Ruby Shadows (Born to Darkness #3)(134)

So be they at the end of times

As they are at the Start.





So Mote it be.”

As I spoke the last word, power raced through me again—so strongly it nearly knocked me over. I braced myself, head down, trying to be strong enough to contain the immense surge. What the Hell was happening to me? Then I heard Eryn say,

“Oh!” in a long, drawn out whisper.

Looking up, I saw the result of my spell.

I don’t know what I expected—maybe that an invisible force field would be raised all around Eryn or that a magical shield she could use would somehow appear. Instead, a plain wooden doorway had appeared in the center of the circle. It looked like any door you might find inside a house—maybe a bedroom or a closet door—and it was just standing there.

“What is this? Where does it lead?” Eryn asked me softly.

I shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. You’ll have to open it and find out.”

“But…is it safe?” She was eyeing the door anxiously. “It doesn’t look like a door that would lead to Heaven.”

“No, it looks like somebody’s bedroom or bathroom door,” I admitted. “I don’t think I could open a doorway from Hell into Heaven even if I had the power of an entire coven behind me. I’m pretty sure that this leads to somewhere in the Mortal Realm.”

“Well, that is a step in the right direction.” She sounded hopeful but still uncertain.

“Anything’s better than Hell,” I agreed. “Maybe the spell is trying to send you someplace safe—someplace away from here.”

“But where, Gwendolyn?” Eryn was looking at me uncertainly again. “Do you know where this doorway might lead to?”

I opened my mouth to answer but just then the door to the living area was flung open and Belial hobbled in. Behind him came two burly demon guards and Druaga.

The boar demon was still minus one tusk but his male equipment had begun to grow back. I saw with dismay that it was already over a foot long and dangling from his open-fronted trousers in the most disgusting way. When he saw Eryn, he stopped and pointed at her with one hairy finger.

“There she is! I told you the mortal girl stole something of great value from me! Guards—seize her!”

The two demons came charging forward…only to bounce off the invisible boundary created by my magic circle. They wouldn’t be able to get past it until they rubbed it out entirely—which wouldn’t be easy considering that the talcum powder I’d used had really gotten ingrained in the weave of the carpet. Still, there was no time to lose—Eryn needed to get out of here.

Unfortunately she appeared frozen to the spot, staring with wide-eyed fear at Druaga who was in a fury, shouting and swearing.

“Mine,” he snorted. “I tell you, she’s mine! The mortal female stole her from me—it is just as I said.”


“Yes, yes,” said Belial impatiently. “We believe you, Druaga. But if you want the angel back, we must rub out the circle.”

Uh-oh—they were on to us. As the four of them started scuffing at the white talcum powder on the dark carpet, I whirled around to face my new friend.

“Eryn,” I said, taking the angel by the arms and shaking her. “Eryn, hurry—you have to open the door and go through it. You have to.”

“But…I don’t know what or who is on the other side,” she protested.

“Yes but you know who’s on this side,” I pointed out grimly. “And if you don’t go now, you know what’s going to happen to you.”

Her pale, lovely face got even paler.

“You’re right,” she said, reaching for the plain brass doorknob. “I have to go—and you do too.” She looked at me pleadingly. “Gwendolyn, come with me!”

“I can’t,” I said as gently as I could. “I have to keep the magic going. And besides, this spell only works on virgins and I’m not one anymore—remember?”

“Oh yes, I suppose…” She looked like she might cry but Druaga and Belial were beginning to make headway at scuffing my talcum powder circle out of existence.

“Hurry,” I told her. “Hurry!”

“All right.” Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob just as I felt the magic of the circle give way.

“No, stop her! Come back—she’s mine!” Druaga howled, charging into the circle with his arms outstretched to grab Eryn.

“Leave her alone!” I got in his way, trying to keep him from getting to her but I didn’t have to bother.

The minute the door opened there was a deep rushing, sucking sound. I had a brief, confused glimpse of the room beyond—there was a four poster bed but it appeared like I was looking down on it. It was as though the door was in the ceiling somehow and it was positioned directly over the bed. But I couldn’t see who or what was sleeping in it—there was just an indistinct lump under the covers. A very large lump. Oh Goddess, where was Eryn going and who was she going to land on?

I didn’t have long to wonder. With a gasp, Eryn was sucked through the doorway and into the dark bedroom beyond.

“Stop—I command you!” Belial shouted but it was too late. The minute Eryn was through it, the door slammed itself shut.

“Mine—she’s mine!” Druaga bellowed. He pushed me to one side, knocking me to my knees in the process, and reached for the door. But the spell had done what it was meant to do and now it was finished. The brass doorknob came off in the boar demon’s hand and the rest of the door shivered and then crumbled to dust right in front of him.