The Spider Queen

by Emma Slate

  “Have I been unkind to you?” he whispered when he was standing in front of me.

  “No.”

  “Have I taken anything without asking?”

  I shook my head.

  “My only crime”—his hand came up to caress my cheek—“is wanting you.” He looked at me for a long moment and then let his hand drop. “I wonder if you’re woman enough to want me back.”

  Chapter 12

  After Lucifer made his pronouncement, he scooped up Cerberus and then launched into the sky. A black shadow in the night. Not even the moon or starlight exposed him.

  He truly was the Prince of Darkness.

  I walked through the meadow of Eden and perched on the top of a hill. I watched the sunrise.

  Alone.

  Golden light painted the green grass and it seemed as though the land itself was waking. Far off in the distance, I was able to see the Tree of Life swaying in the sunshine. Its ancient beauty called to me.

  The night had been peaceful, beautiful, but the dawning of the new day—a new day in Hell—was majestic. I’d never been to any part of the world that had been as comparatively stunning.

  Hell was so beautiful I wept. I sat on the hill and cried as the sun’s rays shone through the leaves of the Tree and blades of grass.

  I cried for so many things. So many emotions within me that couldn’t be contained. They belonged to me—mostly. But I also cried for my biological parents and the years we had lost together after I left them. I cried for Lucifer. And every time I tried to summon up a geyser of anger, it would be obliterated by sorrow. By pity.

  He was alone, and he was lonely.

  I remembered the first time I felt him. I’d been nothing more than an embryo in my mother’s womb. Lucifer had reached out with his magic to touch me, to learn me. I’d felt his pain like it had been my own, but my mother had thought he was hurting me on purpose. He wasn’t.

  He’d chosen me because of what he knew I could do for him. Siphon off his grief and rage and pain and throw it away like it was nothing.

  He’d chosen me to be his personal balm.

  I should’ve been enraged over his cavalier selfishness, but even back then I knew I could help him. I’d wanted to help him. That was the part neither of us had addressed.

  That was something I chose not to dwell on.

  My parents had kept me confined to Purgatory to keep me safe. And then they’d let me go, to live as a mortal, hiding in plain sight of Lucifer.

  But my fate had always been tied to the Prince of Darkness—and now I was in Hell. We were inevitably intertwined, ever since the first moment we became aware of one another.

  Finally, the sun was fully aloft and I stood up and dusted off my behind. The day promised to be bright and hot, and I wondered where Lucifer had gone.

  Dare I admit that I missed him?

  He was the only entity, aside from Cerberus, that I’d seen. Where were the demons and other fallen angels who called Lucifer lord and master?

  I began to walk. Not for any purpose aside from sheer curiosity. It was green meadow as far as the eye could see, and yet, I wanted to know what was past it. Would I encounter more craggy mountains like the range Lucifer had flown us over or would there be something else? An ocean, perhaps?

  How vast was Hell?

  Was this to be my existence? Wandering through Hell, alone, except for Lucifer who chose to either anger me or abandon me?

  We were warriors with words, lashing out with our hurt and our betrayals. Neither one of us wanted to be vulnerable. Could I really trust the Prince of Darkness not to deceive me? Not to take advantage of me? Even though he’d claimed it was my desire for him that had bested me, I didn’t think for a moment he wasn’t a scheming opportunist.

  Green grass slowly gave way to red rocky ground. The terrain became uneven, and though I watched my footing, I didn’t see that the land opened up in front of me. I took a wrong step and fell, sliding down into a chasm. My knees and elbows bumped against rocks on the slide down.

  When I came to a stop, I was on my back, winded, and looking up at the sky. I coughed into the swirling dust. I sat up, my hand going to the back of my head. There was a decent-sized lump at the base of my skull, but when I pulled my hand away, there was no blood.

  I looked around. I’d fallen into a hidden canyon. The trail snaked around a bend, so I had no idea the actual size of the gorge. I thought about climbing back up, but the stone sides were smooth and there were no handholds.

  Sighing, I got up. I dusted off my jeans, realizing I’d lost my flip-flops somewhere on the way down.

  “May I have another pair of shoes? Preferably sneakers?” I waited, but nothing appeared. I realized I’d asked Lucifer for what I wanted and he wasn’t here to grant my request.

  The sun was high in the sky, so I assumed that meant it was midday, but I wasn’t even sure how time passed in this realm.

