Page 44 of Demon Unleashed

“That must have been it,” she said, as if to herself.

He glanced at her. “What must have been it?”

“You dispelled the migraine yourself. You brought it on by thinking about your plan of harming me and my brethren, and you made it vanish by forgetting about your plan.”

“But that’s impossible.”

“Maybe not,” she said excitedly. “Don’t you see? I think there’s still a part in you that’s Stealth Guardian. And that part is rebelling when you try to harm us.”

Could that be the reason? Were the migraines trying to tell him that there was another path he could take? One that would lead to redemption? Even if that were true, would he even want that? He’d been a demon for as long as he could remember. Who would he be if he wasn’t the Great One anymore?

Could he give up that kind of power? And for what? An uncertain future?

16

Enya stretched her tired limbs and started opening her eyes. Her long hair fell like a thick curtain of big locks over her face. She’d undone her braids before falling asleep, wanting to be more comfortable. The blackout curtains were still drawn, but on one side, a little bit of light filtered into the room. It was morning. She’d slept well and felt safe in Zoltan’s arms, but she’d also dreamed. In her sleep, her brain had been trying to come up with ideas of how to save Zoltan. She tried to remember a face she’d seen in her dream, the face of somebody who might be able to help her.

She turned to the other side and reached for Zoltan. But her hands touched only an empty pillow. She shot up to sit and flicked on the bedside lamp. Her eyes flew to the spot on the floor where Zoltan had dropped his clothes the night before. They were gone, as were his boots.

Fuck! He’d left. Without a word. Like a thief in the night. Had the previous night meant nothing to him? By telling her that it was impossible for him to change what he was, had he been trying to tell her that there was no future for them? No future together?

Naked, she jumped out of bed and hurried to the table. The daggers she’d placed there the night before were still there. She reached for one and saw the piece of paper held down by it. She picked it up, and her pulse settled instantly.

Gone to get breakfast. Wait for me. Back soon. Z.

“Stop being paranoid,” she murmured to herself. After what they’d shared last night, Zoltan wouldn’t just disappear. He’d told her that he had feelings for her, even though he hadn’t actually said what kind of feelings. And he’d told her about his nefarious plan, shared secrets with her he’d never share with an enemy.

She took a few breaths and headed for the shower.

Zoltan cared about her. And she cared about him.

Enya turned on the water and stepped under the spray. She always had her best ideas in the shower. The steady flow of the water washing over her body felt like a meditation. It was almost hypnotic and transported her back to her dreams.

Before her mental eye, she saw old books and manuscripts. Maybe something in the old history books would give her a clue. There had to be some ritual, some potion, that could turn a demon back to his original form. She froze. Or a spell. Yes, a spell. All of a sudden, the face of the person in her dream appeared before her. That was it. She knew what she had to do.

Quickly, she finished her shower and dried off. A towel wrapped around her, her hair falling down her back, she left the bathroom and found her panties. She slipped them on and tossed the towel on the bed. Her top was wrinkled, but she didn’t care. She pulled it over her head and tried to detangle her hair. Not having a comb or anything else to aid, she quickly pulled all hair to one side and braided it into one long tress. She would have to give it a good combing later. But right now, there were more important things to do.

Enya stepped into her cargo pants and pulled them up. She felt something heavy in one of her pockets and patted it. It was nothing more innocuous than her cell phone—switched off, of course, so her colleagues couldn’t track her, in case they found it odd that she hadn’t returned yet. However, she doubted they were looking for her yet. After all, Hamish knew that she had planned to speak to her boyfriend “Eric” the night before to explain what he’d seen. Neither Hamish nor the others would find it strange that she hadn’t slept at the compound. It was buying her time until they came to ask questions. Time she needed, because as soon as Zoltan was back with breakfast, she’d have to make a short trip.

A sound as if somebody was kicking against the door with a boot made her snap her eyes to the door. Before she could wonder who would do such a thing, she realized that it could only be Zoltan. He had no key and probably had his hands full with cups of coffee and whatever else he considered breakfast. Barefoot, she hurried to the door, not wanting him to stand outside for too long, in case the maid was already cleaning rooms.

She turned the knob fully, but didn’t get a chance to open the door, because somebody was already kicking it in. The door hit her. One man wearing sunglasses muscled his way in, followed by two others who also hid their eyes behind dark shades. She didn’t have to be a genius to guess that the three weren’t human. Their weapons identified them as demons.

“Fuck!” She scrambled to jump up and spin around to lunge for her dagger she’d left on the bedside table. The daggers she’d taken off the dead demons the night before were out of reach—getting them would mean charging directly toward the demons.

She vaulted over the bed and reached for her dagger on the nightstand, and had touched its hilt when one of her attackers gripped her ankles and yanked her back. She fought against his grip.

“Stop fighting, bitch!”

A second demon snatched one of her arms and nearly jerked it out of its socket when he twisted it back.

Enya cried out in pain. “I’m gonna kill you fucking bastards!”

The third demon jumped onto the bed and snatched her braid. He pulled it back so rapidly that she would have gotten whiplash were she not an immortal.

“Not if we kill you first,” one of her attackers grunted.

She tried to punch him with her free arm, but the other two did a good job holding her down, one of them now shoving his knee into her lower back so she couldn’t take a swing. Before she could yell another curse at them, one demon shoved a piece of cloth into her mouth.