Ruby Shadows (10 page)

“
It’s time,”
Laish murmured to me. Up until then, we had been keeping to
the wall and the long shadows it cast. Now he took me firmly by the
hand and pulled me right through the middle of the
gates.

“
Uh, shouldn’t we keep to the side?” I asked, out of the
corner of my mouth.

“
More chance of running into one of the guards,” he said. “Go
ahead of me, Gwendolyn—once you are past the threshold, they cannot
turn you away and danger is more likely to come from
behind.”

“
Fine,” I muttered. I felt incredibly vulnerable stepping out
ahead of him but I did it anyway. The space we went through felt as
wide as a football field—though it was probably only the size of a
tennis court. I kept my head down, looking at my feet. Ho-hum,
nothing to see here. Just a subservient concubine just out for a
stroll with her demonic master…

And that was when I
heard the growling.

Abandoning my subservient routine, I looked up…and up…and up,
into the eyes of a huge, bristling dog. At least, I
thought
it was a dog. Except no
kind of dog I ever heard of grows as large as a horse. Also, I’m
pretty sure the American Kennel Club doesn’t recognize any breed
that has three heads—which this dog had. So when I say I looked
into its eyes, I mean I looked into all
six
of them. And every single one was filled with a
murderous desire to rip me apart like a piece of beef
jerky.

I’ve never been a dog person—witches and cats go together like
peanut butter and jelly—which is why Grams and I always had at
least one feline stalking around the house. But even if I
had
been a canine enthusiast, I don’t
think I could have gotten too enthusiastic about the beast which
was blocking my way and growling at me with all three heads. In
fact, I was about as far from enthusiastic as I could get—I
was
terrified
.

“
Laish,” I whispered, my voice suddenly dry. “What’s
go
ing on? I
thought you said there was more danger from behind?”

“
What’s going on is that some fool has gone and left Cerberus
off his leash again.” He sounded more irritated than anything else.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let him hurt you,” he added.

“
Um, thanks…” I still couldn’t raise my voice above a whisper
and I didn’t dare take my eyes off the huge beast. All three heads
were still growling and snarling and two of them were drooling on
the ground. I couldn’t help noticing that where the ropey
strings of saliva touched
the broad black paving stones, little wisps of steam arose. Either
the dog-thing’s spit was supernaturally hot or some kind of acid.
Neither option seemed very comforting.

Suddenly the dog
lunged at me, all three heads barking in a deafening cacophony.

“
Oh, God!”
I
jumped back instinctively, my heart pounding, though I knew there
was no way I could outrun the huge thing.

“
No!” Laish was suddenly between us. “No, Cerberus!” he
repeated,
slapping
aside one of the snarling, barking heads as casually as anyone else
might swat a fly. Then he added a word in that harsh language that
hurt my ears.

At
once the three headed dog flopped down on the ground and began to
whimper
as though
it was in pain. It looked up at Laish with big, sad puppy dog eyes
which might have melted my heart if there hadn’t been six of
them.

“
That’s right,” Laish frowned at the creature. “You must never
threaten her again. Gwendolyn is mine and I will not see her
harmed.”

The dog seemed to understand this. It rolled over on its back
as though begging to have its massive tummy scratched. I was almost
tempted to do it—
the change in the big dog was from night to day. He looked so
sad and contrite and really, almost loveable, I could scarcely
believe he would hurt me now.

As
I watched
him, the
huge thing whined again and made a little movement toward me with
one of its massive, dinner-plate sized paws.
Come play with me,
I could almost hear it
saying.
Sorry I
scared you—just doing my job and guarding the gates.

“
Hey, boy,” I murmured. “Are you really just a big
softie?”

The dog made another appealing little whine at the back of one
of its throats, as though agreeing with me. Well, maybe he was just
being protective of his territory. As I said before, I’m not much
of a dog person but I
had
dated a
guy for a little while who had a Rottweiler/Pitt bull mix. The
thing was as ugly and scary as any animal you’d ever want to meet
but once it had recognized that I wasn’t a threat, it had been a
very sweet companion. In fact, I’d been sorrier to leave the dog
than the guy, when we finally broke up.

“
I
think somebody wants his tummy scratched,” I said.

The dog barked playfully and almost seemed to be grinning at
me, its long pink tongues hanging out
of all three mouths as it panted
eagerly.

I was stepping
forward with one hand raised when Laish took me by the wrist and
pulled me back.

“
I
wouldn’t,” he said blandly. “Cerberus is not to be
trusted.”

“
He’s just protecting his territory,” I protested. “Now that
you calmed him down it should be fine.”

“
He would like you to think so—until you got within biting
distance.” Laish gestured at the massive dog. “Then he would take
your head from your shoulders. He has been trained to smell human
flesh—that’s all he eats.”

“
Seriously?” I suddenly felt sick.

“
Oh, yes. He is actually most helpful—he keeps souls from
escaping from Hell and for the most part, he keeps humans out. By
any means possible. But even if he
didn’t
bite your head from your body, there are other
things to
consider.”

“
What other things? Besides his three heads and his taste for
human flesh?” I demanded.

“
His tail.” Laish nodded at the back end of the huge animal.
“Watch his tail, Gwendolyn. It will show you his true
intentions.”

As
he spoke, I saw a large black cobra rise up. It hovered, hissing
over the shaggy belly I had just been going to scratch and I
realized it was connected to Cerberus. It was actually
part
of him.

“
Ugh.” I took another step back. “
Hell is worse than I imagined, so
far.”

“
This,
mon
ange,
is but the
tip of the iceberg. There is much more to come,” Laish said grimly.
“But for now, let us—”

Before he
could finish a massive demon with dark maroon skin and twisted
horns rode up on a snorting black horse even bigger than
Cerberus.

