Ruby Shadows Read online

  “I…” She bit her lip, her eyes uncertain.

  “Come.” I took up Kurex’s reins again and tugged to get the horse moving. “We have a bit to go yet before we are in sight of Baator and it is an uphill climb.”

  * * * * *

  Gwendolyn

  I followed Laish silently as we climbed up the steep hill that led from the banks of the Styx to the city we were aiming for. Could it be true what he had said about me having feelings for him? And what about all this “we belong together” crap? I mean it was just that—just crap—right? It was crazy, a witch couldn’t belong with a demon because a demon has no soul to bond with. Which also made them completely incapable of long term relationships.

  But if everything he’d said was a lie, why had he promised not to take my virginity unless he really had to? Why had he promised to wait until the end of our trip, so I didn’t have to fear being powerless (or nearly powerless) in Hell?

  Something was definitely going on and I didn’t know if I bought what he was selling—that he was honestly just helping me because he liked to spend time with me. But if he wasn’t doing this to take my virginity, then why was he doing it?

  My thoughts spun like this, in dizzying loops, until we reached the top of the steep hill.

  “Behold,” Laish said softly as we looked down onto the other side. “The great city of Baator. Also known as the Sinking City.”

  “The Sinking City?” I stared at the vast rat’s nest of buildings and roads far below us. Even from a distance it looked squalid and dirty. Or maybe that was just the effect of the dull green sky above our heads. Rising high above the skyline was one building that dominated all the others—a vast black spike that pointed like an accusing finger into the dirty gray clouds.

  “The city is built in the middle of a marsh on immense iron pillars,” Laish explained. “It is constantly sinking into the quagmire.”

  “But…then, why hasn’t it just sunk all the way down and disappeared by now?”

  “Do you hear that faint sound? Coming from the city?” Laish asked.

  I cupped a hand to my ear and concentrated. After a moment, I heard it. A deep moaning or groaning sound that could almost be mistaken for the wind.

  “You do, don’t you?” he asked and I nodded. “That is the sound of the damned souls working to keep Baator above the marsh. There is a complicated system of pulleys and dredges attached to the iron pillars it is built upon. The souls labor endlessly just to keep the city where it is.”

  I shook my head. “But…why build a huge city in the middle of a marsh in the first place? That would be like putting Miami in the middle of the Everglades.”

  Laish shrugged. “Tiamat the Exacting, the ArchDemon who rules here, has also been called Tiamat the Mad. When Lucifer granted him this circle of Hell to rule, he picked out this spot and declared it the perfect place for his capital city. He would hear no arguments to the contrary and since he has managed to make it work, none can gainsay him again.”

  “He makes it work by forcing the poor people to slave for eternity, you mean,” I said indignantly. “That’s torture!”

  “Gwendolyn, the laborers he uses are the souls of the damned,” Laish pointed out. “They are here to be tortured. Besides, the souls in this circle are those who abused or neglected children. They deserve whatever torture Tiamat can devise for them.”

  “Oh.” I shivered. “Well, in that case…”

  “Yes.” Laish stretched and sighed. “We will stop here for a bit to eat and relax before we go on.”

  “Shouldn’t we get a little closer to the city?” I looked up at the dark, sickly green sky overhead. “I mean, is it safe to be out here at night?”

  “It is not,” Laish said. “But don’t worry, mon ange, we have plenty of time to get there. Once one gets to the Iron Spike, the city is reached very rapidly.”

  “The Iron Spike? Are you talking about that huge black building?” I pointed at the vast pinnacle looming over the rest of the city.

  “Not at all.” Laish was already settling down on the short, scrubby grass. “Although that is our destination once we enter Baator—it is the Hotel Infernal. The Iron Spike is simply a landmark that lets one know Baator is close. We should reach it shortly once we begin traveling again. But first, let us have something to eat.”

  “Fine.” I sat down in the grass beside him and reached into my leather satchel.

  “What would you like to eat?” Laish asked. He had pulled out a small, sharp dagger with an elaborately worked ebony handle and had it poised in midair, as if he was about to carve an invisible ham.

