Ruby Shadows Read online

  “A pity,” he said, checking the girth—at least, I think that’s what the strap thing that holds the saddle on the horse is called. “You look lovely in it.”

  “Anybody would—it’s a gorgeous coat,” I said. “But why white again?”

  “Pardon?” He raised an eyebrow at me as he helped me climb aboard Kurex who snorted and stamped in the snow.

  “Why did you make it white fur? And the rug we, uh slept on too. Why always white? Is the only kind of fur animal they have down here albino or what?”

  He looked up as he settled me on the horse and gave me a slow smile.

  “I suppose I just like the contrast with your lovely brown skin. I cannot help remembering how beautiful you looked, lying naked on the white fur last night.”

  “Laish…” I protested, feeling my cheeks burn despite the cold wind whipping around us.

  “What is it, mon ange?” he said, swinging lightly up behind me and taking Kurex’s reins. “Do you wish to forget about the time we spent together last night? Do you wish to pretend that it never happened?”

  “I…don’t know,” I confessed as Laish urged the big horse forward onto the road only he and Kurex could see. “I should want that, I guess.”

  “But you don’t.” His voice in my ear was low and intimate. “You don’t wish to forget the pleasure we brought each other. Do you?”

  “I guess not,” I whispered. It was wrong and I knew it. I shouldn’t dwell on what we’d done the night before. After all, we’d only done it in order to pay the Sin Tax.

  The first time, yes, whispered a snarky little voice in my head. But the second time—there was no excuse for that. Letting him touch you and make you come again—that was just for you. Just for pleasure.

  I tried to push the guilt out of my mind. The voice sounded disturbingly like Grams and I knew well enough what she’d think of what I’d been doing with Laish last night.

  I’ll be careful, I told myself uneasily. I won’t go too far—I won’t!

  I just hoped I could keep the promise I’d made to myself.

  We rode in silence for about an hour and then we came to the entrance of a long, dark tunnel. Strangely enough, it had nothing on either side of it. It wasn’t set into the side of a mountain as the Jealous Heart had been—it was just a big cylinder made of some dull ivory colored material. Also it was perfectly circular and ribbed at intervals with thick circular supports of the same color. Really, what it reminded me of most was those long collapsible tubes you can get for your kids to crawl through and play in at Ikea. Only this tube was huge—easily big enough for us to ride through while seated on Kurex. Not that I wanted to.

  “Oh, no!” I gripped Kurex’s mane hard at the sight of the tunnel’s mouth. “Please tell me we can ride around that and we don’t have to go through it.”

  “Alas, we must go through it, I fear. There is no other way,” Laish said calmly.

  “But there’s nothing on either side of it—why can’t we just ride around?”

  “Because the Tunnel of Sighs is the only entrance to the City of Dis. And it is where the barrier between the fourth and fifth circle is located. There is no other way through.”

  “Well at least tell me it’s not filled with Skitterlings or something worse,” I said.

  “You have nothing to fear,” Laish said reassuringly. “There are no Skitterlings here—only ghosts.”

  “What?” I half turned in the saddle so I could look at him. “What do you mean only ghosts?”

  He gave me an annoying little grin.

  “Well, they are not ghosts per say—only the voices of ghosts,” he said. “Some say that they hear the words of dead loved ones or other voices from their past as they pass through the tunnel. I must warn you, Gwendolyn, it can be quite disturbing.”

  “I bet,” I muttered. “But you say there’s no way around it?”

  “I am afraid not.”

  “And you’re sure there are no mutant spider things anywhere inside?”

  “Positive.”

  “Well then…” I sighed. “Let’s just get through it.”

  “As you wish. And remember, no matter what the voices say to you, they cannot hurt you.” He looped an arm firmly around my waist and dug his heels into Kurex’s sides. “Here we go.”

  “Here we go,” I echoed him, trying to brace for the worst.

  I held his arm tightly as Kurex entered the almost perfectly circular entrance of the tunnel. Once inside, his hooves echoed oddly against the curved walls. They made a strange meaty thunk, thunk, thunk instead of the tapping or clattering sound I’d expected. Weird.

  But soon I had other things to listen to besides the horse’s hooves. There was a wind in the tunnel—it swooped and swirled and blew my hair around my face. And in the wind were the voices…

  “Gwendolyn, child, what are you doing with your life? whispered a familiar voice in my ear. Why have you been giving yourself to that demon when you know you have to stay pure? Stay pure to stay strong…stay pure to stay protected…”

  “I’m trying, Grams,” I whispered, feeling hot and uncomfortable in the fur coat. “I swear I’m trying.”

  Then the wind changed.

  “Gwendy,” whispered a voice I hadn’t heard in ages. Gwendy, he’s got me and he won’t let me go! I don’t want to be with those men—the ones he sends to me. But he says if I don’t, he’ll cut me off. I can’t help it, Gwendy, I’m so sorry…

  “Keisha!” I knew it was a trick of the tunnel but I couldn’t help looking around for the source of the soft, sighing voice. Was she here? Had my baby sister somehow been transported to Hell?

  “The voices are not real,” Laish murmured in my ear. “Nothing you hear is real, Gwendolyn.”

  “Okay, right.” I nodded and tried to keep the tears that had gathered in my eyes from falling. Goddess, I missed my little sister so much. Even hearing what I knew was a fake of her voice made me long to take her in my arms and hold her close—to save her and comfort her.

  The wind changed again and this time it spoke in a deep, masculine voice.

  “Laish,” it murmured. “Laish, my brother, you are sorely missed in the celestial circles. Why did you forsake the Heavens? Why did you give up everything for the sake of pride?”

  I turned my head to glance at Laish and see what he thought about this but his face was a stony, impenetrable mask. It was impossible to say if the voice was bothering him or not.

  “Ignore it, Gwendolyn,” he said, staring straight ahead. “We will be through the tunnel soon.”

  I supposed he must hear the same thing every time he had to come to the City of Dis this way. Maybe he had gotten used to it over all the millennia since he’d ended up in Hell. I was beginning to have an idea of what must have happened to him but I didn’t want to ask outright since he’d gotten so defensive the night before. Maybe soon we could talk about it though.

  “Gwendolyn, listen to me. Please listen, my friend!”

  I frowned. The new voice sounded different somehow—less hollow and windy. In fact it almost sounded real, like someone was whispering right in my ear. Still, I tried to ignore it as Laish had said. It would do no good to get myself all worked up for nothing. But the soft little voice persisted.

  “It’s so hard to get you to hear me, but here in the tunnel it’s possible if you’ll only listen,” it went on. “I’m trapped here—he stole me away and he’s kept me here in this awful place for so long. Please help me! Please!”

  Who could it be? It didn’t sound like any voice from my past—at least, not anyone I could remember. Although it did seem strangely familiar. Almost like something I’d heard in a dream.

  “If you could make a spell…find a way to set me free…just let me leave this terrible place. I’m so afraid he’ll catch me and bring me back and I can’t stay like this forever. Please!”

  I couldn’t ignore it any longer.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “I’m—” the little