Ruby Shadows (43 page)

Of course she might have had a chance to
kick the habit if Ray was out of the way. If he wasn’t always there
with a free “taste” of her favorite drug waiting just for her.

He has to die,
I thought and knew it was true.
This
was the reason I’d
been working so hard on the revenge spell.
This
was who I wanted to punish—even
at the cost of my own soul. Until this evil bastard died I could
never reclaim my little sister. Until I killed him, she would never
be free.

I felt the will to kill building inside
me—the dark power flooding my body—and I welcomed it. Forget about
complicated revenge spells—I was in Hell now. There was more than
enough evil energy to call on. Enough hate and rage and murderous
intent to fill me to the brim—to overflowing.

I felt the ball of dark power building
inside me. I had never killed a human being before—never sacrificed
the hornless goat as witches call it—but I was more than ready now.
Somehow I knew that if I could just gather enough evil energy I
could reach through the mirror and get him. I pictured myself
shoving my hand into his chest and taking that foul, black, twisted
lump he called a heart in my hand. And then I would squeeze and
squeeze until it popped like an overripe tomato between my fingers.
Until he screeched and screamed and fell, writhing to the floor,
living that last few seconds of his life in agony until I snuffed
him out forever…

I was up on my feet before I knew it and
moving towards the mirror.

Yes,
I seemed to hear something whisper.
Yes, come to me…come closer…touch it…

I lifted my hand, focusing all the negative
energy I’d gathered into a tight ball. I would use this power to
force my fingers through the magic mirror and into Ray’s hateful
chest. I would—

But just as my fingertips
were almost brushing the cool surface of the mirror, the picture of
my sister and her pimp faded. In its place was a creature out of a
nightmare—
my
nightmare. A creature without a head and yet somehow it still
had a mouth—a mouth with long, jagged, yellow teeth. A stump of a
tongue writhed in its gaping maw as it reached for me, longing to
suck out my soul.

I felt its hot, fetid breath on my
fingertips and tried to pull back but I couldn’t stop—couldn’t get
away. My heart pounded fiercely and a scream broke from my lips as
my hand was drawn inexorably forward, into the mirror…into the
HellSpawn’s hungry mouth…

Suddenly Laish was at my side.

“
Gwendolyn?” he asked and
then seemed to realize what was happening. He shouted a word of
power aloud that made me feel like someone had driven spikes into
my ears. With an angry hiss, the HellSpawn vanished as abruptly as
it had appeared. The mirror went blank and only the dancing shadows
and firelight could be seen reflected in its cracked
surface.

Freed of its spell at
last, I sank back against the couch, a sob rising in my throat.
Goddess, that had been so
close!

“
Gwendolyn, what were you
doing? What were you thinking?” Laish had me by the shoulders. He
looked down at me, giving me a quick, angry shake. Then he pulled
me to him, pressing my face to his broad, bare chest.
“Mon ange,”
he murmured
in a deep, broken voice. “I thought I’d lost you—what possessed you
to do such a thing?”

“
My little sister—I saw
her.” I pushed away from him, but I was unable to keep the words
from spilling out. “And he was hurting her—he was going to make
her…make her do…” I shook my head, unable to continue. Unable to
speak aloud the shame and degradation Keisha was doubtless enduring
even now.

“
The mirror showed you
your sister?” He frowned, clearly not understanding.

“
And her pimp! She’s
a
drug addict,”
I
shouted at him. “And a…a prostitute! And it’s all
his
fault—that bastard.
He hooked her on the drugs—he makes her whore herself out to get
them! If he was dead, she might have a chance to get free. If I
could kill him—”

“
If you could
kill
him?” His ruby eyes
narrowed and filled with understanding. “Ah, now I see. This is the
man your spell was meant for. This is why you were willing to risk
your immortal soul.”

“
Now you know,” I snapped.
“Are you happy now? Does it make you feel superior to know my dirty
little secret?”

“
What secret?” he asked
quietly. “That you love so intensely and care so deeply you are
willing to do anything to save those you love? That is no secret to
me,
mon ange.
I
only wish I could count myself among their numbers.”

“
Yeah, right.” I tried to
pull away from his grip on my arms but he wouldn’t let me. “Let me
go!” I yelled. “Don’t talk to me about love—you don’t know the
meaning of the word!”

“
You think not?” His voice
was still quiet, introspective. “Once I would have agreed with
you—now I am not so sure.” He frowned. “But I
do
know what danger you’ve put
yourself in. I felt you gathering evil energy into yourself—what
were you thinking, opening yourself to such forces?”

“
What do you care?” I
snapped sullenly. “Afraid I’ll stain my soul before you can suck it
out of me?”

“
Suck it out of you?” He
frowned. “What are you—”

“
I heard your conversation
with Belial through the bathroom door,” I told him, my voice rising
with anger. “I heard how he told you that you should have left me
to the Skitterlings and kept your dragon form.”

Laish’s face darkened. “There is no way you
should have been able to hear us—we were cocooned in a circle of
silence.”

“
Well, I heard anyway,” I
snapped. “Heard exactly what you and Belial think I’m
worth—nothing.”

“
It is not that Belial is
an uncaring monster or that he dislikes you—he is simply protective
of me,” Laish said, frowning.

“
What about when he asked
you why you bothered with me?” I demanded, not willing to let it
go. “When he asked why you went to all the trouble and pain for me
and you said…” My voice cracked but I forced myself to hold my head
up and keep the hot tears that were stinging my eyes from falling.
“You said
you didn’t know.
You didn’t know how you felt about me or even why
you cared.”

