Ruby Shadows (57 page)

“
You won’t give me back to
him, will you?” Her huge purple eyes grew wide with fear. “Oh,
please—you don’t know the horrible, sick things he wants to do to
me!”

“
I can imagine,” I said
grimly, thinking of the disgusting boar-headed demon with his
gleaming gold tusk and his oversized equipment.

“
He wasn’t able to touch
me before because only one with a purity and love in their heart
can touch an angel,” she went on quickly. “He was working on a way,
though—he’d almost found the solution when I finally managed to
take my other form and escape. But then…I got stuck. I couldn’t
leave my moth form no matter how hard I tried. If you hadn’t spoken
that spell just now I might have remained that way
forever.”

“
You’ve been talking to me
all along, haven’t you?” I asked, feeling stupid. “That was you in
the Tunnel of Sighs. And that was why you got so excited over the
Angel book in the library. Only I was too preoccupied with myself
and Laish to pick up the clues.”

“
I do not blame you,” she
said gently. “I’m grateful you were willing to let me travel with
you. And…” She bit her lip. “I am sorry about Lord Laish. I knew
him in Heaven you know. Before…before the Fall. He was the most
magnificent archangel—he burned with a pure, white light more
brilliant than the sun.”

I thought of the being Laish had become—of
his flaming eyes and hair and the vast, black wings. I thought of
him telling me that he loved me and how I would never see him
again…

“
Oh, I’m so sorry,” the
angel said anxiously. “I did not mean to make you cry! Of course, I
should not have mentioned him—not while your grief is still so
fresh.”

“
No, no…it’s all right.” I
wiped at my streaming eyes. “I just…miss him so much. Despite what
he did right…right before he left. I…I guess I love him.
Loved
him, I mean.” I
blotted my eyes on my t-shirt. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t want to
talk about him—tell me more. Why did he leave? Heaven, I
mean.”

“
There were many reasons
why a third of the Heavenly Host decided to defect to Lucifer’s
side and make war against the Creator,” she said, frowning. “But if
I remember correctly, Lord Laish left for love—or for the
possibility of love, at least.”

“
Love?” I raised an
eyebrow. “The voice in the Tunnel of Sighs said it was
pride.”

“
Well that is the root of
all sins—pride in thinking you are right in your views, no matter
what,” she pointed out. “But it was love, I am certain. You see, we
angels are not attracted to one another for the Creator made us to
be sexless beings.”

“
Really?” I eyed her
skeptically. For an angel, she was no skinny minny. In fact, she
had full curving breasts and hips that would have done a Plus-sized
model proud back home. “No offense but you don’t
look
like you’d be
sexless,” I said.

She blushed, her pale cheeks turning a
sweet, innocent pink.

“
Well, not all of
us
are.
Some have
urges and…and cravings. But just because one has urges does not
mean one has to
act
on them.” She cleared her throat. “And as I said, we are not
attracted to each other. But then the Creator made man and some of
the male angels, well, they found the daughters of Eve lovely to
behold. And they…” She blushed again, even harder. “They wanted
to
lie
with
them,” she almost whispered.

I almost laughed—no wonder Laish had become
a demon of lust!

“
So you’re saying that
Laish got kicked out of Heaven because he wanted to get some from a
mortal girl? Who did he fall for? What was her name?”

“
Oh no, you have mistaken
my meaning.” She shook her head quickly, her wings rustling. “Some
of the other angels did have relationships with mortal females. But
Lord Laish did not. He only wanted the
right
to have such a relationship.
But the Creator would not consent to it. It was and is still
forbidden for an angel to have relations with a mortal
being.”

“
Is that right?” I
frowned. “And I’m guessing that an angel and a demon doing the
nasty is off the table too, right?”

She shuddered delicately.
“As if anyone would want to lie with a demon! Well—not Lord Laish,
I mean,” she said hastily. “I could understand that—even as a demon
he was magnificent. But that
beast
, Druaga…”

“
It’s okay, you don’t have
to explain—I understand,” I said. “And I completely agree with
you—he’s disgusting.”

Her purple eyes widened again.

“
If I hadn’t left just
when I did he would have despoiled me and I would have been stuck
here forever. Once an angel has been well,
penetrated,
she can no longer return
to the Heavenly Realm and resume her duties as an
angel.”

“
Well, Druaga’s not going
to get a chance to despoil you,” I said firmly. “I promise you
that…uh…You know, I’ve been calling you Eryn all this time but I
just realized I don’t know your real name,” I said.

She smiled sadly.

“
Neither do I. I believe I
spent too much time in my moth form because I cannot now recall it.
I
do
like the
name you gave me, though. Eryn is a lovely name—you may keep
calling me that if you like.”

“
All right. Well, Eryn…” I
squeezed her hand. “I promise you’re not going back to
that…that
pig
.
We’ll find some way to keep you safe.”

“
Maybe another spell from
your book,” she suggested eagerly.

I thought of the spell I’d seen to protect
the innocent.

“
Maybe,” I said
cautiously. “But I’ve only got half my power now—I gave up half
when Laish and I…when we, uh,
lay
together.” Was that the right way to say it? I
didn’t want to offend her delicate angel sensibilities but she only
nodded.

“
I understand. But maybe
you could just
try?
In fact, maybe you could find a way for both of us to escape
from here and go home.”

“
Open a door to another
realm we could both go through on only half power?” I gave a short
laugh. “Hardly. That would take two or three times the power
I
used
to have.
In fact, I don’t even know how I got the spell that turned you back
to your normal self to work.” I frowned. “It’s weird—I wasn’t even
trying.”

“
Maybe you have more power
than you think.” Eryn looked at me hopefully. “Please,
Gwendolyn?”

