How do they survive in this horrible city? I wondered. How do they keep from being grabbed and murdered or worse in those awful crowds we passed through? Maybe they stuck together, taking care of each other and avoided the central square of Baator. Maybe the older ones took care of the little ones? I hoped it was something like that although it would be better if they had an adult to care for them.
I wished I could do something for them. If I’d been back home, I would have called somebody and reported the situation at the very least. But it wasn’t like I could call Children’s Services in Hell.
We passed by them and the little cherub-looking boy with the blond curls stared after me until they were out of sight.
When we got to the huge front door of the vast black spire Laish had called the Hotel Infernal, two red skinned demons with sharp, crooked teeth and doormen’s coats hastily came to attention.
“Who asks entrance?” one demanded, eyeing Laish uncertainly.
“Laish, Lord of Hades,” he said in a cool, controlled voice. “Open the door before I flay the flesh from your bones.”
The demons sprung to attention at once.
“My Lord Laish—forgive us! We are but lesser demons—we did not know!”
Laish said a single word in that harsh language I was beginning to think of as “Hell Speak” and they silenced at once. As one, they gripped the enormous door handles and pulled, revealing a vast lobby that seemed to be carved entirely of black marble.
The opening the doors made was plenty big enough for Kurex to walk through with us still sitting on his back. Which in fact, is what we did. If the minor demons had a problem with Laish riding a huge demon horse into their hotel lobby, they didn’t say anything about it. But the way they were looking at him from the corners of their yellow eyes made me think they wouldn’t have said anything if he’d decided to bring a whole herd of horses with him into the hotel.
“So, ‘Lord of Hades’ is it?” I murmured, turning my head to give him a sidelong glance as Kurex’s hooves echoed on the black marble. “That’s pretty major I’d say.”
He shrugged laconically.
“As to that, who can say? Some are more impressed by titles than others.”
“Titles or threats?” I asked. “And by the way those two jumped to attention, I’d say you must have the power to back up your threats.”
“Possibly.” He was still playing dumb which was really irritating. I wanted to know exactly how important and powerful he was. Back when I’d first worked my spell, I had been trying to get the most minor demon I could but I was beginning to believe I had brought over Hell’s version of a powerful CEO—or I’d brought over a general when I was trying for a private, if you prefer a military analogy.
“Could you really, uh, flay the flesh from their bones if you wanted to?” I asked him, trying to read the look in those ruby red eyes. “I mean, don’t you need a whip for that?”
“I could do it with a single word of power which I will not utter here,” he remarked. “It might cause you discomfort even if it was not directed at you and I would not wish to do that.”
“Thanks so much,” I said dryly. “But it’s discomforting enough to know I’m with someone who can strip people’s flesh from their bones just by saying the right thing. Or the wrong thing, I guess.”
“You should feel reassured, Gwendolyn,” he murmured, pulling me back against him. “That you are with someone who can protect you.”
I straightened my spine, refusing to melt against him but I had to admit he was right. He’d certainly protected me when the demon had grabbed me in the crowd. I’d felt myself sliding from the horse’s back and had seen the gleaming eyes and sharp teeth of the demon who wanted me all in one frantic instant. Then Laish had kicked the creature in the face and pulled me back to safety.
If I had been with a lesser demon, would they have been able to save me? I thought not. Maybe it was good I’d gotten the CEO when I cast my spell rather than the guy who worked in the mail room, although it was irritating that he still wouldn’t admit outright to me who and what he was.
Kurex clopped towards the vast black marble desk that ran the length of one whole wall. It was so long I couldn’t see either end of it—we appeared to be headed to somewhere in the middle. The ceiling was far above us, when I looked up I could barely see it. A gleaming crystal chandelier a big as small house hung suspended above us and cast its cold, silvery light over the lobby. Here and there, small groupings of furniture were scattered, mostly upholstered in red and black leather.
