Ruby Shadows (Born to Darkness #3)(7)

I should leave. I have business to attend to beyond the Great Barrier. But still I stayed.

I sighed and thought back to the first time I’d laid eyes on Gwendolyn.

It had been a slow day in Hell. The legions under my command were at rest and Lucifer, the ruler of the Infernal Realm, was away. In short, there was nothing to do. So when an imp had come scampering up to inform me that a call was coming over from the other side beseeching demonic help, I was just bored enough to answer it myself rather than delegating it to an underling.


I don’t know what I was expecting to see. It had been years—no, centuries—since I’d bothered to come over to the Mortal Realm. The humans were uncouth savages, hardly worth bothering with, though Lucifer and his ilk were constantly after their souls.

I prefer my own residence in the relatively quiet corner of Hell the ancient Greeks had termed Hades. There I was able to command my legions and tend to business with a minimum of interruption and bother.

The last time I had been to Earth it had been to attend to the tiresome business of the Salem Witch Trials which were badly managed by a lesser demon. Mainly I remembered frantic, hysterical humans dressed in dull homespun clothes shouting and accusing each other. Just thinking about it made me tired.

Everything about the Mortal Realm made me tired—until I saw Gwendolyn.

The sight of the little witch earnestly working her spell had captured me at once. Her creamy café au lait skin and big green eyes were, well…bewitching.

But it wasn’t just her beauty that drew me. After consenting to help her with her spell, I found that she wasn’t just a pretty face. A sharp intelligence and a rare wit radiated from her as well. And she had power—not much by demonic standards but for a human, she was quite impressive.

Gwendolyn wasn’t afraid of me either. After years of seeing others bow and scrape and tremble in my presence, I was tired of abject submission. Gwendolyn was fearless—I liked that about her. I’d been careful to conceal my true status from her, not wanting her to fear me. But I had an idea that even if she had known what I truly was, she still would have stood her ground.

Her beauty, courage, and intelligence were all enchanting. But the thing that sealed my interest in her was the innocence I sensed, just under her surface. Oh, she put on a brave face, my little witch. She painted her eyes with heavy black kohl and dressed to impress those ignorant humans who believed they knew what a witch ought to look like. But under it all she was pure—as pure and innocent and lovely as a single red rose growing in a field of mud.

I wanted to pluck that rose, not simply as a conquest but in order to protect it. Possess it. I wanted Gwendolyn and her innocence for myself, though at times, like now, I was angry with myself for wanting her. But there was something in her that stirred me, something that brought out old habits and behaviors I’d thought were gone forever. Something that reminded me of my past…a past I had worked hard to forget.

Added all together, Gwendolyn’s qualities made her the most interesting mortal I had ever met. In fact, I found her entirely too interesting, which was why I was currently loitering around the human world instead of attending to business in Hell, where I ought to be.

I told myself I would have left long ago if it wasn’t for the door she’d opened on the edge of the Abyss. Hell’s blackest pit, more frightening even than the lake of fire, was located in the very center of the vast, nebulous area that made up the afterlife of the damned. I was certain that even Lucifer himself had no idea where that vast, black void led. But it was nowhere one wanted to be. And certainly nowhere a human ought to risk going.

Yet, Gwendolyn had risked it. She was brave all right—too brave, I thought with a frown. In fact, “reckless” might be a better word to describe her. Tied to her, as I was, I had felt her daring to do what no mere mortal ought to even contemplate. But I had been stuck far away, unable to get to her even when I felt her fear and pain and danger. And now…

Now I fear she must pay the price. I stopped pacing and looked out the window again at the dark beach. What kind of creature had Gwendolyn loosed from the pit? For she had allowed something access to the world of men, I was certain.

I had been to the lip of the Abyss after my last exchange with the little witch and had seen the tiny sliver of light gleaming from the doorway across that vast expanse. It was only a crack but that was all it took. A determined Hellspawn could worm its way through and find her at any time and there wasn’t much I could do about it. Only the one who had opened the door in the first place could close it. And only closing the door could banish the creature back to the Infernal Realm.

I should go, I told myself for the thousandth time. If she hasn’t needed me yet, she will probably be all right. Perhaps her magic is enough to protect her.

I didn’t really believe that, but I couldn’t go on waiting in the Mortal Realm forever. It was ridiculous, anyway, one of my caliber and status waiting around like a love-struck human, hoping to hear her call. She was so certain she could manage on her own—well, fine, let her manage. There were matters that required my attention—matters I had put off long enough.


I came to a sudden decision—it was time to return to Hell. Time to forget the little witch and let her fend for herself. As lovely as she was, she was only a mortal. They burned so brightly for such a very brief time—the glow of their lives like a candle flame against the blackest night sky. It wasn’t worth wasting another moment of my time on such a temporary being, beautiful though she was.