Page 46 of Demon Unleashed

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Less than an hour after witnessing Enya’s abduction, Zoltan arrived at the vortex circle closest to his quarters in the Underworld. He’d gotten himself a new jacket to wear over his shirt, so he could hide the daggers he’d brought back. He wore no contact lenses, but for emergencies, he’d stuffed a pair of sunglasses into a pocket, together with a few other items, which might come in handy should things blow up in his face.

Zoltan closed the vortex and looked at the man who was on duty. He was surprised to see Yannick and not one of his subordinates monitoring the vortex circle himself. Just as well. Yannick was one of the men Zoltan wanted to talk to anyway.

“Oh Great One, you’ve returned.” Yannick gave him a quick bow.

“Yannick,” Zoltan said. He didn’t want to sound too eager with his next question, so he lent his voice a casual tone. “Any unusual comings and goings while I was gone?”

“Not until an hour ago.”

Zoltan raised an eyebrow. “Which means what? Talk straight; I’ve got lots of work to do.”

“A patrol brought back a prisoner. A Stealth Guardian.”

Zoltan managed to fake surprise. “A Stealth Guardian? Where is he?”

“In the lead cell, but he’s not a—”

“Who captured him?” he interrupted, emphasizing that he assumed it was a Stealth Guardian male, when he knew all too well that it was Enya. “I want to reward the man.”

“Uh, well, it’s not a man—it’s a female Stealth Guardian they captured.”

“A female?”

Yannick nodded. “But I’m not sure who exactly brought her back. I was told just a short while ago that it was a routine patrol of three men arriving back with a prisoner. I can find out the details, oh Great One.”

“Very well. Later. I’d like to see the prisoner for myself.” Zoltan rubbed his hands together. “Finally, some progress! Take me to her.”

“Right away, oh Great One.” Yannick called down one of the corridors, where Zoltan could make out the faint outline of a guard, “One vortex guard for relief immediately.”

A moment later, Zoltan heard the heavy footfalls of a man running toward them. When he reached them, he stopped and bowed. Zoltan recognized him. It was Richard.

“Oh Great One.” Then he nodded to Yannick. “Richard reporting for duty.”

Yannick nodded, then motioned to the corridor that led to the cells. Torches at various intervals illuminated the path. The Underworld had a whole host of cells for all kinds of prisoners, but only one was adequate to hold a Stealth Guardian. Its inside was lined with lead so Stealth Guardians couldn’t use their powers. They could neither walk through walls nor turn themselves invisible. Rumor had it that a lengthy incarceration in a lead cell could erase a Stealth Guardian’s powers permanently. Unfortunately, Zoltan had no idea how long such an exposure had to be, or even to what extent the rumor was true. In any case, he had to get Enya out of there as quickly as possible.

When Zoltan turned the last corner before reaching the doors that led to the various cells, he recognized Silvana standing guard in front of it—together with a huge Doberman. Zoltan wasn’t surprised to see a dog guarding a Stealth Guardian prisoner. After all, no demon had ever been able to reliably verify that the guardians could indeed not make themselves invisible when blocked by lead. The dog was a fail-safe. Plan B, so to speak. Should Enya escape invisibly, the dog would immediately follow her scent. However, he hadn’t expected that Silvana, the master of dogs herself, would be present. That would have to change for his plan to work.

“Oh Great One!” Silvana said.

Zoltan didn’t get a chance to reply, because at that moment, somebody came toward them from the other end of the tunnel. He immediately recognized Vintoq.

“Oh Great One, you’re back.” Vintoq motioned to the lead cell. “I trust you’ve been informed that our men have captured a Stealth Guardian?”

Zoltan nodded. Of course Vintoq would show up just as Zoltan was about to look at the prisoner. Most likely Vintoq wanted to see his leader’s reaction to seeing Enya. Zoltan denying that he knew her would be fruitless. If Vintoq was the traitor, he would have already been informed by the demons who kidnapped Enya that Zoltan had been with her, though clearly the three had been too chicken to confront him as well, and had waited until he left the motel before grabbing Enya. Yeah, that was brave of them: three large men against one petite woman.

“Vintoq, good timing. I was just about to take a look at our prisoner.” Zoltan motioned to Silvana. “Unlock the door.”

He watched carefully as she pulled a large key from her breast pocket and slid it into the old-fashioned lock. The creaking sound that followed when she turned the key echoed eerily against the tunnel walls. Silvana pulled on the heavy ring that served as a door handle and opened the door. Inside there was no light source, but a little light from the corridor streamed into the cell. Zoltan motioned to Silvana to stand aside and took a few steps until he stood under the doorframe, which he almost completely filled. He had no intention of stepping inside the cell. He wasn’t that stupid. If Vintoq was the traitor, it was entirely possible that Silvana was on his team. Together they could easily lock the door behind Zoltan and kill Yannick should he protest.

Zoltan’s eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, and he recognized Enya. Not that he needed confirmation that she was indeed the prisoner, but he had to get a message to her that he would get her out.

“You!” She suddenly pounced, eyes full of fury and jaw clenched. “You fucking asshole!”

He looked into her eyes and lifted his hand, waving a finger to make the sign for no, while he formed soundless words with his lips. Trust me. I’ll get you out.

But either Enya couldn’t read his lips or she didn’t believe him, because she continued glaring at him. “I’m gonna kill you!”