Several of the chairs held well-dressed demons or other creatures who were drinking and talking quietly—just as if they were businessmen discussing deals. Well, maybe they were. Only they were more likely to be selling and buying souls than stocks and bonds. I shivered. Several of them glanced at us as we rode the huge horse through the vast black lobby but none seemed to think us worth a second look.
“Wow, it’s huge in here,” I remarked softly. “I mean, the outside is really big but the inside—”
“Is infinite,” Laish murmured in my ear, finishing my thought. “Literally. There are said to be an infinite number of rooms within these walls—enough for all who have the means to stay here.”
“Guess they don’t have to invest in a ‘no vacancy’ sign then,” I said. Not that I could see a place like this having a blinking neon sign anywhere on the premises. The Hotel Infernal was hands down the most imposing and expensive hotel I’d ever been in and that included the Safety Harbor Spa and Resort where my friend, Amanda had married her fiancée who was a very well to do cardiac surgeon.
When we reached the marble desk a demon with pale blue skin looked up and nodded at us. He had elegant spiral horns like an antelope’s on either side of his head.
“Good evening, Sir, Maaadam,” he murmured in a low, polite voice that was only slightly spoiled by sounding like a goat’s bleat. “How may I aaaccommodate you today?”
“We’ll need your finest suite for the night,” Laish said crisply. “And I do mean the finest—one here on the first floor will do.”
The pale blue antelope demon gave him a haughty look.
“The first floor suites aaare reserved for the lords of the realm—the Great Demons. Only a Prince of Night and Shadow may reserve one. I caaannot—”
“Did the doormen not tell you who I am?” Laish’s voice was silky smooth and very, very dangerous. “If you have doubts as to my right to take a first floor suite, please call your master, Druaga.”
“Aaas you wish, Sir. But I warn you—if you do not have the proper staaatus to disturb him, my maaaster will be most displeased.”
“Just call him,” Laish said. “Now.”
The demonic desk clerk picked up a big, old fashioned looking phone and put the heavy black receiver to his ear. It reminded me of Gram’s old house phone—the one I finally convinced her to replace because it had a rotary dial.
The demon spoke softly into the receiver and then nodded once before replacing it.
“My maaaster is on his way, Sir.”
“Very good.” Laish nodded.
I sat quietly in front of him, wondering what was going to happen next. Was he really one of the Great Demons—the seven lords of Hell that answered only to Lucifer himself? If so, I was so completely outmatched that my own magical talents must seem laughable to him. I wondered why he hadn’t told me at once—and why he hadn’t blasted me when I had mouthed off to him on numerous occasions. After all, anyone who can flay demons alive with a single word would have no problem punishing a mouthy witch.
After a long moment in which the demonic desk clerk pretended to be busy with paperwork while watching us from the corner of his yellow eye, a huge creature in a mustard colored hounds-tooth suit suddenly appeared in front of us. I say creature because though he had the body of a man, he certainly wasn’t human.
The head of a wild boar with long, curving tusks poked out of the neck of his immaculate white collar. The tu
sks were capped in gold but what really caught my attention was the eyes—they, at least, were human. Or sentient anyway—they weren’t animal eyes, is what I’m trying to say. Seeing those normal-looking brown eyes in an animal’s face seemed weird and wrong.
Even wronger was the fact that his immaculately cut suit had an opening in the crotch where his fly should have been. When my gaze finally drifted down from his bizarre face, I had to bite back a gasp. Massive genitals dangled outside the hounds-tooth suit, swinging when the creature moved. Ugh!
I tried not to look but it was kind of like a train wreck—hard to look away. Could anyone actually be that big? He looked like he might give Kurex a run for his money—it was offensive to see something that huge on a human form. Then again, it was offensive for him to have it all out in the open like that—even though it kind of made sense. It was obvious why he’d had to have his pants tailored with a hole in them—there was no way his equipment would fit in a normal pair of trousers.