  I frowned. “Um, nothing, thank you. Grams packed me some things.”

  I got my plastic Sponge Bob sandwich container and my Zephyrhills water bottle out of my bag while Laish looked on, apparently amused.

  “This is what your grandmother packed you?” he asked as I took out half of a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich and prepared to take a bite.

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “You got something against PB&J?”

  “No. But it doesn’t look like something one would want to eat on a regular basis.”

  “It’s fine,” I said stolidly, taking a bite. In fact, it was delicious even if Grams had gone a little heavy on the jam. It was gooey and so sweet it made my teeth ache, exactly the way I had loved it as a little girl. The adult me, however, had to admit that it wasn’t something I would probably want all the time. Tough titty, though—I had better get used to it. It was either PB&J every day or a permanent vacation in Hell. I could eat a million gooey, too-sweet sandwiches if I had to.

  Laish shrugged and pulled an apple out of the air for Kurex and another for himself. He used the black handled knife to cut himself a piece and ate it. Kurex munched his own apple in one bite and then dropped his huge head to crop at the dry, grayish-brown grass at our feet.

  I looked a bit enviously at the apple—it looked like a golden delicious with warm yellow skin and pale, crisp flesh on the inside.

  “Would you like a bite?” Laish cut another piece and held it out to me temptingly.

  “No thanks.” I shook my head. No matter how good it looked, there was no way I was even going to take even the tiniest nibble. I took another bite of my sandwich instead and a big glob of jelly squirted out and slid down my wrist. “Oops!”

  I held out my hand, not wanting to get the jelly on my dress—mainly because I was afraid that if I ruined this outfit Laish might come up with something even more revealing for me to wear.

  “Careful mon ange.” Laish caught me by the wrist. “Look what a mess you’ve made,” he murmured. Before I could say a word, he lifted my hand to his mouth and licked the jelly off my skin with one long, slow swipe of his tongue.

  I bit back a gasp at the warm wet heat of his mouth on the ticklish inside of my wrist. My pulse was pounding but I didn’t want him to know it—didn’t want him to see how much his touch affected me.

  “Are you done?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound impatient.

  “For now. Delicious,” Laish murmured, releasing my hand at last. I had a feeling he wasn’t just talking about Grams’ homemade jelly.

  “I’m full,” I said, rising on unsteady legs. I walked over to Kurex and offered him the rest of my sandwich. I didn’t need to save it for later because the container was always spelled to be full. The next time I opened it up, there would be another sandwich waiting for me. And the time after that and the time after that…

  The thought of so many gooey, too-sweet PB&Js looming in my future was a bit depressing but I tried not to think about it. Kurex could always eat anything I couldn’t finish. From the way the huge animal inhaled the little bit I had in my hand, spare sandwich disposal was not going to be a problem.

  “It looks like we have a long way to get to the city,” I said as Laish came to join me. “Should we ride for a while?” The minute I said the words, I wished I hadn’t. Riding was going to put me right up against him again and I re
ally didn’t want that—not when my stomach was still fluttering from the way he had licked my wrist.

  “We will ride but not because of the distance—the city will be upon us before you know it. We will ride because it is safer to be mounted than on foot.” His voice had a rather grim ring to it and I glanced at him.

  “This is only the second level though, right? Is the city of Baator really that much worse than the area we just went through?”

  “It’s not nearly as bad as some of the areas we will be journeying through,” he said, which wasn’t very comforting. “Come, let’s mount up.”

  “All right.” I took a swig from my Zephyrhills bottle, savoring the pure, clean spring water and then packed it and my spelled Sponge Bob sandwich case carefully away in my bag.

  Laish mounted first, as he had before and this time I had a much easier time getting up as well. It helped that I was no longer afraid of Kurex, who whickered softly as though encouraging me when I grabbed Laish’s hand and let him pull me up to sit in front of him.

