Page 299 of The Spider Queen
“Nice to meet you,” he said pleasantly. “The two behind me are Archie and Damian.”
I gave a halfhearted wave over Jax’s shoulder. Archie and Damian raised their own hands in greeting before dipping low and flying out of sight through a cloud.
“Can I ask a question?” I felt more relaxed knowing I wasn’t in any danger from the gargoyles. I was just being returned to mymaster. I sniffed disdainfully at the thought—but that was not Jax’s fault, obviously. He was at the mercy of Lucifer, as was I.
“What if I say no?” he asked in amusement.
“I’ll ask anyway.”
He grinned. “Proceed.”
“Why do you have such normal human names?”
He paused a moment. “Because we were once human.”
I blinked. “You were?”
“Yes. We were wicked humans that were turned to stone for a hundred years as punishment for our evils. After a hundred years we awoke to find ourselves here. There’s an enclave of us.”
“You do penance. Does that mean you are eventually absolved?”
“Some crimes are too atrocious to be forgiven,” he said, his tone bleak.
Wariness skittered down my spine, but curiosity still won out. “Why do you still have patches of stone on your skin? Why are your teeth stone?”
“To remind us of the cold hearts that once beat in our chests, and the fact that we were once vicious predators.”
I bit my lip, wanting to ask him what his crime against humanity had been, but then I realized I didn’t want to know.
He glanced down at me, his eyes dark and frozen. “You will not be able to ease our burdens. Not even with your gift.”
“How did you know about that?”
Jax’s smile looked like a grimace, but he didn’t answer my question. He dove and my stomach leapt into my throat. I clutched him tightly around his neck, which caused him to chuckle.
I was lost in my swirling thoughts as the cloud we flew through darkened like shadows. A moment later, a flash of lightning sizzled through the sky. Jax tipped to the left, narrowly missing the blaze. Even though part of him was made of stone, I couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t feel the pain of it.
“The Prince is pissed,” Jax said in dry enjoyment.
“Mercurial to say the least,” I muttered. “Do youhaveto return me to the Tree?”
“It is preferred.”
I frowned in thought.
“Can you take me somewhere else?”
We flew through the rain and thunderstorm to the tower in the clouds. Jax deposited me on the ledge and then hovered there for a few moments. I gripped the edge of the ornate doorframe; the wind was whipping my hair in front of my face, and I didn’t want to let go to push it back.
The last thing I needed was to be flung over the ledge and then have to beg Jax to save me.
“Thank you,” I said to him, reaching for the iron door handle.
He frowned.
“For bringing me here. Instead of the Tree.”
“It won’t stop him. He’ll come for you here.”
