Ruby Shadows (Born to Darkness #3)(87)

“Who were you speaking to?” Laish asked me. “I told you the voices are only imaginary.”

“Yes, but that last one was different,” I said. “I almost felt like I’d heard it before but it wasn’t anyone from my past that I recognized. It was…strange.”

“I heard no one after the last voice that was meant for me.” He sounded like he was frowning.

“You didn’t hear it? That’s weird.”

I shook my head, my hair brushing against the collar of my fur coat. The movement must have startled Eryn, my little moth, because she fluttered up from my shoulder and hovered in front of my face for a moment, her little wings beating in wild agitation.

“Oh, sorry little girl,” I told her, trying to make my voice soothing. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Just settle back down on my shoulder. We’re safe here.”

“As safe as you are likely to be anywhere in the Infernal Realm, anyway,” Laish said as the moth settled reluctantly back on my shoulder. “This is, after all, my dominion. Yet that which seeks you is relentless. We must still exercise caution, even here.”

I knew he was talking about the HellSpawn and it made me shiver.

“All right,” I said whole heartedly. “I’ll do whatever you say to stay safe.” I’d had more than enough near misses lately—I swore to myself I’d listen to Laish’s advice and do as he said.

“It’s good to know you’re finally willing to be attentive,” he said dryly.

“I just don’t want to get killed or have my soul sucked out before I can close that damn door and get back home,” I told him.

We paused for a moment to climb off Kurex and change since the winter things Laish had given me that morning were now much too hot. There was no one in sight in either direction but I still changed quickly, taking off the warm clothing he’d given me and putting on a much lighter garment that reminded me of a sundress with short sleeves. It was deep purple and looked good against my skin.

Laish changed as well with a wave of his hand, putting himself back into an immaculate black suit that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Wall Street. I noticed that instead of making my old winter clothes vanish he tucked them carefully into one of Kurex’s saddle bags. Except for the coat, that was.

“I believe you wished to keep this?” he asked, handing it to me after he’d helped me up into the saddle again.

“Thank you.” I stroked the soft fur gratefully. It might be silly but I had decided I did want to keep it—even if I would never have a chance to wear it at home. It was simply too pretty to leave behind.


“You’re very welcome, Gwendolyn.” Laish swung up behind me and we resumed our journey.

The road was leading into a city now—or was it a town? The cobbled streets were crowded but not with the horrible looking creatures I’d seen in the crowds at Baator. Oh, some of them were clearly demons but many were just people and they were almost all dressed in long, scholarly robes. Also, none of them was doing anything obviously horrible or illegal. I didn’t see any prostitutes or anyone selling body parts (I had seen both those things and worse in Baator.) Instead, everyone seemed to be going about their business with serious looks on their faces. The traffic in the streets was brisk but remarkably quiet.

“What’s the deal with this place?” I asked, looking around. “How come nobody’s being horrible to anyone else or trying to kill or rob or rape anyone?”

“The fifth circle is for narcissists, self-centered individuals, and intellectuals,” Laish answered. “Those who were either too wrapped up in their own pursuits and vanity to seek the Creator, or those who willfully denied his existence and his role in the universe.”

“What—like atheists?” I asked, frowning.

“Among others. ‘The fool has said in his heart, there is no God.’ Psalms 14, verse 1,” Laish quoted, surprising me.

I looked back at him. “That’s from the Bible, right? How do you know that?”

“No one knows the scriptures so well as we demons do,” Laish said seriously. “We study them well to know our enemy.”

“So everyone in this circle has either ignored God or denied him?” I asked. “Your circle must be crowded! I believe in God and Heaven and obviously Hell—I mean here we are. But there are so many people who don’t. People who believe everything—the Earth, the solar system—the whole universe just happened by accident.”

“Of course—it is one of the more convincing lies we tell,” Laish said, shrugging. “Though I often wonder why humanity is so willing to swallow it. After all, one only need look at the stars and planets, so perfectly aligned in their courses, or the cellular structure of any organism to know that there has to be a Creator.”

“I guess everyone just believes everything evolved the way it is,” I said.

“As to that, perhaps if they would do some reading they might see that it isn’t so simple. There is a book in my own private library called The Case for a Creator. It’s quite thought provoking—I think if more mortals would read it, there would be fewer of them in my dominion,” Laish remarked.

“Well, maybe people don’t want to believe in Heaven or Hell,” I pointed out. “I mean, it can be a pretty heavy concept.”