Ruby Shadows Read online

  “I’m fine,” I said, pulling away from him and swiping at my streaming eyes. “I’m just…fine. Really I am.”

  “Certainly you are,” he said dryly. “You just escaped death not once but twice after having to call on one you despise to save you.”

  “I don’t despise you,” I said uneasily. “I just don’t like you very much. Not that I’m not grateful you came to save me,” I added quickly.

  “You don’t like me because I challenge you,” he said. “You challenge me as well, Gwendolyn which is exactly the reason I do like you. Very much. Especially as you are now…wet and half naked.”

  “I’m not half naked,” I protested, feeling my cheeks get hot.

  “Oh, no?” His ruby eyes swept over my body, reminding me that I was wearing nothing but a thin white t-shirt and panties, both of which were soaked and clinging to me. I became abruptly aware that my nipples were so hard they hurt—both sensitive peaks clearly visible against the nearly transparent fabric of my t-shirt.

  “No,” I said defiantly, while at the same time trying casually to cover my breasts with one arm.

  “I would beg to differ,” he murmured, his deep voice low and teasing. “You are half naked, mostly wet, and completely beautiful, Gwendolyn.”

  I felt a rush of heat go down my spine at the way he was still looking at me but I shook it off impatiently.

  “Five minutes ago I was covered in slime and puking my guts up and now I’m sure I look like a drowned rat,” I said, frowning. “Either you need glasses or you had a lot to drink just before you came to save me.”

  “I have perfect vision and alcohol does not affect me,” he murmured, still giving me that look. “Come, let us get you out of that tub.”

  He helped me to my feet and out of the tub. While I stood dripping on Grams’ best blue bathmat, Laish grabbed a towel. But when I reached for it, he pulled it back.

  “Not just yet, mon ange. First I must examine you.”

  “Examine me? What are you talking about?” I demanded.

  Laish didn’t answer in words. Instead he dropped to his knees before me and began running his big, warm hands all over my trembling legs.

  “What are you doing?” I tried to step away from him but he held me firmly.

  “Making sure all the Hellspawn slime is gone. If you have so much as a speck left on you, it can eat its way inside.”

  My breath seemed to catch in my throat. “It…it can?”

  He nodded. “I am afraid so.”

  “What would happen then?” I was looking down anxiously at my legs myself now.

  “Eventually it would find your heart and rot you from the inside out.” He looked up at me. “So you will pardon me for being thorough.”

  “All right,” I grumbled uneasily. “But no funny business.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He smiled at me charmingly as he ran his long fingers up my inner thigh. “If you wouldn’t mind parting your legs just a little…?”

  I did as he said, feeling a hot blush creep into my cheeks. I was well aware that my panties were completely soaked and the white cotton was see-through. I was glad that I’d just had a wax the other day…and then angry with myself for being glad. What did I care what Laish thought of what Grams calls my “ladybusiness”?

  I could feel his hot breath against my inner thighs and I couldn’t help thinking I’d never had a guy so close down there before. My skin broke out in a rash of chillbumps and my heart started to speed up as I waited for him to make some kind of a move…or at least make a lascivious comment.

  But Laish surprised me. He simply examined me thoroughly and then nodded, as though in satisfaction.

  “All right. You’re clean.” He stood in one smooth motion and wrapped the towel around me.

  “What—that’s it?” I couldn’t help asking.

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you disappointed? I hope you didn’t imagine I would make advances on you in your current weakened condition.”

  “I’m not weak.” I drew myself up, wishing it was true. “And I’m not disappointed. Just…surprised.”

  “Just because I come from the realm of lust and evil doesn’t mean I am not a gentleman.” His ruby eyes flashed. “Besides—there’s no sport in taking advantage of a woman already in a compromising position. I much prefer a long, drawn-out seduction, mon ange.”

  I bit my lip, my heart beating double time again for some reason.

  “You know you’ll never seduce me. I’ll never give it up for you, Laish, even if you did save my life. Twice.”