“Who dares disturb me?” the boar-headed demon with the mammoth dick growled, looking up at Laish. “How dare you demand a first floor suite?”
“It’s me, Druaga,” Laish said mildly. “Laish.”
“My Lord Laish?” The boar-headed demon looked at him uncertainly. “I was going to punish my underling…” He motioned at the antelope-demon who was now cowering against the counter, his earlier superiority forgotten. “But how could anyone recognize you in that form?”
“I am traveling incognito with my new concubine,” Laish explained, as he had before. “We require accommodations for the night, as I was explaining to your desk clerk here.”
“Ah yes of course, your concubine.”
The boar-headed demon turned his attention to me—in more than one way. As those disturbingly human eyes crawled their way over my body, the massive shaft between his legs began to swell. Ugh! I wished I was wearing a parka instead of the thin, red silk dress Laish had made me put on.
“Such a lovely little thing,” Druaga muttered, a bit of drool escaping his tusked mouth. “Tell me, Laish, have you had her long? Is she properly broken in?”
“That is none of your concern.” Laish tightened his arm around my waist possessively. “We simply want a room for the night. Will you accommodate us or not?”
“Yes, yes—of course! Of course, my Lord.” Druaga bowed obsequiously but his eyes never left me and I couldn’t help noticing his trouser snake didn’t go down either. Double ugh! “In fact, you must have supper with me tonight in my own private quarters,” he continued in his deep, hoarse voice as he handed Laish a broad, leather-bound book and a feathery black quill pen.
“That will not be necessary,” Laish said firmly as he signed the book with a flourish and handed it back. “We appreciate your offer but my concubine has a rather delicate system and particular dietary requirements. She has therefore brought her own nourishment with her.”
“Very well.” Druaga looked pissed off—at least I thought he did, it was hard to tell because of the boar’s head—but he only nodded. “Nairn,” he snapped at the antelope-horned demon who had been crouching quietly as far from his master as he could get during the entire encounter. “Give Lord Laish suite 104. It has an excellent view of our gardens,” he continued, turning back to us. “As well as a very comfortable bed. You should be very happy there.” He leered at me and his massive shaft twitched, making me want to gag.
“Thank you.” Laish nodded and reached down for the golden door key which the antelope-horned demon was holding out in one trembling hand. Clearly he still expected some kind of punishment for not recognizing Laish and treating him as he ought to.
“I’ll send someone to tend your steed,” Druaga promised.
“Thank you but I will tend to him myself,” Laish said. “Do you still have stables located in the lower level?”
“Indeed we do. But maybe you’d reconsider my offer of dinner?”
“You’re most kind,” Laish said firmly. “But we couldn’t possibly. My concubine is tired after a long day of riding. We must bid you goodnight.”
“At least let me send a selection of delicacies to your lady.” Druaga leered at me hopefully. “No matter what her tastes I am certain we can, ah, accommodate her.” Okay, I was seriously going to be sick if he kept looking at me like that.
“If you want to send some food somewhere, why not give some to the kids who live outside your hotel?” I said, speaking up for the first time. “They look like they’re starving.”
Druaga raised his hairy eyebrows.
“Kids? You mean children?”
I felt Laish stiffen behind me and he let out a hiss of annoyance.
“They are merely devilkins. Pay no attention—my concubine is innocent and has no idea what she is talking about.”
It was my turn to stiffen with annoyance. I opened my mouth to say something but Laish put a large hand on my thigh and squeezed warningly. Clearly he thought I had said enough already. Reluctantly, I closed my mouth again, promising myself I’d give him a piece of my mind when we got to the room.
“If you wish me to send food to the devilkins, my lady, it can be managed,” Druaga said, smirking at me. “Of course, there would be an, ahem, extra charge.”
“No!” Laish said sharply. “Thank you but we do not wish to incur any extra charges for food, drink, or any other delicacies or specialties of the hotel.”
