Ruby Shadows (Born to Darkness #3)(11)

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Are you disappointed? I hope you didn’t imagine I would make advances on you in your current weakened condition.”

“I’m not weak.” I drew myself up, wishing it was true. “And I’m not disappointed. Just…surprised.”

“Just because I come from the realm of lust and evil doesn’t mean I am not a gentleman.” His ruby eyes flashed. “Besides—there’s no sport in taking advantage of a woman already in a compromising position. I much prefer a long, drawn-out seduction, mon ange.”

I bit my lip, my heart beating double time again for some reason.

“You know you’ll never seduce me. I’ll never give it up for you, Laish, even if you did save my life. Twice.”

His eyes flashed again. “That remains to be seen. Now, have you anything dry to change into? We need to talk.”

I thought about going into my room for new clothes, but then I risked waking Grams. Noises don’t bother her while she’s wearing her Darth Vader mask but movement around her bed wakes her up every time. And while she would have to be told everything that had happened eventually (the giant sinkhole in her bedroom was going to be impossible to hide) I decided I would rather wait until after Laish was gone to let her know what had happened.

Looking around the bathroom, I saw my fuzzy pink bathrobe hanging on the back of the door. That should be warm and comfortable and it wouldn’t show anything I wanted to keep hidden—aka, the aforementioned “ladybusiness.”

“I’ve got something,” I told Laish. “You can wait in the living room.”

“Don’t be long,” he said, and left, closing the door behind him.

I slipped out of the wet t-shirt and panties and pulled on the robe. Although I didn’t like being naked beneath it, there wasn’t much else I could do.

Next I took a look at my poor fingernails. They were pretty ragged from all the clawing I’d done at the lip of the sinkhole and I still had a splinter beneath one of them—my right index finger. I pulled it out, wincing at the sharp little pain and ran some cool water over it. It was bleeding so I wrapped a band aid from the medicine cabinet around it. That was going to hurt for a while.


With my hands tended to, I took a moment to brush my teeth, getting rid of the last of the bad taste, and ran a pick through my hair. Then, feeling more human, I belted the robe tightly and walked out into the living room where Laish was pacing back and forth.

“All right,” I said. “Let’s talk.”



Chapter Five

Laish





“All right, let’s talk,” the little witch said, putting a hand on her hip.

I frowned at her, trying to control my irritation. Did she not realize what peril she had been in? If I hadn’t come to her the moment she called, she would be dead by now, both her body and soul digesting in the belly of the voracious Hellspawn. And yet she was acting as if nothing had happened.

“Yes, let us talk,” I said, going over to the couch. I sat and patted a spot beside me. “Come here.”

She came—reluctantly, I thought—and settled beside me, not where I had indicated but on the far side of the couch. She crossed her arms and legs tightly as she turned to face me, presenting a closed face and a tight mouth. Clearly she expected to be lectured.

I had been prepared to give her exactly what she was expecting. But the mulish expression on her lovely face changed my mind. I would never get through to her that way—another tactic was needed to get my little witch to see sense.

I leaned back on the couch, one arm across the back of its faded floral fabric in a pose of relaxation completely opposite to her tense, rigidly upright posture.

“You’re going to die soon, you know,” I remarked conversationally. “I mean, even sooner than most humans, which is saying something since your mortal lives are over in the blink of an eye anyway.”

“What?” She looked at me blankly.

“But first,” I continued, “All those that you love are going to die in various horrible ways, right before your eyes. Your beloved grandmother included.”

“What?” She was angry now, her vivid green eyes narrowed and her lush lips a tight line. “How dare you say that to me?”

“I’m simply stating the truth.” I drummed my fingers idly on the back of the couch. “You didn’t close the door you opened into the Abyss. I have been there and seen it, Gwendolyn.”

“If you went and saw it, why didn’t you close it?” she demanded. “Or did you just want to teach me a lesson?”

“By exposing you to a vicious creature from Hell’s blackest pit?” I raised an eyebrow at her. “That would seem to be what they call “overkill” don’t you think? No, the reason I did not close the door is that only the one who opened it may close it—the door will react only to the touch of one who bears your soul signature. If you didn’t know that already, you had no business opening it in the first place.”

“All right, I knew it,” she grumbled. “I just thought, since you’re a demon…”

“Even my power is not limitless, mon ange,” I told her. “And there are rules to be obeyed. Principles which govern all of Hell and cannot be broken on a simple whim.”