  His eyes flashed again. “That remains to be seen. Now, have you anything dry to change into? We need to talk.”

  I thought about going into my room for new clothes, but then I risked waking Grams. Noises don’t bother her while she’s wearing her Darth Vader mask but movement around her bed wakes her up every time. And while she would have to be told everything that had happened eventually (the giant sinkhole in her bedroom was going to be impossible to hide) I decided I would rather wait until after Laish was gone to let her know what had happened.

  Looking around the bathroom, I saw my fuzzy pink bathrobe hanging on the back of the door. That should be warm and comfortable and it wouldn’t show anything I wanted to keep hidden—aka, the aforementioned “ladybusiness.”

  “I’ve got something,” I told Laish. “You can wait in the living room.”

  “Don’t be long,” he said, and left, closing the door behind him.

  I slipped out of the wet t-shirt and panties and pulled on the robe. Although I didn’t like being naked beneath it, there wasn’t much else I could do.

  Next I took a look at my poor fingernails. They were pretty ragged from all the clawing I’d done at the lip of the sinkhole and I still had a splinter beneath one of them—my right index finger. I pulled it out, wincing at the sharp little pain and ran some cool water over it. It was bleeding so I wrapped a band aid from the medicine cabinet around it. That was going to hurt for a while.

  With my hands tended to, I took a moment to brush my teeth, getting rid of the last of the bad taste, and ran a pick through my hair. Then, feeling more human, I belted the robe tightly and walked out into the living room where Laish was pacing back and forth.

  “All right,” I said. “Let’s talk.”

  Chapter Five

  Laish

  “All right, let’s talk,” the little witch said, putting a hand on her hip.

  I frowned at her, trying to control my irritation. Did she not realize what peril she had been in? If I hadn’t come to her the moment she called, she would be dead by now, both her body and soul digesting in the belly of the voracious Hellspawn. And yet she was acting as if nothing had happened.

  “Yes, let us talk,” I said, going over to the couch. I sat and patted a spot beside me. “Come here.”

  She came—reluctantly, I thought—and settled beside me, not where I had indicated but on the far side of the couch. She crossed her arms and legs tightly as she turned to face me, presenting a closed face and a tight mouth. Clearly she expected to be lectured.

  I had been prepared to give her exactly what she was expecting. But the mulish expression on her lovely face changed my mind. I would never get through to her that way—another tactic was needed to get my little witch to see sense.

  I leaned back on the couch, one arm across the back of its faded floral fabric in a pose of relaxation completely opposite to her tense, rigidly upright posture.

  “You’re going to die soon, you know,” I remarked conversationally. “I mean, even sooner than most humans, which is saying something since your mortal lives are over in the blink of an eye anyway.”

  “What?” She looked at me blankly.

  “But first,” I continued, “All those that you love are going to die in various horrible ways, right before your eyes. Your beloved grandmother included.”

  “What?” She was angry now, her vivid green eyes narrowed and her lush lips a tight line. “H
ow dare you say that to me?”

  “I’m simply stating the truth.” I drummed my fingers idly on the back of the couch. “You didn’t close the door you opened into the Abyss. I have been there and seen it, Gwendolyn.”

  “If you went and saw it, why didn’t you close it?” she demanded. “Or did you just want to teach me a lesson?”

  “By exposing you to a vicious creature from Hell’s blackest pit?” I raised an eyebrow at her. “That would seem to be what they call “overkill” don’t you think? No, the reason I did not close the door is that only the one who opened it may close it—the door will react only to the touch of one who bears your soul signature. If you didn’t know that already, you had no business opening it in the first place.”

  “All right, I knew it,” she grumbled. “I just thought, since you’re a demon…”

  “Even my power is not limitless, mon ange,” I told her. “And there are rules to be obeyed. Principles which govern all of Hell and cannot be broken on a simple whim.”

