Page 300 of The Spider Queen
I grinned. “I’m counting on it.”
“It’s a dangerous game you’re playing,” he commented. “You can’t tame him. You know that, right?”
“Who said anything about taming him? I just want to get under his skin.”
“Not possible. He might leave you alone for days as punishment.”
I shrugged. “We’ll see, won’t we?”
“I guess we will.” Jax dipped his head and then gracefully turned in the air. His wings were spread across his back, and there, etched in the stone, was the unmistakable depiction of a snake.
“Wait!” I called to him before he had a chance to fly away.
He turned his head over his shoulder. “Yes?”
“Is that an asp?”
“Yes.”
My heart tripped in excitement. “What are the three?”
His gray eyes narrowed and seemed to grow even colder. “What do you know of the three?”
“I—the Sibyl.”
“She spoke to you?”
I nodded.
He maneuvered suddenly, somehow able to turn quickly despite his stone wings. They didn’t weigh him down like they should have.
Jax flapped his way toward the ledge, forcing me to step back. His gray skin was dusted with rain, but he made no move to brush it off.
“She hasn’t spoken since the three pearls went missing.”
“Three pearls?” I thought of the Sibyl’s riddle. I had one chance to find the three—three pearls it seemed. “What’s their significance?”
“Why did she mention them?” Jax fired back.
I crossed my arms over my chest, concerned that if I said too much, Jax would find a way to use it against me. But I needed answers and so did he, apparently. Maybe we could have a mutual exchange of information.
“Why is this so important to you?”
He blew out a breath of air and then folded his wings against his back. “You don’t trust me.”
“Should I trust any creature in Hell?”
His grin was cold. “No. No you shouldn’t. You’re smart.”
I sighed. “Look, you clearly have information that I’d like. So what do you say we come to an agreement? Tit for tat.”
He cocked his head to one side in thought. Finally he nodded. “One condition.”
“Shoot.”
“The Prince doesn’t find out that I was the one who told you.”
I shivered at the sense of foreboding. “He’d punish you, wouldn’t he?”
