Ruby Shadows Read online

  “What?” I demanded. “What is he trying to say?”

  “The food in Hell,” Grams said. “You can’t eat any of it. Can’t drink anything there either.”

  “What? Why not? What does that have to do with where he lives?”

  Laish tksed. “Not up on your mythology, Gwendolyn? The story of Persephone and Demeter? The way the God of the dead stole the lovely Persephone away and she was forced to stay with him six months of the year after eating six pomegranate seeds?”

  “That’s a myth,” I protested. “A story the Greeks made up to explain why we have summer and winter. Nothing can grow in the winter because Demeter, the Goddess of harvests, is grieving for her daughter Persephone while she is forced to stay in Hell. In summer when she’s allowed to go back, the whole world blooms.”

  “There are seeds of truth—you should pardon the pun—in every myth, mon ange,” Laish said. “Your grandmother is quite right—you must not eat or drink anything while you are in Hell or you will be forced to stay there which I know you do not want.”

  “Well what am I supposed to do?” I asked blankly. “I’m assuming this is going to take more than an hour or two.”

  “To journey through the seven circles of Hell will take at least a week—maybe a bit more,” Laish remarked.

  “I thought there were nine circles according to Dante,” I protested. “And anyway, how am I supposed to not eat or drink anything for a week? I’ll be too weak to shut the door once we get to the Abyss.”

  “Dante was a tourist, sadly lacking in accuracy. And believe me, once you have been there, you will find that seven circles are more than enough for your mortal taste.” He shook his head. “As to the food, do not worry, mon ange. I will provide you with sustenance and drink that will not bind you to my realm,” he assured me.

  Grams shook her head. “You’ll do no such thing because Gwendolyn is not going.”

  “Grams,” I said, taking her by the arm. “Let me show you something.”

  I took her to her bedroom and flipped on the lights. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the enormous sinkhole in the center of the room.

  “Gwendolyn child, what—?”

  “This is why I have to go,” I said, gesturing to the yawning pit where her bed had once stood. “A Hellspawn did this—a creature from the pit that I let in when I was rescuing Taylor.”

  “You should never have done that.” She shook her head, her eyes still wide and sad. “Gwendolyn, if I had known—”

  “I kept it from you because I was afraid of what you might think of me.” I looked down at my feet. “I’m sorry, Grams. I, uh, sort of got off track. Way off track. But I couldn’t just leave Taylor to die. I felt responsible for her. And I thought I closed that stupid door. But I didn’t and now…now this thing is loose and tonight it wasn’t coming after me—it was coming after you. If we hadn’t switched rooms…”

  Grams looked pale but she shook her head.

  “Don’t go on my account, Gwendolyn. Now that I know what to look for, I can manage just fine.”

  “You can, maybe,” I said in a low voice. “But what about Keisha?”

  “Keisha.” Her eyes grew wide with understanding. “She’s outside my sphere of influence now.”

  “Exactly,” I said grimly. “And this thing might go after her next. It’s going to go after everyone I love—unless I stop it.”

  “Your granddaughter is quite correct,” Laish said, coming up behind us and making me jump. “I was able to banish it back to the Infernal Realm for tonight but it knows its way back and the door is still open. It will return.”

  “But if it’s going after your loved ones, what good will it do for you to go to Hell, child?” Grams was almost pleading now.

  “As long as Gwendolyn stays here, you and everyone else she loves is in danger because it would prefer to make her suffer first before hunting her down,” Laish explained. “However, she is still its primary target. If she leaves here and comes with me on this quest, it will follow her. She will be drawing it away from her loved ones.”

  “By acting as bait? You’re saying I should let her go to Hell with the thing that did this to my bedroom stalking her?” Grams demanded.

  “I’m saying you should let her clean up her own mess,” Laish said quietly. “A door opening onto the Abyss will not only affect Gwendolyn and her family. After it deals with the lot of you, the Hellspawn will look for other victims. Innocents which will have no idea they are being hunted until it is too late.”

  I took her hands in mine. “I have to go, Grams,” I said quietly, looking into her eyes. “Please, I have to.”

  She squeezed my fingers tightly. “But how can I be sure you’ll be safe? Gwendolyn, child, you’re all I’ve got now.”

  “I will attend to Gwendolyn’s safety,” Laish said.

  Grams turned to him, her faded eyes blazing with anger.

  “Oh, I just bet you will. And what do you get out of all this?” she demanded. “Why would you bother putting yourself out for her in the first place?”

  Oh boy, here we go… If Laish told my grandmother about our “agreement” all Hell was going to break loose—and not from his side—from hers. I tried to signal him with my eyes not to say anything about our deal and to my relief, he didn’t. What he did say, surprised me.

  “Would you believe me if I said that I want a chance to win Gwendolyn’s heart?” he said quietly. “That I long to spend more time with her in hopes that she might see past my demonic exterior and learn to love the male within?”

  Grams glared at him. “No. No. And hell no.”

  He sighed theatrically. “I can see you think that as a denizen of the demonic realm, I have no honor.”

  “No honor, no heart, and no soul,” Grams emphasized and I knew she was pointing out that even if Laish had been serious about wanting to “win my heart,” he couldn’t have. You can’t form a loving soul-bond with someone who doesn’t have a soul to bond with in the first place.

  “Very well then,” Laish said blandly. “I will tell you the true reason. From the moment I answered Gwendolyn’s first call, she became my responsibility. Leaving a door open from the Abyss to the world of men is a serious fault—one which I will be punished for soundly if it is not dealt with. And, as only one with Gwendolyn’s soul signature can close the door that she opened, I must escort her through my realm so that she can resolve the matter before it reaches the attention of my superior.”

  “He’s just a minor demon, Grams,” I put in. “He’ll get in trouble over what I did if he doesn’t help me fix it.”

  Laish got an amused look on his face. “A minor demon. Exactly.” He raised an eyebrow at Grams. “So are you satisfied?”

  “Not nearly,” she snapped. “What assurance do I have that you’ll bring Gwendolyn back to me after she’s done closing that door? How do I know you won’t just toss her aside the minute the matter’s resolved?”

  She had a point. I couldn’t help the shiver that went up my spine when I remembered those dark, slimy tentacles slithering over and over each other in the black depths of that vast pit. What if Laish simply decided to push me into the Abyss once he got my virginity and the door was closed? My power would be cut in half if he insisted that we have sex but even at full power, there was no way I would be able to escape that dark place. What if—?

  My thoughts were cut off as Laish abruptly seemed to grow larger somehow, his ruby eyes burning like hot coals.

  “Now you have truly angered me.” His voice was so quiet I could barely hear it but so intense it felt like a flame, burning me.

  To Grams’ credit, she didn’t back down, despite Laish’s scary appearance.

  “You don’t scare me, demon—I don’t care if I made you mad or not.” She poked a finger at his broad chest. “Answer the question. What promise can you give that I’ll believe? How do I know you’ll bring my precious girl back to me?”

  Laish sighed and seemed to melt down to his normal size—