Ruby Shadows (Born to Darkness #3)(59)
“You have nothing to fear—he is gone. He will not harm you.” Gently but firmly I pulled the white cushion from her trembling grip with my clawed hands. “It’s all right,” I repeated. “You’re safe now.”
But she only balled herself up tight, withdrawing as far into the corner as she could.
“Please, Laish.” Her voice trembled and every line of her body spoke of extreme terror. “Please, don’t hurt me. Don’t burn me—please!”
And then I understood…it wasn’t Druaga she was frightened of.
It was me.
Chapter Eighteen
Gwendolyn
I was scared to death he was going to kill me. Maybe not on purpose but it wouldn’t matter because I would be just as dead even if it was an accident. He had pried my only shield away from me—not that the white cushion would have stopped a jet of flame. But still, I felt better with it between me and the beast he had become—between me and the fire.
Inside my head that awful night ran over and over—screaming and crying for my mother as Keisha and I clutched each other panicky-tight, the two of us crammed into a tiny closet—the place we’d been hiding when it started… hearing the crackling sound as the flames licked at the door…the overwhelming heat…the choking black smoke that had rolled through the house…the smell of burning flesh and the sound of her begging. And then, just as the firemen smashed the window and came in to get us, my mother’s high, piercing shrieks as she died in the fire.
The fire set by a demon.
“Gwendolyn…please,” I heard him growl in that deep, inhuman voice. “Please believe me—I would never harm you.”
The fire…the fire is coming…the fire is going to get you. Oh, Mamma, I’m scared! Please, I’m so scared…
“Please,” that low, rough voice said again. “You can come out of the corner—it’s perfectly safe.”
His words tugged at me, pulling me back to reality. I opened my eyes and realized I was still curled into a trembling ball like a scared little girl who’s afraid of the monsters under her bed. But damn it—this monster was real. This monster was the man I’d allowed to touch me and kiss me and stroke me last night—the man I’d allowed to make me come.
I felt sick at the thought. I forced myself to stand up, still hugging the wall. But I could barely make myself look at what Laish had transformed into.
The beast was huge—a cross between a snake and a dragon with a scaly black hide—each scale outlined in golden-red as though its inner furnace was glowing through. It had a long, pointed snout filled with steak-knife teeth and pure black eyes with ruby slits for pupils. When it moved its long, sinuous body coiled and uncoiled restlessly and its tail was twice as long as I was tall.
It didn’t look like it ought to fit into the luxury suite. It looked like it would fit better into one of my nightmares and it exuded a breathless heat I remembered all too well from the night my mother died. Standing near it was like standing on the inside of the closet door, listening to her scream all over again. The arid air around it seemed to singe my lungs and the scent of smoke and brimstone invaded my sinuses, making my eyes tear.
“Please,” I begged it, unable to make myself leave the corner. “Please—can’t you change back? If…if you are still Laish in there.”
“Of course I am.” The thing’s voice was deep and harsh. Its breath smelled like liquid metal and burning rock and death. “But it would not be safe.”
“What? Why not?” I demanded weakly. Right now I couldn’t imagine anything more dangerous than the huge, frightening thing he had become. He was freaking terrifying, with liquid fire dripping from his slavering jaws and that muscular, snaky black tail. And how could he even still talk with those steak knives for teeth?
“Druaga will want revenge,” he said or rather hissed. “I am better equipped to defend you in this form than almost any other.”
“You’re also better equipped to burn me to a crisp if you get a tickle in your nose and sneeze.” I gestured at his flaring nostrils which looked ready to breathe fire at any time.
“I am sorry you fear me in this form—I did not mean to frighten you. But I must remain so at least until we have crossed the border into the next circle of Hell.”
“Then let’s go.” I forced myself to straighten up and wipe my face—not that I needed to. The heat from his scaly body had completely dried my tears. “Let’s get Kurex and get out of here!” I said, trying to make my voice strong. Trying not to look at him.
“We cannot bring him with us—he is in the stables which are guarded by a hoard of demons.”
“I won’t leave him!” I said stubbornly. “You said Druaga will want revenge—you can’t let him take it out on poor Kurex just because he’s pissed off at you.”
“If we go, I will have to kill many of them. Do you wish to witness that?”
His words gave me pause. Could I deal with more carnage? Watching what he’d done to Druaga had been bad enough…But think what they’d do to Kurex! And he’s just an animal—he doesn’t know what’s going on! He’s innocent…helpless…
I couldn’t leave him. The big horse had found a place in my heart and besides, I could imagine the horrible things Druaga would want to do to him. I remembered the soul hook and shivered—that was something the boar-demon had considered no big deal. How much more brutal would he be if he was looking for revenge and wanted to hurt someone?