“We can speak of it more over dinner in my private apartments,” the demon suggested.
“Again, I must decline. The room for the night is all we require.”
“Very well.” The demonic hotel manager—or was he the owner?—looked a little disgruntled but there didn’t seem to be anything else he could do or say. Apparently he couldn’t make Laish accept his offer of dinner. For which I was very glad. The way those small, piggy eyes of his had been crawling over my breasts while his huge hose-beast of a cock twitched and drooled between his thighs had me wanting to take a very long, very hot shower.
“Wow, he really wanted us to come to dinner,” I remarked under my breath as Laish steered Kurex away from the long desk and towards the end of the lobby.
“Because he wishes us to incur a soul debt.” Laish sounded very displeased.
“What? But you don’t have a soul,” I protested.
“No, but you do. A fact which I am afraid your naïve statement that he should send food to the devilkins has exposed. No one but an untried human would have thought of such a thing.”
“You mean no one without compassion,” I said hotly. “Those kids are starving, Laish—you could see it in their eyes! I know you’re a demon and all that but do you have to be so hard hearted?”
“As to that, my heart is much softer than it should be—but only towards you, mon ange.” He frowned at me.
“I don’t care what you say—they’re hungry.”
“No one disputes that.” His eyes flashed. “Though their appetites might surprise you.”
“But—”
“Do not presume to lecture me on subjects you do not understand. The devilkins are not to be trusted any more than Druaga is. For all their outward appearances are different, inside they are the same.”
“I’m so sure,” I muttered. Comparing that sweet-looking little cherub boy to the grotesque boar-headed demon seemed ridiculous but Laish was clearly not going to listen to reason.
I fumed silently as we rode, but Laish still had more to say.
“Now that Druaga suspects what you are, we must be even more vigilant,” he said in my ear. “Had you simply remained silent he would have been too distracted by your beauty to notice you are more than you seem.”
“Distracted by my beauty.” I looked down at the thin red gown which clung to my breasts, outlining them suggestively. “Right.”
“You think I have dressed you as you are only for my own pleasure?” Laish demanded in a low voice. “It is a kind of camouflage, Gwendolyn. It distracts the sharp eyes of those who would expose yo
u and put us in more danger than we are already in.” He stroked my thigh through the slippery red silk, making me shift uneasily as sparks of unwilling pleasure raced through my veins. “Not that it does any good if you are determined to expose yourself,” he said roughly.
“I’ll try to remember to keep my mouth shut in the future,” I snapped as Laish directed the huge horse down a long, carpeted hallway. “Stay quiet and look pretty. Great career advice.”
“It is if you are a concubine,” he remarked, sounding amused.
“I don’t understand though,” I said. “If secrecy is so important, why tell anyone at all who you are? Why not just go incognito and pretend you’re another, uh, demon-businessman, like the ones we saw in the lobby?”
“You mean the flesh merchants?” He sounded disgusted. “I would never allow myself to be classed with them. Besides, the upper floors of the hotel are difficult to get to and not nearly as safe as the first floor suites.”
“But this is a respectable establishment, isn’t it?” I asked, frowning. “How can it not be safe here?”
“No place in Hell is completely safe,” he said seriously. “You must remember that, mon ange. Ah—here we are.”
We had finally come to the end of the broad hallway—which reminded me more than a little of the one in The Shining—and found ourselves in front of a single door. A brass number 4 gleamed at us and there was an old fashioned keyhole just under the doorknob. No new-fangled key cards for the Hotel Infernal—apparently here everything was strictly old fashioned and by-the-book.
Laish dismounted easily and unlocked the door with the key. It swung open, revealing an opulent room carpeted in black and dotted with white furniture.
“My lady.” Laish turned to me and offered his hand to help me down from the horse. This time I took it, though I couldn’t help thinking that I was getting dangerously used to his touch. Which really wasn’t surprising considering how closely we were pressed together while we were riding.
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