Ruby Shadows (12 page)

“
You need to stop. I’m not putting up with your foolishness
the whole way through Hell.” Gwendolyn straightened her dress with
quick, angry motions. Then she crossed her arms over her breasts,
hiding the tantalizing sight of her tight nipples pressing against
the thin red silk. I wondered idly if she didn’t like the feel of
my eyes on her—or if it was her own reaction to our closeness that
bothered her more.

The horse, which had
been standing quietly on the banks of the Styx, chose that moment
to lean over and investigate her hair with its nose.

“
Oh my God!” Gwendolyn jumped toward me with a little gasp and
wound up pressed against my chest. I put my arms around her
obligingly and tried to smother a grin.

“
He’s simply scenting you,
mon ange,”
I told her. “I think he likes you.”

“
Well, I
don’t
like
him.” Gwendolyn shivered and stepped away from me.

The horse nudged her
again, snorting gently as it pressed its nose to the back of her
neck.

“
Cut that out!” she exclaimed, turning around.

“
I’m telling you, he likes you,” I told her. “Here, give him
this.”

Reaching into the
air, I pulled out an apple—a rather large one as the steed was
built to carry a twelve foot demon.

Reluctantly,
Gwendolyn took the apple from my hand. “Really? You want me to feed
him?”

“
Really.” I nodded at the horse. “Go on—give it to
him.”

I watched with
interest as the horse lipped the apple from her palm and crunched
it messily. Such animals were usually fed on living flesh—which I
did not tell Gwendolyn—but this one seemed to have retained enough
of its mortal ancestry to enjoy other things as well.

Gwendolyn asked for
another apple, which I obligingly produced. As the horse ate it
from her palm, she tentatively reached up and stroked its glossy
black neck. She had to stand on her tiptoes since the animal was so
massive but she did it without fear.

“
Good boy,” I heard her mu
rmur. “Are you a good boy?”

The horse snorted and nudged her again with its huge
head—clearly Yerx’s massive
Demon-steed was taken with my little
witch.

I
must confess I was impressed—not just by Gwendolyn’s mastery of her
fear but by the fact that the horse came so quickly under her sway.
It was the second animal from my realm which had shown itself
partial to her. Cerberus, of course, was not to be trusted but
he
had
surprised me in his
attentions to the little witch. Could it be she had some power over
the denizens of Hell? Or were they simply unable to resist her
innate goodness, much as I was unable to resist myself?

Gwendolyn fed the
horse several more apples and then I decided it was time to send
him on his way back.

“
Enough,” I told her, taking her by the arm to lead her a
little ways away. “I must send him back to the Great Barrier now.
Back to where he belongs.”

“
What, so he can carry that nasty big demon around all day?”
she protested. “No offense to your ‘friend’ but he must weigh a
ton—literally! That can’t be good for the poor horse’s
back!”

“
I
thought you didn’t like him,” I said dryly, eyeing the horse which
was sidling up to us, trying to get close to Gwendolyn
again.

“
Well maybe I changed my mind,” she said defensively. “He’s
not so bad once you get to know him and it would be a lot easier
riding him than trudging through Hell on foot.”

“
He’s a very noticeable steed,” I objected. “Riding him would
draw unwanted attention and make it much easier for the Hellspawn
to track us.”

“
But that thing is already on my trail,” she objected. “And if
we’re mounted on the horse when it finds us, I’m sure he could
outrun it. We’ll actually have a
better
chance of getting away and staying safe if we keep
him.”

I saw that she
really wanted to keep the horse. Despite myself, I was charmed all
over again by her courage. She loved and befriended even the most
fearsome creatures—it made me hope, deep inside, that maybe she
might find love in her heart for a monster like me as well. I could
deny her nothing—still, I pretended to deliberate.

“
Well…” I murmured, crossing my arms over my chest.

“
Please, Laish?” She put a hand on my arm which I liked a
lot—she hardly ever touched me voluntarily and I badly wanted her
to.

“
All right,” I said at last, taking her hand in mine. “If it
means so much to you.”

“
It does.” She squeezed my hand. “I don’t know why, but it
does. Thank you, Laish.”

“
You are welcome,” I said simply. “And now, if you can tear
your attention away from your new pet long enough, I believe the
ferry has arrived.”

Gwendolyn pulled her
hand from mine and turned quickly, scanning the sluggish waters of
the Styx.

Sure enough, a long, flat barge appeared out of the mist,
coming slowly toward us. It was captained by a tall figure shrouded
in tattered black rags.
His face was hidden by a black hood but I had
traversed the Styx often enough to know what he looked like beneath
that ragged veil.

“
Charon,” Gwendolyn breathed as the barge came to a halt,
crunching against the pebbles of the shoreline. “So he
is
real.”

“
Indeed,” I murmured. “Are you ready to cross, Gwendolyn? Few
of the living ever have.”

“
I’m ready,” she assured me. “I’ve got this.”

She dug around in her bag
for a moment and then seemed to find what she was
looking for. Stepping forward, she tried to hand something to the
skeletal ferryman.

Charon simply
shook his head.

“
What?”
Gwendolyn frowned. “What’s wrong? Why won’t he take it?” She
held out her hand and I saw an antique silver piece in her small
palm.

“
You are not dead,” I explained. “Only the souls of the dead
must pay for passage across the Styx. A living human may pass for
free—as long as you are accompanied by a denizen of the
realm.”

“
Oh, all right.” She shrugged. “Should we bring the horse
aboard first—what’s his name, anyway? Did your, uh, friend
say?”

“
This is the same steed Yerx rode through the campaigns we
fought together,” I said. “As I recall, his name is
Kurex.”

“
Kurex, hmm? I like it.” Gwendolyn turned to the horse. “Here,
boy. Here, Kurex.”

