Ruby Shadows (Born to Darkness #3)(64)
We were a little closer to it now and the workers that toiled on it could be seen—a vast bastion of lost souls presided over by a small army of Minotaurs wielding whips.
“Are they still building it?” asked Gwendolyn, squinting to make out the scene in the blinding sunlight. “In this heat?”
“They must,” I said. “For every night the minions of Magda come to tear it down again…and tear out the hearts of any workers caught too close to it.”
“So I take it they broke up? Magda and Moloch?” Gwendolyn said dryly.
“They did, many millennia ago,” I said. “And their hatred now burns as fiercely as their love once did. They continuously send raiding parties to attack each other through the Jealous Heart.”
“I’m sorry—the what?”
“The Jealous Heart,” I repeated. “It is the passageway between Minauros and Stygia—and it also contains the barrier between the two. The demons of both circles are able to pass back and forth through it because the two realms used to be one.”
“And what kinds of people are punished here?” Gwendolyn sounded interested despite herself.
“Minauros is for rapists and Stygia is for murderers—specifically those who killed in cold blood,” I told her. “They are punished in many ways which I will not go into now…unless you wish me to?”
“No. No, please don’t.” She shook her head quickly. “I don’t want to know any more.”
“Oh? I thought you might like to know the eventual fate of the one you were plotting revenge upon.” I could see by her wide eyes that she’d forgotten I knew about the vengeance spell she planned to cast. “Tell me Gwendolyn,” I said. “Who was he and what did he do to you?”
She frowned. “It wasn’t what he did to me. It was what he did to—” She stopped abruptly. “Never mind.”
“I’ll find out eventually, you know,” I remarked. “And when I do, your tormentor will be relegated to the proper section of Hell—perhaps sooner rather than later.”
“No!” She glared at me. “Stay out of it, Laish! I want to take care of this on my own.”
I shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
But I swore silently to myself that whoever had hurt her would pay. I might not be able to win back her trust but I could protect her while we were in my realm and I could avenge whatever wrongs had been visited upon her.
That much I could do, even if I was never destined to see my little witch again after this quest was over.
* * * * *
Gwendolyn
The trip across the desert seemed to take forever. I supposed it could have been worse though. If we’d been plunked down in the middle of Minauros we would have had a minimum of three thousand miles to get through—compared to that a single day didn’t sound so bad.
It might not have sounded bad but it felt bad and not just because of the relentless heat, and the bright, piercing light stabbing down out of the sky. It also felt bad because Laish and I were fighting—though I didn’t want to admit it, even to myself.
I knew I was being unfair to him—he’d only been protecting me and defending my honor when he turned into that giant beast. But I couldn’t forgive him for what he was—for being a fire demon. How had I never noticed anything that might have hinted of what he was before? Well, maybe because I’d never seen him turn into a huge-ass dragon before. That was entirely possible.
Of course he did have those glowing, ruby red eyes—that should have been a clue. But I had been too busy drowning in those eyes to wonder about the reason for their color. I saw that now—saw that I had been falling for Laish while pretending to myself that I wasn’t. And for the first time I acknowledged how very close to the edge I’d allowed myself to get.
I thought about the way I’d acted the night before. Letting him kiss me and touch me…letting him make me come. What was wrong with me acting like that? Somehow he’d gotten under my radar. I’d been prepared for him to demand sexual favors as payment for his help in this quest. What I hadn’t been prepared for was a slow, gentle seduction. And I also hadn’t expected to start having feelings for him.
Well that stops now, I told myself firmly. It was true that we still had to pay the Sin Tax as we went through the different circles of Hell but that was just too bad. I would have to find another way to pay the tax—how, I didn’t know but I wasn’t getting close to Laish again. It was too damn dangerous.
We stopped in the shadow of a vast, spreading tree after a few hours to rest. Laish probably could have kept going forever—the heat didn’t bother him a bit, not surprising considering his nature. But it wasn’t fair to Kurex to ask him to keep going on and on with no rest. I was drooping too, even though I was riding instead of walking.
The heat was really getting to me and I had to admit I was glad of the white wrap Laish had given me to wear. It seemed to reflect some of the merciless sunlight which beat down on my head like a golden hammer, blow after silent blow.
“Oh, I’m so stiff!” I moaned as I swung myself down from Kurex’s saddle. Laish didn’t hold out a hand to help me—maybe he knew I would refuse his offer. He simply sat down on a low rock in the shade of the tree.
The tree was dead black with large, black waxy leaves that looked like sleeping bats—or maybe that was just glaring sun making things look strange. It grew at the center of an oasis of sorts—though not a very nice one. A pool filled with black, sluggish water that looked a lot like the water of the river Styx was surrounded by flat gray rocks. These made natural seats and after I had walked around some, I came and sat on one that was deep in shadow.