Ruby Shadows (9 page)

“
You will be my concubine in name only,” I said. “But
you
will
agree to this ruse or I
will not take you a step further.”

“
I…you…this is blackmail!” she burst out, obviously
furious.

“
Call it what you like,” I told her evenly. “But from the time
we pass the Great Barrier until we reach the final circle of
Hell—the Abyss—you will belong to me and obey my orders. And you
will start by wearing this.”

I reached into
the air and pulled out the outfit I had chosen for her. I didn’t
intend to argue with her anymore. I enjoyed her sharp wit and her
stubborn nature but in this, I would not be refused.

“
Put it on,” I said, pressing the garment forcefully into her
arms. “And let’s hear no more about it.”

* * * * *

Gwendolyn

I
stared at the clingy red gown he’d shoved into my hands
with shock and
incomprehension. The fabric was incredibly thin and filmy and it
had spaghetti straps, meaning I couldn’t wear a bra under it. It
was going to show damn near
everything.

“
You’re joking,” I said, looking up at Laish, who was scowling
down at me. “You can’t expect me to wear this thing. I might as
well prance into Hell naked.”

“
I
assure you, Gwendolyn, that can be arranged.” His deep voice was
steely and I could see he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
Not that it stopped me from trying.

“
I’m not wearing this,” I said, trying to shove it back at him.
“No way in Hell—literally.”

“
Then there is no way in Hell that you are getting past the
Great Barrier.” He nodded to the burning stone wall which encircled
the realm of the damned. It rose hundreds of feet into the sky but
it was still dwarfed by the gates. Glowing gold and red, their
enormous wrought iron wings towered like a monolith over the Shadow
Lands.

I put a hand on my
hip. “What—you won’t take me in if I don’t meet your personal dress
code?”

He frowned. “No, I
refuse to take you in and risk someone knowing who and what you are
because you are dressed like a second rate tourist.”

“
There’s nothing wrong with my clothes,” I said
defensively.

“
No, if you are going on a tour of the Vatican or the Great
Pyramid of Giza or some other Earthly landmark,” he snapped. “Here
they single you out as an easy mark.”

I
could feel my re
solve wavering but I tried not to show it. “What—people don’t
wear jeans in Hell?” I asked.

Laish gave my
comfortable jeans a scathing look. “They do not. Those ridiculous
trousers mark you for what you are—a living human in the lands of
the dead and damned.”

“
Is that
really
so
dangerous?” I asked.

“
In a word—yes.” Laish gave a short, sharp nod.
“
Even dressed in
the clothing I have provided, you will be at considerable risk,
Gwendolyn. Though I myself have no interest in your soul, there are
many who think otherwise. Demons with quotas to fulfill who will be
skinned or maimed by their superiors if they fail. Soul scalpers
who make a living selling the unwary to the unprincipled. And
simple thieves who steal whatever is unattended. Remember, Hell is
the realm of sin and corruption. You cannot trust
anyone
here.”

“
What about you?” I asked, my voice cracking a little as I
remembered my earlier fears that he would take what he wanted and
then abandon me. “
Can I trust you while we’re here? Can I really,
Laish?”

“
Did you not hear the pledge I gave to your grandmother?” he
demanded.

“
I
know what you told Grams but I thought…” I shook my head. “You were
just saying that to make her feel better, right? I mean, you don’t
really care about me, any more than I care about you. We’re just
sort of working together to get this done. Right?”

“
Just working together…” Laish mused in a low voice. “Is that
how you see it?”

“
Well, it’s better than thinking that I’m prostituting myself
to you in order to get through Hell and shut that damn door,” I
snapped, my nerves worked to the breaking point.

“
I
suppose so.” Laish sighed and gave me a long look. Then he stepped
forward and cupped my cheek again, looking down into my eyes. I
wanted to pull away from his gentle touch, which sent shivers all
through me, but something stopped me. “Yes, Gwendolyn,” he
murmured. “You can trust me. And if an oath is necessary to
satisfy, I swear it—not on my soul, as I have none—but on yours. I
will not leave you or forsake you. I will protect you with my
life—but in order to do that, I need for you to trust
me.”

“
I…I’ll try,” I said in a small voice. Damn it, why did he
always make me feel so unsure of myself? And why did his hand on my
skin make my st
omach flutter and my heart race? It was ridiculous but I
couldn’t stop my body’s reaction to him any more than I could stop
breathing.

“
Good,” Laish murmured. Leaning down, he brushed a gentle,
chaste kiss to my lips. It was so soft, I barely felt it but the
warm press of his mouth to mine reminded me of the other, much more
passionate kiss we had shared before when I had “paid” him for the
demon’s breath I’d needed for a spell. Part of me wanted to kiss
him back—and part of me was scared to death. I held perfectly
still, frozen with indecision until he straightened up. “Trust me,”
he murmured. “And put on the dress.”

“
All right,” I whispered back. “But at least turn around so I
can have some privacy.”

“
Privacy will soon become a thing of the past but I will be
happy to cede you one last moment to yourself.” Turning, he
presented his broad back to me. “Go on, get dressed. And hurry,
there will be a changing of the guards soon at the Great Barrier. I
would like to take advantage of it to slip in
unnoticed.”

“
Can’t believe I’m doing this,” I muttered to myself. But all
the same, I went ahead, shedding my jeans and t-shirt (and bra,
which I hated to lose) and shimmying into the thin red dress
instead.

It occurred to me,
as I changed, that once we reached Hell, it had taken Laish exactly
ten minutes to get me out of my clothes. The thought made me
irritated with myself and I was even more annoyed when I remembered
the way his soft kiss had made me practically melt. What was wrong
with me, anyway? I was a strong, independent witch. I should be
immune to his mind games.