At the sound
of his name the massive horse nodded his head and snorted. He
trotted over to the little witch and nuzzled just behind her ear
with his nose, blowing gently.

“
Good boy.” Gwendolyn stroked the arching black neck again and
I couldn’t help feeling jealous. Why was it so easy for her to
trust anyone and anything but me?

“
Give his reins to Charon,” I instructed her. “He will lead
Kurex aboard the ferry.”

“
And he’ll be okay?” She looked at me anxiously.

I nodded. “He will.
He is used to traversing this river.”

“
All right then, good.” Reaching up, she caught the black
leather reins as though she’d been doing it for years and led the
horse closer to the ferry. This time when she held out her hand,
Charon reached for what she was handing him. I noticed that
Gwendolyn was careful not to touch his skeletal fingers as she gave
him the reins.

Kurex
was
loaded onto the flat barge-like ferry in short order and the only
thing that remained was for Gwendolyn and myself to climb aboard.
It seemed a simple thing and yet I knew it would be a problem. I
considered warning my little witch of what was to come, but then I
thought better of it. She would have to learn on her own or she
would never believe me.

Gwendolyn was about
to find out exactly what was required in order to
pass from one circle of Hell to the next and I was certain it would
not make her happy.

* * * * *

Gwendolyn

I
know it sounds crazy considering my childhood trauma, but I was
really getting fond of the elephant-sized horse. Maybe I just have
a soft spot for animals but the way he nuzzled me with his nose and
begged for more apples just melted me. I was a little worried he
might nip my fingers with that huge mouth of his but he
had been extremely
careful, delicately lipping the huge apples Laish conjured for me
out of my palm and crunching them with messy delight. And for my
part, I found I really enjoyed feeding him.

I had never
thought I would like a horse after my broken-collarbone incident
but it occurred to me that maybe I had been too quick to judge. I
was genuinely glad when Laish said we could take the big guy with
us and not just because riding beat hoofing it—no pun
intended—through Hell by a long shot. I still had the problem of
the way the saddle rubbed me in the wrong (right?) way, but I would
learn to deal with that, I promised myself. In the meantime, I was
just glad we got to keep Kurex a little longer.

Once Charon
(who was even creepier than I had ever imagined) had loaded him
onto the flat, black ferry, the big horse stood quietly, watching
me as though he was waiting for me to come aboard too.

“
It’s okay, boy,” I told him. “I’ll be there in a
minute.”

I
really didn’t like the idea of getting on board that ferry—not just
because I was pretty sure the only thing under those tattered black
rags
of Charon’s
was an animated skeleton, either. I was also weirded out by the
idea that the only people who crossed these black, tarry waters
were already dead. Also, I’m not the best swimmer in the world and
I didn’t like to think what might be in that black goo waiting to
get me if I fell in.

Still, there
was no other way to get to the second circle of Hell and time was
wasting. Taking a deep breath, I stepped forward, meaning to place
my foot on the ferry.

But I couldn’t.

Frowning, I
tried again but with the same result. There was something in the
way—some invisible barrier that I could feel but couldn’t get
past.

I
tried again, this time leaning forward with my upper body. Again,
the invisible wall met me and kept me from stepping foot on the
boat.
I felt it in
every direction, reaching up with my hands and pressing my palms to
its smooth, invisible sides. It occurred to me that I must look
like a mime—and not a very good one, either.

At
last,
I gave up on
trying to find the edges of the wall and turned to Laish who was
watching me quietly with absolutely no surprise on his chiseled
features.

“
What’s going on?” I demanded. “I thought you said I could
ride for free since I’m not dead. Why can’t I get on
board?”

“
I
never said you could cross
for free,
mon ange
,” he rumbled. “Styx is the barrier between the first and
second circle of Hell and you may not pass through to a new circle
without first paying the toll.”

“
What toll?” I shook my head. “You said something about that
before but you never explained. I tried to give him the coin but he
wouldn’t take it.”

“
It is not in money that you must pay.” Laish was still looking
at me intently. “But in deeds. You must pay the Sin Tax to cross
from one circle of Hell into the next.”

“
Sin Tax? What are you talking about?” I put a hand on my hip,
all out of patience. “Look, Laish, just tell me what I have to do
and I’ll do it. Come on—help me out, here!”

“
I
will be more than pleased to help you out—though I do not think you
will like it,” he said quietly. “You see, Gwendolyn, in order to
pass on to another circle, you must commit a sin. A small one at
this juncture, as we are still in the upper levels of Hell. But as
we pass through each concentric circle, your crime must be greater
and greater in order to satisfy the tax. It is the only way that
you, as a living human, may pass through.”

“
But…what kind of a sin?” I asked, though I was afraid I
already knew.

“
One of lust, I believe will do at this point.” Laish fixed me
with those ruby eyes and beckoned to me. “Come to me, Gwendolyn. I
can help you pay the tax.”

At
last I understood.
This
was what
he had meant when he said I would have to let him touch me in order
to get through Hell. I felt a flush of warmth run through me,
though if it was lust or anger I couldn’t tell—maybe it was a
mixture of both.

“
You…I…” I had no words. What could I say? “What…what am I
supposed to do?” I finally got out.

“
Just come to me,” he murmured. “I will be gentle, I
swear.”

Rather than
reassuring me, his words scared the Hell out of me—no pun intended.
“What are you planning to do—have sex right here on the river
bank?” I demanded, holding my ground. “Because I’m not up for
that—not even to get across the river.”

Laish sighed. “I wish you did not fear my touch so very much.
No,
mon
ange,
I will not
penetrate you now. As I said, only a little sin is necessary to
satisfy at this juncture. If you let me simply touch you, I think
we can pay the tax very well.”