“
Who dares to pass through the Great Barrier
unannounced?”
he
thundered. He was huge—easily two feet taller than the massive
demons we’d seen guarding the gates earlier. “Cerberus!” he
growled, swinging off the horse and stalking over to where the
three headed dog was still sprawled in front of Laish. “Is this
female a mortal being with an intact soul? Why did you allow her to
pass through the gate? Why have you not ripped her limb from limb
and consumed her?”

The dog whined again
and barked sharply at the massive demon. I bit my lip and crossed
my arms over my chest protectively. Great, we’d been busted trying
to sneak into Hell. What was going to happen now? Laish was just a
minor demon. Would he get in trouble? Would he—?

“
Cerberus did not attack the female because she is mine and I
forbid him to harm her,” Laish said, stepping forward.

The demon, who
towered over both of us, squinted down at him.

“
Do I know you? Who are you that the hound of Hell obeys your
orders?”

“
You know me, Yerx.” Suddenly, Laish seemed to grow bigger and
more menacing, just as he had at Grams’ house. “You know me very
well,” he rumbled, his voice deepening to a threatening
thunder.

I
looked at him in awe—was this the other form he had talked
about—his true demonic form? But his face hadn’t changed any—in
fact, he didn’t seem that different except for his size. Maybe this
was a partial transformation? What would happen if he changed
completely? What would he look like?
And did I really want to know?

Apparently the
partial change was good enough for the huge demon.

“
My Lord Laish!”
It threw its massive frame on the black paving stones at our
feet. It was so big I swore I could feel the ground shake when it
hit the earth. “F-forgive me,” it stammered, pressing its huge,
ugly face to Laish’s shoe. “I did not recognize you in your mortal
form. I meant no disrespect—please don’t have me skinned alive or
banish me to the lake of fire! Not all of us can survive it as you
did!”

Laish stepped back
and seemed to shrink down to his normal size again.

“
That is quite all right, Yerx,” he said mildly. “An
understandable mistake. I will not punish you—this
time.”

“
Oh, thank you, Master! Thank you!” The demon babbled, still
groveling at his feet.

“
That’s quite enough, Yerx.” Laish’s expression was one of
distaste. “As I said, I won’t punish you this time—so long as you
keep my secret. I am taking my concubine to my home in Hades and I
don’t wish anyone to know it. Hence my attempt to bring her through
the gates clandestinely.” He frowned. “Unfortunately, some fool let
Cerberus off his leash and so my plan was spoiled.”

“
I’ll have whoever did it whipped until they bleed,” the demon
promised. “And your secret is safe with me, I swear it, my
Lord.”

“
Very well.” Laish sighed. “As long as you are here, Yerx, I
might as well make use of you. Or rather, make use of your horse.
It’s a long walk to the river and I confess I wasn’t looking
forward to it.”

“
Of course. Of course!” The demon hopped up at once and
grabbed the snorting black horse’s reins. “Take him as far as you
like, my Lord. He will return on his own when you release
him.”

“
All right.” Laish stepped forward and took the reins. He
turned to me. “Come, Gwendolyn. Let us go.”

“
On
that
thing?”
I shook my head as a familiar fear from childhood rose up. “Uh-uh,
I don’t think so.”

He frowned at
me. “You’re fearless, Gwendolyn—some might even say reckless. A
moment ago before I stopped you, you were going to pet the hound of
Hell. Now you fear to mount a horse?”

“
I
don’t love dogs to death but a dog—even a three headed one—is still
better than a horse,” I said defensively, taking another step
back.

“
Come,
mon
ange,”
Laish said.
“Don’t be ridiculous. This steed is perfectly safe—observe.”
Nonchalantly, he put his foot in the stirrup and swung aboard the
huge black horse which snorted and stamped but did, at least, stay
still for the operation. The thing was so big it looked more like
he was mounted on an elephant than a horse—or maybe that was just
my fear talking.

“
I…I don’t want to.” Still, I hung back. I had bad memories of
my last time on horseback—
very
bad memories that involved a hospital visit, a broken collar
bone, and my Grams crying her eyes out with worry. I wanted no part
of that again.

“
Gwendolyn…” Laish’s deep voice was soft and patient. “I swear
to you I will not allow the horse to hurt or throw you. I will hold
you myself the entire time we are astride it. Come…trust me.
Remember you said that you would try?”

I
had
said that, hadn’t I? But
why did he have to test me so soon?

“
Come, Gwendolyn,” he said again. “Every moment you delay is
another moment the Hellspawn has to track us.”

The thought of the
headless thing with its long yellow teeth and slimy tongue-tentacle
finally got me moving. Trying to stay right in the middle of the
huge horse and away from its front and back hooves, I carefully
approached.

“
That’s good,
mon ange.”
Laish leaned down and held out a hand encouragingly. “Take my
arm and step up on my foot. I will swing you up in front of
me.”

It was a long reach
to get my foot up to his, which was stuck firmly in the black
leather stirrup. I felt ridiculous even trying because the red silk
dress was riding up and I felt sure that the massive demon behind
me was staring at my ass. Finally, though, I managed to get my foot
on top of Laish’s and grasp him by the forearm.

“
Up we go,” he said and suited actions to words by heaving me
lightly up the side of the huge horse. Before I knew it, I was
sitting in front of him in the big black saddle.

There was nothing
else to hold on to so I grabbed a handful of the horse’s mane,
hoping it wouldn’t mind. It snorted and stamped its foot but showed
no inclination to buck us off, which was good. Still, I didn’t like
being so high up and feeling so completely out of control.