  Reaching around me, he took the reins and kicked the vast horse’s sides. Kurex obediently started forward, moving down the huge slope we had climbed and into the dank and marshy basin that was home to the city of Baator.

  It seemed that Kurex had only taken one or two strides when there was suddenly a huge, black iron monolith blocking our path. Looking up, I saw it came to a sharp point several feet above our heads. It must be the iron spike Laish had spoken of—the landmark that showed the way to the city. But it was really big—big enough that I couldn’t have fit my arms around it if I hugged it—not that I wanted to. The point was, why hadn’t I seen it before? How could I have missed it?

  “Oh!” I put a hand to my chest, startled by the spike’s sudden appearance. However, neither Laish or Kurex seemed the least bit surprised. The huge horse stopped and stood, as though waiting for some sign and Laish put an arm around my waist. “What—?” I began, shifting in his grip but he only tightened his arm and drew me back against his chest.

  “Hold on, Gwendolyn,” he murmured in my ear. “And whatever you do, don’t get off the horse or leave my side.”

  “Okay,” I said. “But the city is still miles away.” Indeed, Baator still looked just as distant as it had while we were having our little picnic at the top of the hill.

  “It is not nearly so distant as it appears,” Laish said and his deep voice sounded grim. “Hold on,” he repeated and kicked his heels into Kurex’s flanks.

  With a snort, the huge horse sprang forward and all at once, we were in the center of a teaming crowd and surrounded by crumbling buildings.

  I didn’t know how it had happened but in the second it took Kurex to step forward once, we were suddenly in the middle of Baator.

  Chapter Twelve

  Laish

  The crowd of minor demons, soul strippers, imps, and damned souls surged around us, pressing against our mount’s broad sides like the waves of an ocean. I was glad, now, that I had allowed Gwendolyn to talk me into bringing Kurex with us. He was invaluable for keeping her above the grasping, moaning masses and out of harm’s way. Mostly, anyway.

  Despite all I could do, one of the minor demons with bright yellow eyes and a long forked tongue lolling from its lipless mouth, grasped at Gwendolyn’s foot, seeking to drag her from the saddle.

  “Oh!” she cried, and grasped the arm I still had tight around her waist. I was prepared for such an eventuality, however. Kicking one foot free of the stirrup, I booted the would-be kidnapper right in the face. He let go at once and ran off howling.

  Gwendolyn was no worse for the wear but the little black slipper she wore had been lost in the encounter.

  “My shoe!” she exclaimed as I kicked Kurex forward, forcing the teeming crowd to part before us.

  “Leave it.” My voice was strained—I didn’t like bringing her among so many denizens of the Infernal Realm at once. But there was no help for it—the central square of Baator is always crowded, day and night—filled with slaves, flesh sellers, dream peddlers, lost souls, and demons of all sorts and classes.

  I maneuvered the great horse through the crowd as swiftly as I could, heedless of those Kurex crushed beneath his massive hooves. If they weren’t quick enough to get out of the way, that was their look out. My only consideration was getting Gwendolyn to the relative safety of the Hotel Infernal as quickly as I could.

  At last we reached the edge of the masses and found a broad main street that was much less crowded. I loosed my grip on Kurex’s reins—he knew the way to the hotel—and turned my attention to my little witch.

  Gwendolyn was trembling in my arms and her sharp little fingernails bit into my forearm even through the suit I wore.

  “Mon ange?” I asked softly, brushing aside a sheaf of silky hair to murmur in her ear. “Are you all right?”

  “Why…why did it grab me like that?”

  “I told you before—Hell is full of opportunists,” I told her. “The demon saw you as fresh meat and sought to take you for his own purposes.”

  “Which were what?” she demanded, turning to look at me. “Did he want to eat me?”

  “Most likely,” I said as blandly as I could. “After having his way with you.”

  “You mean…”

  I sighed. “Do not make me be more specific. You know what I mean, Gwendolyn.”

  “So is everyone in Hell like that—looking to grab anybody they can and just beat them or eat them or rape them? Or all three?” Her wide eyed look said that though she had known this fact intellectually, the reality of the situation was just now hitting her. Good, at last she was beginning to understand the danger she was in every minute she was here.

