Ruby Shadows (Born to Darkness #3)(69)
“I’m still not hungry,” I lied uneasily.
“You mean that you still do not trust me.” He cocked his head to one side for a moment and shook his head. “And your lie has not broken the barrier either, though I thought it might. Apparently a stronger sin is needed. Not surprising really—as we get deeper into the Infernal Realm, progressively stronger sins will be needed to break the barrier between circles.”
“Well, what can I do, then?” I asked desperately. “Because I’m not…not up for what we did last night again. Especially if we have to go further than we already have.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, mon ange,” he said quietly.
“Laish,” I began. “It’s not that I don’t find you attractive—I do. You know I do. I just can’t—”
But my sentence ended in a strangled gasp. Skuttling towards me, out of the mouth of the cavern Laish had called the Jealous Heart, was one of the most hideous creatures I’d ever seen.
It was a spider—but not like any spider I’d ever seen. It had the body and legs of a tarantula which was horrifying enough but then it had the head of a chipmunk. Either a chipmunk or a squirrel. Anyway, some kind of little woodland creature you’d coo at and try to feed some of your lunch if you were having a picnic. But that head was stuck onto a huge, hairy, eight-legged body bigger than my hand and it was headed straight at me!
“Ahh!” I screamed and jumped back. Yes, I know I said bugs don’t bother me but I was talking about insects. Spiders are a whole different ball game. The way they move—all skittery and quick—freaks me right the hell out. Once when I was eight one of those big wolf spiders got on my arm and crawled right up in my hair. I was hysterical for hours afterwards, even after Grams got it out and killed it.
“Gwendolyn, wait!” Laish was saying but I barely heard him.
The spidermunk or chipspider or whatever you wanted to call it was coming towards me fast. All I could think was that it probably wanted to crawl on my skirt. Or under my skirt! Oh God, I couldn’t take that! I tried to get away but it kept following me. I was afraid if I went too far back I might fall into one of those awful pits and this time Laish might not be close enough to grab me and save me.
“Get away from me!” I shrieked at it. “Get away!”
But it ran right up to me in that awful skittering way, making me want to puke or faint or scream or all three. Yes, I know it’s girly but what can I say? I hate spiders.
The thing got right up to my skirt and I actually had a mental image of it going right up inside the long green dress I was wearing. Oh no, that’s not happening—no way in Hell! said a grim little voice in my head. Instinct took over and I lifted my foot and stomped down on the hybrid creature as hard as I could.
It gave a loud shrill shriek and there was an awful crunching sound which is the main reason I hate killing bugs—that sound like somebody stepping in a bowl of Frosted Flakes. Ugh! Then it twitched once and I felt it go limp under my little black ballet flat.
I skipped backwards and tried to wipe the black ichor the thing was leaking from the bottom of my shoe. I was so grossed out and worked up I almost felt like I wanted to scream. Waves of revulsion ran through me, strong enough to make me shake, especially when I looked at the mangled mess that was left in the sand.
“Ugh—gross, gross, gross!” I muttered to myself, bile rising in my throat. It was a good thing I hadn’t eaten anything much that day or it would have come right up at that moment. Luckily my stomach was empty but that didn’t stop me from gagging anyway.
The chipspider looked up at me with one eye which could still see—the other was popped like a smashed grape. It’s long, hairy legs were still twitching feebly and black blood was leaking through its sharp white teeth. It made a final, feeble noise—almost like a squeak you might hear from a regular chipmunk. Then, as I watched, the light died from its remaining eye and it went completely still.
At the same time I felt a now familiar ripple in the air around me. I looked around, dragging my eyes from the small, mangled corpse that was already being buried by the sand.
“Congratulations, Gwendolyn,” Laish said grimly in my ear. “You have found a way to pay the tax without giving yourself to me. Now come, we must go.”
“What? What are you talking about?” I asked, but he was already boosting me up on Kurex’s back and getting up behind me. “I thought there were preparations we had to make before we could go through.”
“Yes—we should have made a deal with the emissary of the Skitterlings for a safe passage. That is what it was coming to do when you very unwisely killed it.”
“Skitterlings? That’s what you call that thing?”
“That is the name of their species. They are a minor demon but though they look like animals they are a sentient people who can think and reason.” He was already gathering Kurex’s reins and aiming the big horse towards the pitch black hole in the side of the mountain.
“What—you mean I killed an actual person?” I was aghast. “Or something that can think like a person, anyway? And there are more of them in there?”
“A whole army.” Laish sounded even more grim. “And as soon as they realize what you have done to their emissary, they will mobilize for war. We must go through the Jealous Heart now before they understand what has happened.”