Page 21 of Demon Unleashed

9

Zoltan had chosen two of his weakest and most gullible demons for this mission. They were also the most expendable. Now he could only hope that they followed his instructions to the letter and showed up exactly when and where they were needed. They would serve two goals. The first was to squash Enya’s suspicion that something was going on due to the lack of demon activity in Baltimore. She had said as much during their dinner a week earlier by telling him that work had been too quiet. She’d called it the calm before the storm, and she wasn’t wrong. Things were brewing in the demon world.

The second goal was even more important: the two demons he’d chosen would make sure that his relationship with Enya graduated from a purely sexual one to one where she would see him as a partner whom she could trust with her life. Not that he minded the sex. Hell, he enjoyed it more than anything else. The way she got him hot with just one look, one touch, was addictive, and just thinking of their last encounter got him randier than he’d ever been. And then there was another thing about Enya: the way she’d soothed away his migraine by rubbing his temples, by pressing her body to his, and by whispering calming words to him had been unexpected.

Oddly enough, he’d felt a connection to her at that moment, and his nefarious plan had vanished for the rest of the night. When she’d straddled him after his migraine dissipated, something changed. He hadn’t simply fucked her; he’d made love to her. It was a first for him. Even now, he didn’t know what to think of it. Had he gone completely mad? There was only one reason why he was with Enya: so she would get him inside the world of the Stealth Guardians, so he could destroy them.

Actually, there was a second reason: he liked fucking her. He wanted to make her his sex slave. Nobody else would ever touch her but Zoltan. He would chain her to his bed and take her whenever he wanted to. Which was all the time. Yes, he would fuck her for eternity.

But right now, he had to move things along in the trust department, because for his liking, Enya was still too reluctant to open up to him, even though she was surrendering to him sexually in every way. So he’d devised a plan to give her a gentle shove in the right direction.

He’d chosen a restaurant that was bordering on a bad neighborhood, yet had excellent food. Since he’d confessed to Enya that he couldn’t cook worth shit, she’d been all too happy to agree to go out for dinner. For a proper date, as he’d suggested. The restaurant stood at the end of a cul-de-sac, which meant he knew from which direction Enya had to approach. She’d declined his offer to pick her up from her home, which, of course, he’d counted on.

At the entrance to the cul-de-sac, Zoltan had already smashed one of the streetlights, of which there were few to begin with. His action ensured that no light filtered into his hiding place, the entrance to an auto shop. He’d arrived thirty minutes prior to the time he’d made the reservation for, though he didn’t expect Enya to show up early. She had no reason to believe that he wanted anything more than to spend the night in bed with her. Nor did he think that she would arrive invisibly. At the very least, she’d make herself visible as soon as she entered the cul-de-sac to ascertain that no restaurant patrons became witness to her supernatural skill.

The stage was set. The curtain was about to rise.

Zoltan felt his heart pound. A lot of things could go wrong; however, he not only counted on his own demons’ inadequacy, but also on Enya’s fighting skills. He’d seen her fighting demons often enough to know that she could handle two of them, if with a little difficulty.

His ears perked up. He heard the clickety-clack of high heels on the uneven pavement grow louder as the person walked closer. A few seconds more, and he could make out Enya’s lithe form in the darkness. She wore a short dress again, showing off her slender legs. Her leather jacket was open in the front, and he had to assume that the only reason she wore it on this rather warm night was so she had a place to hide her weapons.

Enya walked to the entrance of the cul-de-sac. Nobody else seemed to be in the vicinity. Zoltan glanced around. Where were his demons? He held his breath and listened. But there were no sounds other than the distant humming of cars that drove by on a nearby street. A movement from the corner of his eye made him snap his head in that direction. It was them. They were approaching silently, staying in the shadows of the buildings, and in a few seconds they’d be at the entrance to the cul-de-sac with Enya facing the opposite direction. She wouldn’t see them coming. Nor would she hear them: the demons weren’t wearing their usual boots. They’d donned… tennis shoes? What the fuck?

Shit! He couldn’t interfere yet. Couldn’t simply call out to her. The demons would see him and most certainly blow his cover. But he had to do something. He bent down and grabbed a couple of small stones, a little larger than gravel, and tossed them in the direction of the demons. The sound of the stones hitting the pavement made Enya spin around.