  “Imagine the worst, most dangerous prison you have on Earth,” I told her, wanting to drive the point home. “One filled with desperate criminals—murderers, rapists, madmen… That is Hell. Only Hell is ten times…a hundred times…a thousand times worse. I will say it again, Gwendolyn—you cannot trust anyone here.”

  “Anyone but you, you mean.” There was a slight edge to her voice that let me know she still withheld that trust which I so craved from her, at least in part.

  “Anyone but me,” I agreed, ignoring her tone. “I am sorry you were frightened by the crowds but we will shortly be someplace considerably more civilized…if no less dangerous.”

  “Where are you taking me?” She still looked at me uncertainly.

  “There.” I pointed straight ahead, knowing that the Hotel Infernal would be in our sightline. It is visible from anyplace in the city and all roads in Baator lead to it eventually.

  “What is that place?” Gwendolyn shivered as she viewed the vast structure rising before us. It was shaped rather like a huge, elongated pyramid with its black metal sides rising infinitely high above us. Indeed, it was said that there were an infinite number of rooms in the hotel so that there was always a place for all who cared to stay. All who could pay, that was.

  Luckily, I knew the proprietor and had unlimited means at my disposal. Druaga was a high-level demon ruled by his greed and lust for the finer things. He would be happy to host one of my station. The only difficulty would be in keeping his greedy paws off Gwendolyn—literally.

  Druaga was a Wendingo—a hybrid demon with the body of a man but the head of a wild boar and he had the appetites to match his appearance. He wouldn’t dare touch Gwendolyn as long as she was with me but he would be instantly suspicious if he realized I was traveling with a human concubine. It would be best to avoid him after checking in to the hotel—although I wasn’t sure it would be possible.

  As Kurex clopped over the broken pavement towards the Hotel Infernal, I debated on how much I should tell Gwendolyn about Druaga’s lechery and the danger of getting too close to him. I didn’t want to frighten her any more than she’d already been frightened—which was considerably, I judged. Besides, we were only staying for a single night at the hotel. It would be best simply to check into a room and keep her close at
hand, away from his greedy eyes and grasping paws. And since the border to Minauros, the next Circle of Hell, could be reached simply by stepping through the hotel’s sixth exit, we would be able to pay the Sin Tax in comfort on one of the Infernal’s excellent beds.

  I was very much looking forward to that although I wasn’t sure how Gwendolyn would feel about it. Though she protested she didn’t want to give herself to me, her body told a different story. Just remembering the way she’d panted and moaned against me on the banks of the river Styx was enough to make me hard and ready. Not that I would make love to her tonight—it was far too early for that. But just the prospect of caressing her sweet curves and hearing those soft, helpless sounds she made when she was aroused was most tantalizing.

  I couldn’t wait.

  * * * * *

  Gwendolyn

  There was a small group of children playing along the broken streets, which surprised me considerably. Some of them looked to be around nine or ten but there were several I would have sworn were barely four or five.

  “What are they doing here?” I blurted, staring at their ragged clothes and hollow cheeks. “I thought you said this circle of Hell was reserved for people who had beaten and neglected children. How can there be kids here? It can’t be safe for them!”

  “Those? They’re devilkins.” Laish waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t show too much interest in them, mon ange—you don’t want to encourage them.”

  Despite his warning, I couldn’t help staring as we passed the ragged group. Several of them stared back, their eyes huge and hungry-looking. One little boy in particular caught my eye. He had pale blue eyes and tousled blond curls. If he hadn’t been half starved, he would have looked like one of those baby angels in a Renaissance painting—a cherub.

  Poor little thing! I didn’t care what Laish said—these kids looked like they were in bad shape. I’m no social worker but I don’t like seeing children hurt or abandoned or in danger and this little group looked like they were three for three on that score. Some had bruises and what looked like bite marks on their arms and legs and none of them looked like they’d had a decent meal their whole lives.