Page 43 of Demon Unleashed

“No. If anybody found out, they’d tell all demons. There wouldn’t be a need for sending assassins. Everybody would be after me then. It wouldn’t take much to topple me. They wouldn’t do it here in the human world. They’d do it in the Underworld for everybody to witness.”

“Why?”

“Because whoever kills me will take the throne. He’ll be seen as the strongest demon, the rightful heir. I think the person who’s behind the assassination attempts is much more devious. He doesn’t want to be seen as the one who killed me for no good reason. It would mean a revolt among those who’re loyal to me. My guess is that his own following is small. He’ll have me killed and will then expose his own assassins and bring them to justice, thus earning the position as the Great One, because he avenged my death.”

“Do you have any suspects?”

“Several, but my main suspect is Vintoq, my right hand. He’s smart and ambitious. But I can’t prove anything yet. I’m working on it.”

“About that…”

“Yeah?”

Enya sighed. “I don’t think you should return to the Underworld. Stay here and—”

“I’m the ruler,” he interrupted. “If I don’t return, somebody will make himself the Great One.” And he wouldn’t let his throne go without a fight.

Enya turned fully to him, making his cock slip from her sheath. She sat up. “But that’s not important anymore. Haven’t I proven to you where you came from? Who your father is? Cinead is a council member. He’s respected. I’m sure that together we can somehow figure out how to turn you back into a Stealth Guardian.”

Zoltan gripped her shoulders, wanting to shake the impossible dream out of her. “No demon has ever turned back to what he was before. Least of all a demon like me. I’ve done too many evil things. I’m beyond redemption. Why can’t you accept that?”

“Because I don’t want to, okay? I don’t want to accept that you can never turn back.” Tears welled up in Enya’s eyes. “Why won’t you even try to find a way?”

Zoltan pulled her into his arms and cradled her. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to hurt you. I’m just realistic.” He pressed a kiss into her hair. “Please don’t cry, babe. It makes my heart hurt.”

She lifted her head and looked at him. “That’s because you’re not evil through and through. There’s still good inside you.”

He gave her a sad smile. “My feelings for you are the only good thing inside me.” And even those were hardly strong enough to turn him into a good person. “Everything good that’s happening to me is because of you. You even made my migraine disappear that night. When you touched me, you pushed it away.” He kissed her softly. “It was probably your virta that helped me.”

Her eyes widened. “You know about a Stealth Guardian’s virta?”

“Yes, we’re aware of it. Don’t worry; we can only take a human’s life force, not the virta of a Stealth Guardian.”

She nodded absent-mindedly. “But I didn’t use my virta on you to soothe your migraine. I didn’t dare, or you would have felt and seen the effects, and would have asked questions.”

That surprised him. “Then what did you do?”

“Nothing. I only touched you and spoke to you. Maybe you just relaxed and that’s why it went away. What triggered it in the first place? Perhaps that’s what you should look at.”

He thought back to that moment, his memory crystal-clear. But he hesitated to voice what he’d been thinking about then.

“You know what triggered it…” She looked at him. “What was it?”

He avoided her gaze. “I’m sorry, Enya…”

She put her hand under his chin and forced him to look at her. “Tell me.”

He took a deep breath. “I was thinking how close I was to achieving my goal, to getting you to trust me so that you would soon take me to your compound. So that I could destroy the Stealth Guardians from within.”

For a long while, Enya said nothing. Had he destroyed the little trust they’d built?

“And during the migraine, when I tried to soothe you, what did you think then?” she asked.

He shrugged. “What does it matter now?”

“It matters.”

“I forgot all about my plan. I forgot that I was trying to con you. All I could think about was that I wanted to spend the night with you, not because it was part of my plan, but because I wanted you. I still do.”