Page 285 of The Spider Queen
Lucifer.
The embodiment of evil.
And yet, he hadn’t seemed evil to me. I sensed darkness, yes. Longing, definitely. The night we’d met at the masquerade, he’d been effortlessly charming.
But this encounter left me even more confused. He seemed manic.
I should’ve feared him. And yet…
How was I wrapping my head around this situation with such utter calm? And why hadn’t I leapt to the conclusion that I was insane or exhausted?
No.
I knew this was real.
Working my lip between my teeth, I looked at the closed door. I’d shut it because I hadn’t wanted to see the clouds, the reminder of my prison.
Lucifer’s words rang in my ears.
If you jump again, I will not save you.
It was a lie. If he wanted me dead, he wouldn’t have saved me the first time. He wouldn’t have put me up here.
I felt like Rapunzel in her tower, only I had no prince waiting to climb my hair to me.
I’d been alone most of my life, loved by parents who’d never understood me, who’d tried to hide their fear of me and their fearforme.
Herron was the only person in my life—Oh God, Herron. What would she do when she discovered I’d gone missing?—whom I actually considered a good friend. I’d let her in, as much as I was capable of letting anyone in.
I hid in the shadows of society. It was safe there. Safe, and terribly lonely. I sometimes felt like the quintessential orphan, peering through the glass window to watch the happy family eating dinner.
That had never been my life. And it certainly wasn’t my life now.
Fortune favors the bold, or so Herron kept telling me. I never listened, but the words rang true.
Was I bold enough to test Lucifer’s words against his actions? And why did I want to challenge him?
My heart thundered in my ears as I slowly traipsed toward the closed wooden door. I glanced out the window to see that the storm was still going strong, unleashing terror.
But I wasn’t afraid.
I grasped the iron handle. It hadn’t magically locked itself. Then again, why would a door to a room in the clouds need a lock if the occupant had no wings?
He didn’t expect me to disobey.
I clenched the doorframe and leaned over. Wind and rain swirled and blew in my face, causing my hair to slither like snakes around my head.
“Fight? Or flight?” I muttered.
I jumped, my arms outstretched like I could fly.
Down, down, down, I plunged.
But instead of sheer terror at the drop, I felt adrenaline course through my body, and my shoulder blades crackled like tiny fireworks were underneath my skin.
He didn’t even let me get close to the rocks below before swooping in to save me again. His wings flapped, the sound of them reverberating in my ears. I felt the intense vibrations in my molars.
I leaned in to press my nose at the column of his throat and sniffed.
