Ruby Shadows (Born to Darkness #3)(33)
I maneuvered the great horse through the crowd as swiftly as I could, heedless of those Kurex crushed beneath his massive hooves. If they weren’t quick enough to get out of the way, that was their look out. My only consideration was getting Gwendolyn to the relative safety of the Hotel Infernal as quickly as I could.
At last we reached the edge of the masses and found a broad main street that was much less crowded. I loosed my grip on Kurex’s reins—he knew the way to the hotel—and turned my attention to my little witch.
Gwendolyn was trembling in my arms and her sharp little fingernails bit into my forearm even through the suit I wore.
“Mon ange?” I asked softly, brushing aside a sheaf of silky hair to murmur in her ear. “Are you all right?”
“Why…why did it grab me like that?”
“I told you before—Hell is full of opportunists,” I told her. “The demon saw you as fresh meat and sought to take you for his own purposes.”
“Which were what?” she demanded, turning to look at me. “Did he want to eat me?”
“Most likely,” I said as blandly as I could. “After having his way with you.”
“You mean…”
I sighed. “Do not make me be more specific. You know what I mean, Gwendolyn.”
“So is everyone in Hell like that—looking to grab anybody they can and just beat them or eat them or rape them? Or all three?” Her wide eyed look said that though she had known this fact intellectually, the reality of the situation was just now hitting her. Good, at last she was beginning to understand the danger she was in every minute she was here.
“Imagine the worst, most dangerous prison you have on Earth,” I told her, wanting to drive the point home. “One filled with desperate criminals—murderers, rapists, madmen… That is Hell. Only Hell is ten times…a hundred times…a thousand times worse. I will say it again, Gwendolyn—you cannot trust anyone here.”
“Anyone but you, you mean.” There was a slight edge to her voice that let me know she still withheld that trust which I so craved from her, at least in part.
“Anyone but me,” I agreed, ignoring her tone. “I am sorry you were frightened by the crowds but we will shortly be someplace considerably more civilized…if no less dangerous.”
“Where are you taking me?” She still looked at me uncertainly.
“There.” I pointed straight ahead, knowing that the Hotel Infernal would be in our sightline. It is visible from anyplace in the city and all roads in Baator lead to it eventually.
“What is that place?” Gwendolyn shivered as she viewed the vast structure rising before us. It was shaped rather like a huge, elongated pyramid with its black metal sides rising infinitely high above us. Indeed, it was said that there were an infinite number of rooms in the hotel so that there was always a place for all who cared to stay. All who could pay, that was.
Luckily, I knew the proprietor and had unlimited means at my disposal. Druaga was a high-level demon ruled by his greed and lust for the finer things. He would be happy to host one of my station. The only difficulty would be in keeping his greedy paws off Gwendolyn—literally.
Druaga was a Wendingo—a hybrid demon with the body of a man but the head of a wild boar and he had the appetites to match his appearance. He wouldn’t dare touch Gwendolyn as long as she was with me but he would be instantly suspicious if he realized I was traveling with a human concubine. It would be best to avoid him after checking in to the hotel—although I wasn’t sure it would be possible.
As Kurex clopped over the broken pavement towards the Hotel Infernal, I debated on how much I should tell Gwendolyn about Druaga’s lechery and the danger of getting too close to him. I didn’t want to frighten her any more than she’d already been frightened—which was considerably, I judged. Besides, we were only staying for a single night at the hotel. It would be best simply to check into a room and keep her close at hand, away from his greedy eyes and grasping paws. And since the border to Minauros, the next Circle of Hell, could be reached simply by stepping through the hotel’s sixth exit, we would be able to pay the Sin Tax in comfort on one of the Infernal’s excellent beds.
I was very much looking forward to that although I wasn’t sure how Gwendolyn would feel about it. Though she protested she didn’t want to give herself to me, her body told a different story. Just remembering the way she’d panted and moaned against me on the banks of the river Styx was enough to make me hard and ready. Not that I would make love to her tonight—it was far too early for that. But just the prospect of caressing her sweet curves and hearing those soft, helpless sounds she made when she was aroused was most tantalizing.
I couldn’t wait.
* * * * *
Gwendolyn
There was a small group of children playing along the broken streets, which surprised me considerably. Some of them looked to be around nine or ten but there were several I would have sworn were barely four or five.
“What are they doing here?” I blurted, staring at their ragged clothes and hollow cheeks. “I thought you said this circle of Hell was reserved for people who had beaten and neglected children. How can there be kids here? It can’t be safe for them!”
“Those? They’re devilkins.” Laish waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t show too much interest in them, mon ange—you don’t want to encourage them.”