Page 50 of Demon Unleashed

Zoltan put two fingers over Enya’s lips to stop her from speaking. But she wouldn’t be silenced so easily. Furious about his betrayal, she jerked up her bound hands and hit his chin with an upward hook, whipping his head back, before he even knew what was happening.

Zoltan pressed one hand to his chin. But instead of screaming at her or striking back, he slapped one hand back on her mouth and lifted her off her feet. Before she could do anything to free herself, he was already carrying her around the corner of the large suite and kicking open another door. He stepped inside the smaller room, a bathroom, and closed the door behind him. There, he set her back on her feet and removed his hand from her mouth.

“Damn it, Enya, keep your voice down. We can’t afford for anybody to listen in on our conversation.”

“Conversation?” she growled. “You think we were having a conversation, you piece of shit!?” She thrust her knee up, but Zoltan blocked her.

“Hey, not the family jewels. We still need those.”

“We? In your fucking dreams, you two-timing bastard!” How dare he suggest that she would ever sleep with him again?

“Let me set the record straight: I didn’t kidnap you.”

“Oh no, of course not. You had your subjects do it for you! How stupid do you think I am? You were the only one who knew that I was in that motel, waiting for you to bring breakfast.” She huffed. “Tell me, was it fun tricking me into trusting you? Did you enjoy yourself? Did you have a good laugh behind my back? Huh?”

Zoltan grabbed her shoulders and pressed her against the stone wall. “No, I wasn’t laughing. I was too busy figuring out how I can free you and send you back to the human world.”

“Liar!”

“I didn’t order your abduction. It was the traitor who’s vying for my throne.”

“Oh, how convenient. That traitor probably doesn’t even exist.” Zoltan had probably planned every single incident from the start—like a well-directed stage play. And she’d played the main role, the heroine who was too stupid to live. “Nobody else knew where I was. I didn’t show my face outside. They came to the door. They knocked. They knew!”

Zoltan nodded. “Because there was demon blood on the heel of your boot. It remained visible while we left after we disposed of the bodies.”

She slowly shook her head. “That can’t be.”

“But it’s true. The blood was dry when I came back to the room, so it couldn’t have been from when the three kidnappers grabbed you. There must have been a sixth demon that night who followed us.”

Could this be true? Or was he lying to her again? But why lie now when she was already in his domain, when she had no chance of escape? What would it serve him?

“That’s how they found us,” Zoltan continued. “He must have brought in reinforcements while we… uh, slept… and then waited for a good opportunity to grab you.” He sighed. “I wish I’d never gone to get coffee and pastries.”

She looked into his eyes and only now noticed that he wasn’t wearing his colored lenses. He was all demon.

“Please, Enya, I need you to believe me.”

She hesitated, but his gaze intensified. His eyes became larger. It took her a few seconds to realize that the reason for it was simple: his face was coming closer. She could lift her bound hands to stop him from his intent—and she knew what he intended to do—but remained paralyzed.

“When I saw them take you, I was across the street. I couldn’t get to the vortex fast enough. I tried, Enya. I tried to get to you. Because knowing what my subjects are capable of, knowing what they could do to you, it almost tore my heart out. I can’t let them hurt you. It would kill me.”

There was a wet sheen on his eyes now, and they looked like deep pools of water. Against her better judgment, despite her fear that Zoltan could still be lying even now, she continued looking at him. Something was drawing her to him. She felt a connection, something that told her that she was safe with him, even though she didn’t understand it.

“Then help me,” she murmured.

“I promise I’ll get you out of here.” A second later, his lips were on hers, and he was kissing her with the passion of a man who’d been given a second lease on life. She welcomed him and parted her lips, responding to him like she’d responded the night before. But just as quickly as the kiss had started, it ended.

“I wish I could make love to you right now, but we don’t have much time,” Zoltan said, and pressed his forehead to hers. “I need to get you back to your cell.”

With her bound hands, Enya pushed him away. “What?”

“Let me explain.”

“Yeah, you’d better.”

“I still don’t know who’s behind all this. But I know that he’s been working against me for years. And I’m nowhere near close to figuring out who sent the assassins or your kidnappers.”

“Well, wouldn’t it be easiest to just ask the three who grabbed me who sent them?”