“
Because I didn’t!” For
the first time, Laish raised his voice. “I didn’t understand the
hold you had on me, my little witch. If I were still the being I
was created to be, I would have said that I loved you. But I am a
demon—I have no love in my heart. For that matter—I barely have a
heart to love with. And yet, you draw me to you like a moth to the
flame. I cannot free myself from your spell.” His voice dropped. “I
do not even want to.”

“
Right.” My voice
trembled, tears threatening to push through my wall of protective
sarcasm. “Why should I believe you?” I asked him. “Why should I
believe your lies?”

“
Because they are not
lies. Look.”

Turning me around, he marched me back
towards the mirror. When I realized where we were going, I began to
struggle in his arms.

“
No—
no!
I’m not looking in there again!”
I shouted.

“
Be still, Gwendolyn,” he
said firmly. “You are not going to look into it—
I
am.”

“
What are you talking
about?” I demanded as he reached the mirror with me in
tow.

Laish turned to face me.

“
Belial told you how it
works, did he not? That the first thing the mirror shows you is the
thing you love the most?”

“
Well…yes,” I admitted
grudgingly. “He said something like that. It showed me Grams the
first time I looked into it.”

“
Of course it did.” He
sighed. “And the second time it showed you your sister. Do I dare
to ask if it showed me to you at all?”

I thought of the brief glimpse I’d gotten of
his face before the strange blonde girl with the feathery wrap
around her shoulders showed up.

“
No,” I said firmly,
lifting my chin. “It didn’t show you at all.”

His mouth tightened. “Then this should be a
humiliating experience.”

“
What should?” I asked,
frowning.

“
We are going to look into
the mirror together, Gwendolyn. Or rather,
I
am going to look and you will
stand behind me, looking over my shoulder—in this way you will see
what I see.”

I didn’t want to do it but he seemed
determined. He positioned himself in front of the cracked surface
of the mirror and I stood just behind him, standing on my tiptoes
to get a look over his broad shoulder.

At first I saw only the
two of us reflected in the silvery surface. Laish standing there,
his broad, bare chest hiding my smaller form and me peeking over
his shoulder like a little girl afraid of monsters. Which I
was
to be honest—no way
did I want to see that freaky HellSpawn coming after me
again.

Then the kaleidoscope colors began. When
they finished swirling, Laish had faded from the picture and it was
just me, standing there in my white nighty and robe, looking
frightened and unsure.

“
I don’t get it,” I said,
frowning. “You disappeared and it’s just me.”

“
Exactly.” His voice was
low and warm and when I looked away from the mirror—I was able to
do it somehow, maybe because it was showing things to him and not
me—I saw there was an unreadable look in his ruby red
eyes.

“
Laish…” I shook my head.
“I don’t understand.”

“
Neither do I,” he
murmured. “But the Mirror of the Eye cannot lie—it shows what is in
a person’s heart. And you are in mine,
mon
ange.”

“
But why? How?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. You are
changing me, I think. How exactly you are doing this or what you
are changing me into, I have no idea.” He shrugged, his broad, bare
shoulders rolling with the movement. “It is…disconcerting to say
the least.”

“
I don’t know what to
say.” I left him and went to sit on the far side of the couch. “I’m
not working any spells on you, if that’s what you think. Not that
my magic could have much effect on a powerful demon like
you.”

He laughed, a low, rich sound I could feel
in my bones.

“
I do not think you are
doing it on purpose, my little witch. Nor do I blame you for
it.”

“
But it’s ruining
you—stealing your power,” I argued. “You gave up one of your most
powerful forms for me. And Belial said it causes you agonizing pain
every time you feed me with your blood.”

His face darkened.

“
That was not for Belial
to speak of. I will have to have words with him.”

“
But is it true?” I
demanded.

He frowned. “Well…yes,” he admitted at last.
“Is that why you refused my offer of supper?”

I crossed my arms over my chest.

“
I’m not going to have you
hurting yourself for me every time I get a little ‘peckish,’ as
Grams says.”

“
Gwendolyn, I do not think
you understand.” He sank down on the couch beside me and took one
of my hands in both of his. “Look at me.”

I didn’t want to but the force of his eyes
on my face compelled me.

“
What?” I asked at last,
looking up unwillingly.

“
It is my pleasure to feed
you,” Laish murmured, stroking my hand and the inside of my wrist
in a way that made my heart start to pound. “My pleasure to
sacrifice for you…to bear pain for your sake if necessary. I care
for you in a way I do not understand but it makes me want to give
of myself to you. Will you let me?”

“
I…” I bit my lip, my
heart thudding in my ears. “I don’t know,” I said at last.
“Maybe…maybe later. I’m not very hungry right now.”

“
Will you let me give you
comfort, then?” he asked softly. “You are trembling like a
leaf.”

“
Am I?” I took stock of
myself and realized that I was. Maybe it was the shock of what had
happened with the mirror sinking in but I felt cold despite the
fire’s warmth—so cold I thought I might never be warm
again.

“
Gwendolyn, come
here.”

Laish gathered me into his arms and for some
reason I let him. I pressed my cold cheek against his warm chest
and breathed in his cinnamon and dark spice scent, trying not to
think about Keisha and everything else I’d seen in the mirror.
Trying not to cry.

“
They are just
tears,
mon ange,”
Laish rumbled, stroking my hair. “Let them fall.”

I tried to stop myself but I couldn’t help
it when a few hot drops rolled down my cheeks. Laish stroked my
back and shoulders and held me tight.

“
I don’t know what’s
happening to me,” I whispered at last, trying to get control of
myself. “I never would have tried to kill anyone like that
before—not the way I was about to do it. My plan was to put a
revenge spell on him—one that would make him waste away and leave
Keisha alone. But just now I…” I swallowed hard. “I wanted to rip
his heart out and squeeze it to a
pulp
. That’s what I was trying to do
before that…that
thing
appeared and tried to get me.”