Ruby Shadows (15 page)

“
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.

How do they survive in this horrible city?
I wondered.
How do they keep from being grabbed and
murdered or worse in those awful crowds we passed through?
Maybe they stuck
together, taking care of each other and avoided the central square
of Baator. Maybe the older ones took care of the little ones? I
hoped it was something like that although it would be better if
they had an adult to care for them.

I
wished I could do something for them. If I’d been back home, I
would have called somebody and reported the situation at the very
least. But it wasn’t like I could
call Children’s Services in Hell.

We passed by them
and the little cherub-looking boy with the blond curls stared after
me until they were out of sight.

When we got to the
huge front door of the vast black spire Laish had called the Hotel
Infernal, two red skinned demons with sharp, crooked teeth and
doormen’s coats hastily came to attention.

“
Who asks entrance?” one demanded, eyeing Laish
uncertainly.

“
Laish, Lord of Hades,” he said in a cool, controlled voice.
“Open the door before I flay the flesh from your bones.”

The demons sprung to
attention at once.

“
My Lord Laish—forgive us! We are but lesser demons—we did not
know!”

Laish said a single
word in that harsh language I was beginning to think of as “Hell
Speak” and they silenced at once. As one, they gripped the enormous
door handles and pulled, revealing a vast lobby that seemed to be
carved entirely of black marble.

The opening the doors made was plenty big enough for
Kurex to walk through
with us still sitting on his back. Which in fact, is what we did.
If the minor demons had a problem with Laish riding a huge demon
horse into their hotel lobby, they didn’t say anything about it.
But the way they were looking at him from the corners of their
yellow eyes made me think they wouldn’t have said anything if he’d
decided to bring a whole
herd
of horses with him into the hotel.

“
So, ‘Lord of Hades’ is it?” I murmured, turning my head to
give him a sidelong glance as Kurex’s hooves echoed on the black
marble. “That’s pretty major I’d say.”

He shrugged
laconically.

“
As to that, who can say? Some are more impressed by titles
than others.”

“
Titles or threats?” I asked. “And by the way those two jumped
to attention, I’d say you must have the power to back up your
threats.”

“
Possibly.” He was still playing dumb which was
really
irritating. I wanted to
know exactly how important and powerful he was. Back when I’d first
worked my spell, I had been trying to get the most minor demon I
could but I was beginning to believe I had brought over Hell’s
version of a powerful CEO—or I’d brought over a general when I was
trying for a private, if you prefer a military analogy.