Ruby Shadows (Born to Darkness #3)(111)

“Like the HellSpawn?” I asked in a low voice. I didn’t want to say it too loudly, almost as if naming the thing that was tracking me would bring it to me.

Laish nodded. “Exactly. But you must be very careful using it. Each time you plunge it into your enemy, it costs a piece of your soul.”

“What?” I drew even further back from the blade. “I don’t want to lose my soul—not even a little piece of it.”

“It may be unavoidable,” Laish said grimly. “I cannot wield the thrak myself as I have no soul to use as ammunition. But you can—only, however, if you are threatened and there is no other way.”

“But…you’re going to be with me right up until the end, right? I mean, you’re not leaving me at the edge of the next barrier or anything?” I tried to keep my voice calm but I could hear the anxiety creeping into my tone.

Laish cupped my cheek with the hand not holding the dagger.

“Mon ange, I will be with you for as long as I possibly can. I wish to see you safely back to the Mortal Realm, as I promised your grandmother I would.” He stroked my face gently. “I care for you—and as much as I can, I love you. Remember that, no matter what happens.”

“I…” I didn’t know what to say. Should I tell him I loved him back? Did I?

But then the moment passed. Laish put the thrak into a black sheath and strung it on a belt which he made me wear. I didn’t want an object with so much dark power close to me but he insisted.

“It is to keep you safe,” he said sternly. “Keep it with you, Gwendolyn, but only draw it in the direst need.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” I said as we remounted Kurex. “I don’t want my soul to look like a piece of Swiss cheese.”

“As to that, your soul would regenerate in time,” he said, kicking the horse’s sides to get him moving again. “In this way it is much like your human organ, the liver. You can donate a lobe of it to someone else and eventually your own will regrow. But it takes time.”

I hadn’t known that about the liver—or the soul for that matter. Duraga had said something like it when he had showed me the soul hook, but I had assumed he was just lying in an attempt to make me give him the “taste” he’d been craving. Knowing it was truly possible to lose and regrow part of my soul was food for thought as we continued our journey.

I just hoped I’d never have to put my new knowledge into practice.





* * * * *

Laish





Much sooner than I would have liked, we reached the barrier between the Sunless Sea and the Abyss. It was invisible of course but I could feel it thrumming in the air ahead of us. Also, though Gwendolyn could not, I could see through it to the vast pit. There lived creatures so terrible even I could not name them—if you could call what they did living.

My little witch was still looking up at the dark sea and its inhabitants, swimming overhead, and hadn’t noticed that we were coming to the end of our long road. I took the opportunity to scan the way ahead, looking for the headless bulk of the HellSpawn, wondering if it might be waiting for us in some dark corner—eager to pounce once the barrier came down.

To my surprise, I neither saw it nor felt it—for some reason the HellSpawn was nowhere near. I couldn’t help the feeling of unease that stole over me. Where was it? It had proved itself exceptionally intelligent for its kind, using the Mirror of the Eye to track Gwendolyn. It had almost led her into a trap the night before so I expected another attempt at any time. The fact that it wasn’t around didn’t put me at ease—rather, it increased my trepidation.

I had been hoping to spend one more night with Gwendolyn before we brought the barrier down and moved into the area surrounding the Abyss. One more night of holding her in my arms, one more night of feeling that she cared—at least a little—for me.

One more night before she hated me.

Yet my gut instinct told me that this would be a grave mistake. We needed to pay the Sin Tax and bring down the barrier sooner rather than later. To that end, I had come prepared.

“We’re here,” I said in Gwendolyn’s ear. She had been looking up at a school of tiny, bioluminescent fish darting back and forth above us. But the dreamy expression on her lovely face faded when she heard my words.

“We are? Where’s the barrier?”

“Directly in front of us,” I told her. “We must stop here until we break it.”


“Okay.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before turning to face me. “Laish,” she began. “I don’t know what to say. This entire journey I’ve been thinking of what I would do when we came to this point. And…”

“And?” I raised an eyebrow at her.

She blew out a breath. “And I still don’t know. I guess…” She bit her lip. “I guess it’s going to take a pretty big sin to break this last barrier.”

“It will,” I acknowledged quietly.

“So we’re going to have to…to…”

“Make love?” I finished for her. “Possibly. But there may be another way.”

“What?” She frowned at me. “What other way?”

“You’ll see.” I drew Kurex to a halt and began unloading the special saddle bags I had packed.