Ruby Shadows (56 page)

“
A pity he didn’t
take
all
of your
power,” Belial said grimly. “Perhaps if he had, he might have
broken the spell you had over him and saved himself instead of
you.”

“
I didn’t have him under
any
spell,”
I
snapped, goaded into feeling angry instead of sad for once. “He
just showed up when I did a summoning and then he wouldn’t leave me
alone. I never expected him to really
care
for me, any more than I
expected to…to care for him.” The last word ended in a sob and I
had to stop and clench my jaw tightly to keep from crying
again.

“
Of course you had him
spelled—you have the scent of the Eternal Flame all around you,”
Belial said, frowning. “At first I didn’t know what it was—it’s so
subtle it’s easy to miss. But when I did a little research, all
became clear.”

“
The Eternal what?” I
shook my head. “What are you talking about?”

“
The Eternal Flame.” He
made an impatient gesture. “Do not pretend you don’t know all about
it.”

“
But I
don’t,”
I protested. “What is the
Eternal Flame? What does that even mean?”

“
Very well, since you
choose to play the innocent,” he growled. “The Eternal Flame is
what happens when the flames of Hell consume the life of someone
you love—someone who loves you more than anything—when you are
nearby. It is the scent of sacrifice and love and death. The
creatures of the Infernal Realm find it irresistible, as I’m sure
you know.”

“
No, I don’t…I don’t know
anything about it.” I felt sick to my stomach. “But…my mother—she
was killed by a fire demon she summoned when I was just a little
girl. I…I saw the whole thing through a crack in the closet
door.”

“
That’s it, then.” Belial
nodded, as though he’d been vindicated in some way. “I
knew
it had to be the
Eternal Flame. When a mortal creature comes that close to
death—especially death at the hands of one from the Infernal
Realm—the scent lingers, like a subtle perfume. Sometimes so subtle
that those affected don’t even know they are being drawn by
it.”

I felt numb. “Laish
did
say he didn’t know
why he…he cared for me.” He had said it right here in this room, as
a matter of fact.

Belial sighed and rubbed a hand over his
ancient, wrinkled face.

“
I thought he knew of the
Eternal Flame, but perhaps not.”

“
He must have though,” I
protested. “I told him about how my mother died.”

“
That is assuming he knew
about the lore behind the fragrance you are oh-so-subtly emitting
my dear,” he snapped. “It is
not
common knowledge. I only found it by digging into
the most ancient lore books after the two of you had left for the
Sunless Sea.” He frowned at me. “I
wondered
how you, as a mere mortal,
had come across it.”

“
I
didn’t,”
I said wearily. “I didn’t
have any idea that the way my mother died could have given me some
kind of…of aroma.”

“
It is more an aroma of
the soul than one of the physical body,” Belial said. “But whether
you knew of it or not, it seems my Lord Laish was unwittingly
caught in your snare and sent to his doom by it.”

“
Great,” I said dully. “So
he never really cared for me at all. He just liked the way I
smelled and it got him killed. Thanks, I feel
so
much better now.”

“
Enough of your flippant
comments,” Belial snapped. “Whether you did it on purpose or not,
you have been responsible for ending the life of one of the
greatest demons ever to roam the Infernal Realm.” He made a
disgusted face. “It
sickens
me to even look at you.”

“
Well you’re not going to
be winning any beauty pageants either,” I shot back. “So why don’t
you just let me go back home to the Mortal Realm and we can agree
never to see each other again.”

“
I don’t think so,” he
snarled. “You’re to be held here for the hearing. After that, the
Council of Elder Demons can decide what to do with you.”

“
But you can’t do that to
me,” I protested, feeling panic well up in my throat. “Laish
specifically told me to come back to you so that you could send me
home.”

“
Lord Laish is not here
anymore, thanks to you,” the old demon said stiffly. “For the sake
of his memory, I will allow you to stay sequestered in his rooms
here at the top of the Citadel until the hearing instead of locking
you in the dungeon. But that is the last kindness you can expect to
get from me or anyone by invoking his name.”

“
But—” I began but he was
already calling for some guards.

“
Conduct Ms. LaRoux to
Lord Laish’s private living quarters,” he instructed the burly
demon who came at his summons. “And then stand guard at the top of
the stairs and see that she does not leave.” He turned to me. “Your
hearing will be held at first light tomorrow. I suggest you enjoy
your comfortable quarters while you can. I very much doubt you can
expect such living arrangements when the Council hands you over to
Druaga.”

Before I could answer, he
swept out of the library, leaving me alone with the burly demon
guard and a very,
very
bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

~ ~ ~

“
My Lady Gwendolyn? My
Lady Gwendolyn, are you there?”

The soft knocking at the
door of Laish’s living area got my attention. Not that I was doing
much more than staring at the pattern in the thick carpet and
wondering how in the Hell—no pun intended—I was going to get out of
here before the travesty of a trial began. If Druaga got his hairy
hands on me…but no, I couldn’t think about that. I
couldn’t.

“
My Lady Gwendolyn?” came
the squeaky little voice again.

Sighing, I got up and went to open the door.
Standing there, bowing and nodding anxiously, was Bobbin, the
little imp I’d befriended the last time Laish and I were here.
Which seemed like an eternity ago now, even tho it had barely been
two days.

“
Yes, Bobbin, what do you
want?” I asked.

“
Oh, my Lady Gwendolyn,
it’s not what
I
want but what do
you
want?” He searched my face as he tugged nervously
at his sharp little horns. “Master Belial says you’re to have
anything you want for dinner—anything at all. So what can I get for
you from the kitchens?”