  I began to walk, wincing every now and again as my bare feet stepped on jagged rocks. I rounded bend after bend; the canyon was the width of three broad people standing side-by-side and never widened, but I had more than enough room to maneuver.

  When I turned the next curve, I noticed a splice in the side of the canyon wall. Every few seconds, a blast of mist appeared.

  Had I found some underground hot spring?

  Curiosity killed the cat, but I was immortal, and Lucifer had told me nothing would harm me here.

  I went to investigate.

  The crack in the wall was barely large enough to squeeze through. It was dark—sunlight didn’t penetrate here, and I couldn’t see anything in front of my face. When the mist hit my cheeks, I gasped in surprise. It was cool, not warm like I had assumed. It wasn’t a hot spring after all. I touched the wall and slowly crept forward. There was sand underneath my feet, so I didn’t worry about anything sharp slicing my skin.

  It was slow going, and I had to angle my body since there wasn’t enough space to walk with my chest forward. It was narrow and every now and again, I felt a rock rake across my arm. Finally, the tunnel widened and spilled out into a cavern.

  Light poked holes through the ceiling of the cave, and I gave my eyes a few moments to adjust. After a few blinks, I could see clearly.

  The stalagmites and stalactites were made of indigo crystal prisms that glinted from a seemingly internal light. I reached up to touch a stalactite.

  It screamed.

  I placed my hands over my ears to blot out the cry. It turned to a moan, and then the ground underneath me shook. I attempted to maintain my balance, and so I reached out to grab a stalagmite, which made the entire cave shudder.

  Suddenly, the moaning stopped and everything was still. My heart pumped hard and fast and felt like it was lodged in my throat.

  “You called for the Sibyl?” an eerie voice said.

  I looked around, finding no one.

  “A Sibyl?” I asked. “An oracle, you mean?”

  The voice—a woman’s—laughed again. “Yes.”

  I inhaled a shaky breath. “I’m in Hell, aren’t I?”

  “This is a gateway. It’s Hell, but not.”

  “Gateway? That means I can get out!” I scrambled around, looking for another crack to slither through.

  “Foolish girl,” she chided. “Do you really think you can leave him?”

  “You tell me, you’re the oracle.”

  “Oh, sarcasm. And from one so young.” She laughed again. The sound of it skittered down my spine like a cluster of spiders.

  “Do you know who you are, young one?”

  “That feels like a loaded question, doesn’t it?” I shot back.

  Something pulled the hair off my neck, and a cold hand pressed against my skin. Icicle fingers wrapped around the column of my throat. Another hand cupped the back of my head.

  “Watch,” the voice whispered.

  Clear diamonds pulsed in the wall of the cave, and then arranged into the form of a diamond spider.

  “Your
birthright,” the voice said. “Daughter of the two Guardians.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  “Your mother,” the voice went on, ignoring me, “a powerful Guardian in her own right.”

  “What does that have to do with—”

  “There has never been a female Guardian before your mother. Some say she is stronger than your father, who hails from an unbroken lineage.”

  “What do you say?” I asked.

  “It does not matter who is stronger individually, for their strength is bound to one another, entwined like a knot.”

  She fell silent and just when I thought she was done speaking, she said, “But you are their child. Their only child. And you are the bridge that binds us all.”

  The hands released me and the diamond spider faded. I rubbed the back of my neck as if I could chase away the chill that had crept into my skin and bones.

  “You carry the mark,” she said. “You will have one chance to find the three. Ask the asp, take the dome of glass, and you will begin your journey.”

  The voice faded away into silence, and the cave was suddenly chilly. The oracle had been life and warmth, and now that she was gone, there was only the eerie feeling of death.

  “Fucking riddles,” I muttered. I stumbled toward the wall that a moment ago twinkled in the shape of a spider. I touched the stone. It was cold. Shivering, I turned and retreated to the crack in the cavern.

  When I got outside, I winced at the sudden brightness. My throat was parched. I heard the sound of trickling water and frowned. I looked around but didn’t see a stream or creek running through the canyon.

  I went around yet another curve, and saw water dripping from a rock.

  “Better than blood, I guess,” I murmured. I rushed over to the stone and cupped my hand underneath it. The water was clear, faintly tinged blue, but it was sweet and satiating.

  Once I had my fill, I splashed some water across my face, washing away the sand and silt that had collected on my skin. I thought about the oracle’s riddle.

  Find the three. The three what? Ask the asp…I had to ask the asp about the three.

  Asp.

  Snake.

  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 book Where 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.

  “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 my master. 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 you have to 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.”

  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.”