  “Fine. So I didn’t shut the door. I thought I did, though,” she said earnestly. “I could have sworn I did.”

  “In that you were wrong. The Hellspawn came for you because you let it—you opened a way for it. You were careless and now you must pay—and all your loved ones will pay with you.”

  “Why do you keep saying that? Why should it want to kill the people I love?” she demanded.

  I frowned at her. “As to why it wants to kill those you love, the Hellspawn will seek to inflict maximum pain and suffering on its victim before it finally hunts them down and kills them. The fear and anguish spices the meat, giving it just the right flavor. Or so I am told.”

  “You’re sick,” she flared. “And lying. It was coming for me. I’m the one it almost took!”

  “Because you were in your grandmother’s room. It was going to take her first,” I pointed out.

  She put a hand to her mouth. “Oh my God… how did it even get in here in the first place? Grams has every single door and window covered in the strongest protection spells.”

  “You may have noticed that it used neither a door nor a window,” I said dryly. “It tunneled in from beneath, neatly avoiding your human magic.”

  Gwendolyn looked so ill I felt sorry for her—not that I would show it. She would never learn if I allowed myself to show too much compassion.

  “But if it was coming for Grams…”

  “It was. And I promise you, Gwendolyn, that it will hunt down everyone you love. Is there someone besides your grandmother that you hold dear?”

  Her face went pale. “Keisha,” she murmured.

  “I’m sorry, who?” I leaned forward, inclining my head toward her.

  “No one.” She shook her head tightly. “All right, I get it—this thing is after me and everyone I love. So what can I do about it?”

  “Nothing.” I shrugged, as though I didn’t care.

  “Nothing?” She stared at me, her eyes wide and incredulous. “Nothing?”

  I gave her a slow smile.

  “I am afraid not. Not by yourself, anyway.”

  * * * * *

  Gwendolyn

  I lifted my chin and glared at Laish defiantly. “That’s bullshit. I opened the door, I’ll just go close it.”

  Laish frowned. “You are not so foolish as to believe it will be that simple, Gwendolyn. Opening a door onto the Abyss is relatively easy—it can be done in spirit form, as you did the night you dragged your friend back from the afterlife. Closing it again, however…” He shook his head. “Is quite a different matter.”

  “All right,” I said grudgingly. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy. But if I opened it, I should be able to close it. Right?”

  “Not in spirit form.” Laish leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and stared at me intently. “The only way you can close the door completely is to go through the seven circles of Hell as you are now, in your corporeal form, and physically close it.”

  I stared at him blankly. Was he crazy?

  “But I can’t do that. You know I can’t do that. It’s dangerous enough going through the Shadow Lands and up to the Great Barrier. If I go past that and into Hell itself, I’ll get stuck there forever.”

  Laish sat back, that annoying smirk playing around the corner of his luscious mouth. “Only if you go alone and unescorted.”

  I was beginning to get a very bad feeling about this. “What are you saying?”

  “It is more what I am offering,” he corrected. “And what I am offering is to take you through the seven circles to the very edge of the Abyss. I will keep you safe and be certain you are not molested.”

  I put a hand on my hip. “In return for what? And don’t play innocent with me, Laish. You and I both know that demons don’t give anything for free.”

  “You wound me, mon ange. Do you really believe me to be so usurious?”

  “I believe you’ll take what you can get,” I said grimly. “The question is, am I willing to give it.”

  “No, Gwendolyn.” Laish spoke quietly but his eyes gleamed in the dim lamp light. “The question is, what price will you pay to keep your loved ones safe from the evil you have brought upon them? What price can you put on love? Some might say no sum is high enough.” He shrugged. “Of course, those that speak such foolishness have human emotions which I, fortunately, am not burdened with.”

  I felt my mouth go dry. “What do you want?” I managed to ask. “The rights to my eternal soul? Are we going to strike some kind of Faustian bargain here?”

  Laish laughed, a low, rumbling sound that might have been pleasant to hear under other circumstances. Now I found it incredibly annoying.

