that had lost most of its human configuration. Mandibles clicking beneath compound eyes that reflected what little light leaked through the curtains. Spinnerets at her abdomen still trailing the webbing that held Cole suspended.
[THREAT DETECTED: SPINNETOD, ACTIVE WOGE]
[RECOMMENDATION: ESCAPE IMMEDIATE]
Working on it.
"Did you think I didn't know you were coming?" Winters circled him on the ceiling, her many legs finding purchase on surfaces that shouldn't support weight. "The underground talks, Collector. They've been talking about you for weeks."
The Collector. That's what they're calling me.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't insult us both." She dropped to the floor with disturbing grace, landing in a crouch that put her face level with Cole's suspended form. "You killed the Skalenzahne in October. The Blutbad boss and his entire operation two weeks later. Then Marsh and his bodyguard in Lake Oswego."
She knows. They all know.
"Four Wesen dead, four different species. And you—" She reached out with one limb, almost caressing his face. "You smell like all of them. How is that possible?"
Cole's mind raced through options. The webbing was incredibly strong—stronger than anything he'd anticipated. Even with his combined strength, he couldn't break free through pure force. The strands had some elasticity but no real give.
"The underground has theories," Winters continued, circling him like a spider examining trapped prey. "Some say you're a Grimm with new tricks. Others think you're something older, something from the legends. A Collector—one who takes from the dead."
"And what do you think?"
"I think you're going to tell me." Her mandibles clicked in what might have been a smile. "After I've fed enough to make you cooperative."
She moved closer, and Cole felt something brush against his neck—a feeding appendage, thin and sharp, designed to pierce skin and drain the life force beneath.
Seconds. I have seconds.
The webbing held his arms pinned to his sides, but his head had some mobility. The Spinnetod was close—too close, confident in her trap.
Cole threw his head forward.
The headbutt connected with Winters' skull with a crack that echoed through the dark house. Skalenzahne strength amplified the blow, and the Spinnetod staggered backward, mandibles snapping in surprise and pain.
The webbing around Cole's right arm loosened—just slightly, just enough.
Now.
Reviews and Power Stones keep the heat on!
Want to see what happens before the "heroes" do?
Secure your spot in the inner circle on Patreon. Skip the weekly wait and read ahead:
💵 Hustler [$7]: 15 Chapters ahead.
⚖️ Enforcer [$11]: 20 Chapters ahead.
👑 Kingpin [$16]: 25 Chapters ahead.
Periodic drops. Check on Patreon for the full release list.
👉 Join the Syndicate: patreon.com/Anti_hero_fanfic