I frowned. Belial knew full well I couldn’t
eat anything from the Infernal Realm—not without getting caught
here indefinitely. Yet he had sent Bobbin to taunt me with the
offer of food. He might as well have sent the little imp with a
note telling me to give up—that I was going to be stuck here
forever.

“
Nothing—I don’t want
anything from your kitchen here,” I snapped.

Bobbin’s little face fell. “All right, my
Lady. Please forgive me for disturbing you.”

The dejected look on his little face was
more than my conscious could take. Yes, I was being held prisoner
in Hell and I had little chance of escape but it wasn’t right to
take it out on someone who just wanted to help me.

“
Wait, Bobbin, I’m sorry,
it’s just that I can’t eat food from Hell.” Suddenly I had a
thought. “You said I can have anything I want?”

“
Anything! Anything
at
all.”
Bobbin
looked up at me, his eyes shining hopefully.

“
Well, I don’t know if you
can get to it but Laish left me a supply of the food I
can
eat,” I said. “They
were in Kurex’s saddlebags—you know, the big horse we were riding?”
Just thinking of the massive Demon-steed made my heart ache. Where
was he now? I hoped resting quietly in the stables. I couldn’t bear
to think of him being mistreated by his huge demon
master.

Bobbin was already nodding his head
eagerly.

“
Yes, yes, the saddlebags!
I know where they are—I can get them for you!”

“
Well, as long as you
won’t be putting yourself in any danger,” I said hesitantly. I
could just see one of Kurex’s big feet coming down by accident and
squashing the little imp.

“
No problem, my Lady
Gwendolyn—no problem at all!”

Eyes bright with excitement, he turned and
scampered off, happy to be sent on a mission.

I barely had time to sit down and worry
about him before Bobbin was back, lugging the heavy saddle bags
behind him. I thanked him very much and gave him a kiss on the
cheek which made him blush with pleasure. Then, as soon as he
scampered off again I pulled the heavy bags to the couch in the
living area and started digging for the food Laish had left me.

Luckily it looked like nothing in the bags
had been disturbed. Even my battered plastic Zephyrhills bottle and
the books Laish had let me pack were intact, as was the food.

I hadn’t meant for Bobbin to bring me
everything but now I blessed his curly little head. At least I
wouldn’t be thirsty or hungry and the books gave me a way to pass
the time while I tried to think of a way out of here. I wished one
of the spells might help me get out of my sticky predicament but
since giving up my virginity without forming a soul bond had halved
my powers, that was out of the question. Still, at least looking
through the books was something to do besides brooding.

I leafed through the spell book I’d picked,
looking at spells at random. There were the usual suspects—love
spells, charms for good health and hexes for your enemies. Also an
interesting spell for warding and protection of the innocent—that
one must be to use on children to keep them safe. Then I came to
one I’d been looking at before—a spoken spell to bring hidden
things to light.

“
Hmm,” I muttered to
myself. Some of the words were written in curling, archaic
handwriting that I would have had a hard time understanding if I
hadn’t studied Grams’ grimoire so thoroughly. She had lots of old
fashioned spells like this. Without even thinking about it, I
whispered the words under my breath.

“
As ye be lost, so be ye
found.

As ye be hidden, so be made known.

As ye be cursed, so be set free.

By the power of the Goddess

By the rule of three

I invoke thee, I invoke thee, I invoke
thee.”

As I finished speaking the words of the
spell, a surge of power went through me, surprising me.

“
Oh!” I gasped. But I
didn’t have time to wonder at the electrical rush that still
tingled in my fingertips. Something fluttering near the corner of
my eye caught my attention. Eryn, my pet moth, had risen from my
shoulder and was beating her wings wildly in agitation.

“
Hey, little girl,” I
said, worried about her. “Are you okay? You—”

But I never got to finish the sentence. For
at that moment, Eryn landed on a spot on the floor right in front
of my feet. Then she began to grow and change so rapidly that if I
would have blinked, I would have missed it.

One minute there was a postage-stamp sized
moth with tiny, feathery wings sitting by my feet. The next, a girl
with long, pale blond hair and frightened purple eyes was staring
me in the face.

I recognized her at once—it was the girl I’d
seen in the Mirror of the Eye and she was standing right in front
of me.

Chapter
Thirty-three

Gwendolyn

“
Gwendolyn?” she asked,
looking at me. “Oh, Gwendolyn, thank you! I thought I’d be a
lily-moth forever.”

“
Eryn?” I stared at her
blankly. “Is that you?”

“
It is.” She came forward
and took me by the hands, looking earnestly into my face. “Ah—I
knew I’d be able to touch you, even in my true form,” she said,
smiling. “Your heart is pure, then.”

“
If you say so.” I shook
my head. “But I don’t understand. How…why…?” There were too many
questions—I couldn’t get them all out so I just shook my head and
decided to start from the top. “Who
are
you?” I asked.

“
One who has been lost for
a long time.” She made an expansive gesture with both hands and the
feathery cape she wore around her shoulders rustled. I stared at
it, my mind working on something I couldn’t yet name.

“
Wait a minute—that’s no
cape. Those are
wings,”
I exclaimed. “You…you’re an—”

“
An angel.” She smiled at
me. “I was dragged down from Heaven—trapped in a cruel snare set by
the demons to take angels unawares. There is nothing they like so
much as despoiling innocence.” She shivered. “When I found you at
the Hotel Infernal, I had almost given up hope. But you were kind
to me and let me ride on your shoulder. I tried to talk to you but
most of the time you couldn’t hear me.”

The penny finally dropped, as Grams would
say, and a shock of understanding burst through me.

“
Wait a minute—an
angel…one who’s been with me since I left the Hotel Infernal…” I
jumped to my feet, pointing at her. “You’re the one—the thing that
Druaga says I stole—the thing he wants back so badly.”