  “Not at all, mon ange. Contrary to popular belief, not every being who lives in Hell is bent on collecting souls. I have no interest in or use for your celestial spirit.”

  “What then?” I demanded, though in my heart, I already knew what he was going to say.

  His eyes burned like fire. “It is not your soul I crave but your innocence—that rare flower you keep to yourself, unsullied and unplucked by any up until now.”

  “Well isn’t that a fancy way of saying you want to sleep with me,” I said flatly. “I already told you, Laish—I’m not giving it up for you.”

  “You won’t have to…not all at once,” he murmured, still giving me that intense, burning look that made me feel naked. “Didn’t I tell you I prefer a slow seduction, Gwendolyn?”

  “You…you did say something like that.” I wanted to look away from his burning gaze but somehow I couldn’t. Under my fuzzy bathrobe my nipples were suddenly so tight they ached and there was a heat growing between my thighs that was hard to ignore. I crossed my legs more tightly, glad I was on the far side of the couch from him.

  “Therefore, we will take things step by step. Little by little you will give yourself to me. You will open to me slowly but you will open.”

  “But will you make me…will I have to sleep with you…in the end?” I could barely get the words out.

  Laish gave me a lazy smile. “That is for me to know, mon ange. But I promise that if we do make love, it will be because you want to, because you are aching with need—so tormented with unfulfilled desire that you cannot help yourself. And then you will give yourself gladly.”

  “You’re delusional,” I scoffed—or tried to. My words came out as more of a squeak. “You think this is some kind of victory? Forcing an unwilling woman to have sex with you?”

  “Firstly, I have not said that we will, in fact, have sex, as you put it. And secondly, you will not be unwilling. In fact, you’re not unwilling now.”

  Suddenly he was sitting right beside me—so close I could feel the heat of his big body radiating against my side.

  “Ma cher,” he murmured, caressing my cheek softly with his knuckles. “So beautiful, so untouched. I cannot wait to taste and pleasure you. To hear the soft sounds you make when you come for me.”

  “I…you…” Somehow the words would
n’t come out. “I’m not…I don’t want…”

  “Yes, you do.” His voice was soft and low. I wanted to pull away from the gentle touch of his hand but I found I was frozen. “I can smell your lust, my darling,” he murmured, still stroking my cheek. “It perfumes the air around you no matter how tightly you close your thighs.” He inhaled deeply, his eyes never leaving mine. “How I look forward to breathing you in, tasting your sweetness right from the source.”

  “Y-you can’t,” I stuttered. “I’ve never—”

  “But you will,” he assured me in that low, gentle voice. “We will together, one slow step at a time. And if we do finally make love, you will enjoy yourself to the fullest, I promise you that.”

  I opened my mouth to reply but just then my Grams stalked in, wearing the twin of my own fuzzy bathrobe only hers was green. She had a frown on her face and her arms were crossed over her considerable bosom. I couldn’t tell if she had heard Laish or not.

  “Grams!” I said, jumping up and smoothing down my bathrobe guiltily.

  “Gwendolyn,” she said, glaring at me. “Just what is going on here, young lady? Who is this man and what is he doing here in the middle of the night?”

  Chapter Six

  Gwendolyn

  Grams was really not happy to hear where I was going and who I was going with. And by really not happy I mean completely pissed off.

  “You’re not going,” she said, glaring at me. “You’re not going and that’s final, young lady.”

  “Grams,” I said patiently. “You don’t understand—I have to.”

  “I do understand. I understand that you’re talking about going into Hell—Hell, Gwendolyn—and you’re going with a demon you called up from the pit.”

  “Actually I live in the part of Hell the ancient Greeks termed Hades,” Laish said blandly. “It’s quite scenic—I even have a lovely pomegranate tree in my front yard.”

  “Oh, you think you’re so smart, young man,” Grams snapped. “I know exactly what you’re trying to say.”