“
Well, there’s no harm in
trying, I guess,” I said. Picking up the ancient spell book, I
began paging through it again until I got to the spell for
protecting the innocent. I read through it twice, very
carefully.

“
Well?” Eryn asked
eagerly, her face shining. And I mean that—she was literally
shining with purity and light. I was guessing that angels never
needed flashlights or light bulbs since they were their own light
source.

“
It
might
work,” I said slowly. “If only
I had the right materials to set it up. But I don’t have…” I
stopped myself. “Wait a minute—let me look.”

I dived for the voluminous
saddle bags and started digging through them again. Sure enough, I
found all the spell casting equipment Laish had brought with us for
the summoning spell tucked neatly away in one of the large pockets.
Okay, so I
did
have the necessary equipment—but did I have the
power?

I looked at the spell
again and my heart sank as a detail I hadn’t noticed before caught
my eye. This spell was meant to be worked by an entire coven—three
or more witches at least—at once. Even a witch with Grams’ power
and experience would have had difficulty getting results flying
solo. And I was
not
Grams—even on my best day I didn’t have her level of control
and skill. Not to mention that now I only had half as much power as
I’d had before.

“
Well?” Eryn asked again
and this time there was a note of worry in her voice.

I opened my mouth to tell
her there was no hope but I couldn’t do it. She and I were facing
the same awful fate at the hands of Druaga. I couldn’t just sit
there like a lump moaning about how awful it was without
even
trying
to do
something about it. Even a failed attempt was better than giving
up.

“
I’ll
try,”
I told her at last. “I’m
afraid I can’t promise anything but I will try.”

“
Oh, thank you, thank you!
That’s all I ask.” Her eyes were shining with gratitude I hadn’t
earned. Half power or not, it made me determined to do my best.
“Come on,” I told her. “Let’s get to work.”

Some time later, I looked around, checking
the circle I’d made on the thick carpet. I looked around, checking
the circle I’d made on the thick carpet. With no other way to draw
on it, I’d had to use some perfumed talcum powder I’d found among
the bath things Bobbin had brought to me back when Laish and I
first stayed here.

Just the thought of Laish made my eyes burn
and my throat feel tight but I went on resolutely, putting my grief
behind me, at least for a little while. I had a job to do here and
though I had no idea how I was going to do the work of three
witches when I only had half the power of one, I knew I had to
try.

“
Here we go,” I told Eryn.
“Now you stand here, in the center of the circle while I call the
corners. And after I speak the spell, be ready in case it
works.”

“
What is going to happen?”
She looked at me uncertainly.

“
I’m not sure,” I said
truthfully. “It’s a spell for protecting and warding the innocent—I
think it was originally used for children. Maybe to put an
invisible wall of protection around them. Or ward them some other
way in times of danger. I’m only able to use it on you because
you’re a virgin.” I raised an eyebrow at her. “Um, you
are
a virgin,
right?”

“
Of course.” Her cheeks
were pink. “I’ve never been penetrated—nor do I want to
be!”

“
I used to think the same
thing,” I muttered and then sighed. Well, I had to admit my one and
only sexual experience with Laish had been amazing—right up until
the end that was. So at least I had some good memories. Eryn,
however, was an angel. It was right that she should remain as she
was—untouched and pure as the driven snow.

“
So I should just be ready
for anything that happens?” she asked me.

I nodded. “Yup—pretty much. Sorry, I know
that’s vague.”

“
That’s all right,
Gwendolyn—do what you can. I am in your hands. But maybe I’d better
pull in my wings? Just in case?”

“
Uh, sure, I guess,” I
said.

“
All right.” A look of
concentration passed over her face and then the white feathers
around her shoulders began shrinking. After a moment, they
disappeared completely.

“
Uh—where did they go?”
Mystified, I went around behind her to see. Her long white gown had
thin spaghetti straps and on the pale skin of her shoulder blades,
I saw something that looked like a faint tattoo of wings. But a
tattoo done in pure gold ink—not black or blue. “That’s beautiful!”
I exclaimed. Without thinking, I reached out to trace one of the
golden lines with one finger.

“
Oh!” Eryn shivered and
jumped.

“
Sorry,” I said, quickly
drawing back my hand. “I didn’t mean to, uh, hurt you.”

“
It’s not that. An angel’s
wings are just very…
sensitive.”
She cleared her throat. “A sensitive as certain
other parts of your anatomy that, well… I think you know what I
mean.”

She was blushing again so I got the message.
Geeze, I’d just molested an angel without even knowing it.

“
I’m
really
sorry,” I said quickly,
taking a step back. “Uh, maybe we’d just better get
going.”

“
That is probably a good
idea.” She nodded gratefully and closed her eyes. “I am
ready.”

I was too—it was time to get this party
started. Especially since I had no idea when Belial might come back
or send his guards to get me for the ridiculous hearing Druaga was
insisting on. I needed to get Eryn out of here and get rid of all
evidence of her before that happened. That way, at least, I could
deny that I had anything of his and it would be the truth.

“
Hail to the Guardians of
the watchtowers of the East,” I began.

To my surprise, as I started the spell, I
felt a surge of power flow through me. It was almost like I had
plugged part of myself into a wall circuit and the current had
begun to flow as soon as I flipped a switch. Well, there was no
time to wonder about it now—once a spell is started, it must be
seen through to its conclusion. So I continued calling the corners
and lighting candles, trying not to think about how the last time
I’d done this, Laish had been with me.

When I had lit the final candle, I stood in
front of the small alter and the remaining white pillar candle and
began to recite the spell. I had memorized it, of course—it doesn’t
do not to know your spell by heart before you begin it. And anyway,
it hadn’t been hard to commit to memory—it was a pretty simple
spell aimed at only one thing—complete and total protection of the
innocent.