But apparently
I wasn’t because here I was, on Hell’s front doorstep, wearing
nothing but my lacy black bikini panties and a thin red night-gown
looking dress which showed plenty of cleavage and outlined both my
nipples clearly. It was also a lot tighter around the hips and
behind than I liked—not that I was surprised—Laish had clearly
meant for it to fit me like a glove. At least my chosen
footwear—the little black ballet flats—didn’t look too bad with
it.

“
Are you ready?” Laish rumbled.

“
As I’ll ever be,” I grumbled. “You can turn around
now.”

He turned and looked
at me, those ruby red eyes traveling over what felt like every inch
of my body.

“
Well?” I shifted uncomfortably. “Are we going to
go?”

“
In a moment. I want to admire the view.” He stepped toward
me. “I knew that color would look lovely against your skin. I love
the tone, you know—so warm and creamy. Like café au
lait.”

I lifted my chin,
trying not to let his nearness affect me. “Thank you but can we go
now?”

“
Not yet.” He let one finger drift over the thin silk strap on
my right shoulder. I stiffened, wondering if he would demand part
of his “payment” now. But he didn’t touch my breast—only my
shoulder. “The contrast is perfect,” he murmured.

“
Well, red has always been my color.” I had to work to keep my
voice even.

“
I’m not speaking of the red dress against your skin—I’m
talking about my skin contrasted with yours.” He nodded at his big,
well-shaped hand, which looked pale against my own warm brown
tones. “Light and dark,” he murmured. “Beautiful.”

“
I
guess so.” I made myself step away from his light touch though part
of me really wanted to step into it. “Now are we going or not? I
thought there was a changing of the guard or something like
that.”

He
sighed. “Will you always be this standoffish with me,
mon ange?”
He shook his head before
I could answer “Never mind. Yes, this is the time to enter,
hopefully unnoticed. Follow me and say nothing.”

“
Fine. I’ll walk five paces behind you and I won’t say a word
when you tell people I’m your freaking concubine,” I muttered,
feeling a surge of irritation which almost eclipsed the other,
turbulent emotions he brought out in me.

Laish frowned. “Kindly remember that th
is ruse is for your safety and try
not to sulk about it, Gwendolyn. We must be as unnoticed as
possible in this journey. Do not forget that the Hellspawn is also
on your trail, seeking to devour your soul.”

My throat went
suddenly dry. “But…you banished it back to the pit.”

“
I
did but as I said before, it
will
find its way back to you by any means necessary. Let’s not
give it any help. Now, are you ready?”

“
More than ready,” I assured him, but my heart was suddenly
beating double time. Was I really going to do this? Was I really
going to walk straight into Hell?

“
Good. Then let’s go,” Laish said.

Apparently I
was.

Chapter Nine

Gwendolyn

Laish led me toward the massive gates, which towered higher
than any skyscraper on Earth. The wrought iron panels had strange,
disturbing shapes worked into them —monstrous beasts and demonic
faces which seemed to shift and change if I stared at them
to
o closely. I
tried not to but I still saw them out of the corner of my eye as we
approached.

Though we were keeping in the shadows,
I couldn’t help feeling nervous as we
got closer. In my other trips to the Shadow Lands, I had been
careful to stay far from the gates. I didn’t even like approaching
the wall which encircled Hell but at least it wasn’t crawling with
demons.

Speaking of demons,
I felt my breath catch in my throat as I saw who—or what—was
guarding those gates.

Two gigantic demons, each of them at least ten
feet tall, stood watch
beside the enormous gates. What struck me most about them—aside
from their size—was that they looked nothing like Laish. In fact,
from the twisting black horns protruding from their foreheads right
down to their cloven hooves, their appearance was what every child
is taught the Devil looks like. They even had red skin and were
armed with giant pitchforks. It would have been almost cartoonish
if it wasn’t so grotesque. As we watched, one of the demons opened
his mouth to yawn, revealing a foot long, forked tongue, just like
a snake’s.

“
Ugh,” I muttered, involuntarily. “Why do they look like
that?”

“
They look like what you imagine them to look like, Gwendolyn,”
Laish murmured back. “This is what you were taught to expect and so
this is what you see. Believe me, their true appearance is much
more terrible—it would drive your human mind mad.”

“
But
you
don’t
look anything like that,” I protested. “Uh, do you?”

He threw an amused
glance over his shoulder. “Do you want to find out? Should I show
you my true form?”

“
No, don’t!” I exclaimed, before I thought about
it.

Laish’s face went
blank but he only nodded. “A pity. I thought you had more courage
than that.”

“
I
just…I like the way you look now,” I said. In fact, I liked it a
lot more than I wanted to. But was the Laish I liked just a mirage?
Maybe I
should
let
him show me his true form. It might rid me of the ridiculous
feelings I kept having every time he touched me.

I
thought about it…and rejected the idea. If I was walking about Hell
with a ten foot tall,
cloven-hoofed, forked-tongued monster, I
really
didn’t want to know it. Ignorance is bliss and
all that…

“
We’re here,” he murmured, breaking my train of thought. “When
the guards begin to move, the gates will open. You and I will slip
through and be on our way.”

“
All right.” I didn’t much like the idea of “slipping through”
a huge gate guarded by enormous, muscular, beast-like demons, but
there didn’t seem to be much choice.

As
if
on cue, the
vast iron gates swung silently open, emitting a gust of hot, dry
air that smelled faintly of burning. They were so colossal I
thought the mechanism that moved them must be the size of a small
city. Or maybe they were opened and closed by some kind of dark
magic. Whatever the case, the moment the gates swung wide, the two
huge guards lumbered inside, carrying their pitchforks—which looked
about the size of telephone poles—casually over their
shoulders.