Page 298 of The Spider Queen
Did she mean Lucifer?
I was in the middle of rinsing off my left foot when I heard the unmistakable sound of flapping wings.
“It’s about time,” I scolded, my voice cool. “Where have you—”
I turned and stopped mid-sentence, because it wasn’t Lucifer who stood behind me. It was three towering men, with patches of gray slate dotting their bodies. The one in front—the leader—stretched his huge wings, which were the same color gray as the blotches on his skin.
I backed up out of fear, my feet slipping in red mud.
He grinned, showing me teeth made of stone.
“We’ve been looking for you,” he said with a voice that rattled in his throat. His arm wrapped around my middle, and then I was skyborne, praying they were servants of Lucifer.
Chapter 13
The air was crisp; it burned my lungs and brought tears to my eyes. The body against mine was just as cold as the sky around me.
My heart thudded in my ears as I turned my gaze away from the clouds and looked at the chest I was pressed against. Up close, I could see one of the gray patches on his pectoral.
Without any thought, I reached out to touch it.
He snarled, gnashing his stone teeth at me, reminding me of a beast from the bookWhere the Wild Things Are.The blot of skin I’d felt had been hard yet smooth, like granite.
“What are you?” I demanded.
He looked at me with dark gray eyes. “Why? Are you afraid?”
“Should I be?” I tried not to shiver at the sound of his voice. If a rattlesnake could talk, it would sound like that.
“No. Though, most creatures that find their way into our domain don’t live long enough to tell the tale.”
“Your domain?” I frowned. “I thought all of Hell was Lucifer’s domain.”
“The red canyon belongs to the gargoyles.”
“Gargoyles!” I blurted out.
His eyes finally deigned to look at me. “Yes, gargoyles. What did you think we were?”
“Um, I’m not from around here,” I said mockingly.
And then I realized that I hadn’t felt an inkling of pain when he’d first touched me. Now that I was focusing on it, I realized I still felt nothing. I also couldn’t get a read on his emotions.
That had me second-guessing everything.
“Do you have a name?” I asked stiffly. “Or should I call you Lofty Stoned One?”
“Should I call you Cheeky Trespassing Wench?”
“Where are you taking me?” I asked, ignoring his jest.
“Back to the Tree.”
“I don’t want to go back there. I want to continue exploring.”
“That’s for the Prince to decide. We have our own jurisdiction, but we still answer to the Prince. My name is Jax.”
“Stella,” I grumbled.
