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give her exactly what she was expecting. But the mulish
expression on her lovely face changed my mind. I would never get
through to her that way—another tactic was needed to get my little
witch to see sense.
    I leaned back
on the couch, one arm across the back of its faded floral fabric in
a pose of relaxation completely opposite to her tense, rigidly
upright posture.
    “ You’re going to die soon, you know,” I remarked
conversationally. “I mean, even sooner than most humans, which is
saying something since your mortal lives are over in the blink of
an eye anyway.”
    “ What?” She looked at me blankly.
    “ But first,” I continued, “All those that you love are going to
die in various horrible ways, right before your eyes. Your beloved
grandmother included.”
    “ What?” She
was angry now, her vivid green eyes narrowed and her lush lips a
tight line. “How dare you say that to me?”
    “ I’m simply stating the truth.” I drummed my fingers idly on
the back of the couch. “You didn’t close the door you opened into
the Abyss. I have been there and seen it, Gwendolyn.”
    “ If you went and saw it, why didn’t you close it?” she
demanded. “Or did you just want to teach me a lesson?”
    “ By exposing you to a vicious creature from Hell’s blackest
pit?” I raised an eyebrow at her. “That would seem to be what they
call “overkill” don’t you think? No, the reason I did not close the
door is that only the one who opened it may close it—the door will
react only to the touch of one who bears your soul signature. If you didn’t know that already, you
had no business opening it in the first place.”
    “ All right, I knew it,” she grumbled. “I just thought, since
you’re a demon…”
    “ Even my power is not limitless, mon ange,” I told her. “And there are rules to be obeyed.
Principles which govern all of Hell and cannot be broken on a
simple whim.”
    “ Fine. So I didn’t shut the door. I thought I did, though,” she said earnestly. “I could have
sworn I did.”
    “ In that you were wrong. The Hellspawn came for you because you
let it—you opened a way for it. You were careless and now you must
pay—and all your loved ones will pay with you.”
    “ Why do you keep saying that ? Why should it want to kill the people I love?” she
demanded.
    I frowned at
her. “As to why it wants
to kill those you love, the Hellspawn will seek to inflict maximum
pain and suffering on its victim before it finally hunts them down
and kills them. The fear and anguish spices the meat, giving it
just the right flavor. Or so I am told.”
    “ You’re sick,” she flared. “And lying. It was coming for me. I’m the one it almost took!”
    “ Because you were in your grandmother’s room. It was going to
take her first,” I
pointed out.
    She put a hand to
her mouth. “Oh my God… how did it even get in here in the first
place? Grams has every single door and window covered in the
strongest protection spells.”
    “ You may have noticed that it used neither a door nor a
window,” I said dryly. “It tunneled in from beneath, neatly
avoiding your human magic.”
    Gwendolyn
looked so ill I felt sorry for her—not that I would show it. She
would never learn if I allowed myself to show too much
compassion.
    “ But if it was coming for Grams…”
    “ It was. And I promise you, Gwendolyn, that it will hunt
down everyone you
love. Is there someone besides your grandmother that you hold
dear?”
    Her face went pale. “ Keisha,” she murmured.
    “ I’m sorry, who?” I leaned forward, inclining my head toward
her.
    “ No one.” She shook her head tightly. “All right, I get it—this
thing is after me and everyone I love. So what can I do about
it?”
    “ Nothing.” I shrugged, as though I didn’t care.
    “ Nothing?” She stared at me, her eyes wide and incredulous. “Nothing?”
    I gave her a slow
smile.
    “ I
am afraid not. Not by yourself, anyway.”
     
    * * * *