The two demons, though appearing startled, immediately charged at her. They’d lost their element of surprise, but they still had an advantage: they were already holding their daggers in their hands, while Enya had to dig into her inside pocket to remove hers. But she was fast, ready to defend herself in an instant.

From his hiding place, Zoltan watched the fight, his heartbeat accelerating. Despite wearing a dress and high heels, Enya kept her two attackers at bay, delivering kicks and blows. She catapulted one of the demons against a wall, while trying to stab the other. But demons were strong, even the two losers Zoltan had chosen for this suicide mission. He counted on Enya, on her hate for the demons and her skill as a fighter, to hold her own. She’d done so before, killed more than her fair share of his underlings. At least tonight, she had Zoltan’s permission, even though she didn’t know it.

One of the demons landed a blow, then followed it up with a swipe of his dagger. Enya blocked it with her forearm, while kicking back to fend off the guy who was attacking from behind, but she couldn’t prevent the blade from cutting into her leather jacket. Had she not worn it, a deep gash would now grace her arm. Enya managed to grab the guy’s wrist and twist the dagger from his grip. It clattered to the ground, while Enya tried to drive her own dagger into the demon’s chest. The other demon attacking her from behind prevented her dagger from reaching its target.

Enya whirled around, simultaneously kicking back at the demon who’d lost his dagger, while she swung her blade at the other one.

Time to intervene.

Zoltan left his hiding place and ran toward the melee. The unarmed demon searched the ground for his dagger, but Zoltan had seen where the weapon had landed and was already heading for it. They got there at the same time. Zoltan kicked his underling in the stomach, catapulting him back, and reached for the weapon. His subject stared at Zoltan, his eyes wide with disbelief, his mouth opening. Zoltan flicked his wrist and let the dagger fly, planting it in the demon’s throat, cutting off the words that were going to make it over his lips.

“Eric?”

Enya’s panicked cry told him that she’d seen him join the fight. Good. But her surprise had also given the second demon a moment to gather his wits and thrust his knee into her stomach. She had to make a step back to keep her balance, then tried to kick back, but her leg was stuck. Zoltan focused on the spot—her high heel was caught in between the cobblestones. Her attacker grinned and lunged forward, his dagger in his hand, ready to stab Enya.

“Shit!” Zoltan yelled, and barreled toward his subject. There was no time to snatch the dagger from the dead demon. No matter. Zoltan charged the demon and wrestled him to the ground. But the bastard was stronger than Zoltan had previously thought. The demon blocked Zoltan’s next blow, and then their gazes connected. Surprise and disbelief flashed in his subject’s eyes in equal measure.

“Oh G—”

A dagger came flying and landed squarely in the demon’s throat, cutting off his words before he could betray Zoltan’s identity. From the corner of his eye, Zoltan saw Enya approach. He took a deep breath and pulled the dagger from the demon’s throat, ready for his next performance: to appear surprised at seeing green blood. He stared at it, then turned his head to Enya to give her a confused stare, and saw a movement behind her. Green eyes lit up in the darkness just a few yards behind Enya. A third demon.

“Eric, oh my God. Are you okay?” Enya asked.

Zoltan jumped up, dagger still in hand, and pushed Enya out of the way, making her crash to the ground. Just in time, because the third demon’s dagger flew through the air, aimed at Enya’s back. Seeing Zoltan, the demon turned tail, but Zoltan couldn’t let him escape. This third demon wasn’t part of the mission. Somebody else had sent him. And if this demon reported back that Zoltan, the Great One, had saved a Stealth Guardian’s life, his days would be numbered. In single digits.

“Eric, no! Stop!” Enya called after him. “He’ll kill you!”

He heard her footfalls behind him, but he couldn’t stop. His life now depended on killing this witness. He turned the corner and saw the demon already casting a vortex, but Zoltan couldn’t allow it. He aimed the dagger and flicked his wrist. The dagger hit the demon in the back before he could step into the vortex. As life seeped from him, the vortex collapsed as well. Zoltan breathed hard. This had been close. Too close.

“Eric, oh my God.” Enya stopped beside him. “You killed him?”

Zoltan turned his head to her, doing his best to turn his face into a mask of surprise and fear. Mimicking fear wasn’t too hard, since he’d truly been afraid that his plan would backfire. Besides, he didn’t want Enya dead. She was worth more alive.