Page 56 of Demon Unleashed

The corridor was empty until they reached the first intersection, but as soon as they turned into the first side tunnel, there was lots of activity. He squeezed Enya’s hand to reassure her that she would be fine, and marched along, while Enya fell in line behind him, her hand on his back. He kept the dog on a tight leash, making sure the animal didn’t stop to sniff who was behind him.

Several demons rushed past, greeting Zoltan in passing with a quick nod and an even quicker “oh Great One.” For some reason, he was starting to despise the salutation. He didn’t feel like the Great One right now, because he wasn’t behaving like the leader of the demons. He was betraying his own race, and he didn’t even feel guilty about it.

And another thing suddenly hit him: he hadn’t had a single migraine attack since he’d started to develop feelings for Enya. Feelings that he’d had to confront the moment she’d been abducted by his subjects. He hadn’t put them into words yet, but he knew what they were. He’d never thought he’d be capable of feeling unconditional love for a woman, but here it was, black on white. He should confess his feelings to Enya, but what would be the use? In a few days he’d be dead anyway, either killed at the hands of a Stealth Guardian trying to save Enya from the mistake of being entangled with a demon, or—more likely—by one of his subjects once they tracked him down. He had no illusions about his future. He wasn’t that naïve. But one thing he would do before he died: get Enya to safety.

Zoltan took another tunnel, using his knowledge of the vast maze to avoid areas that would be swarming with demons. In the short connecting tunnel that they entered, they were alone. Finally, an opportunity to exchange a few words with Enya.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m good. How much farther?”

“A couple of miles. We have to take a detour to get to the vortex circle I have in mind. The less foot traffic we encounter, the better. I don’t want to have to explain to one of my lieutenants where I’m going.”

“You can always kill whoever questions you,” Enya suggested.

Zoltan chuckled. “Did I mention that it gets me all hot when you talk bloodthirsty?”

A soft laugh came from Enya. “Anything I do gets you hot.” An invisible hand landed on his butt and grabbed one cheek firmly.

The touch sent a bolt of heat through his body. “You’re quite a woman, Enya. You could have anybody. Why still hang around me?”

“You’re my ticket out of here.”

“Yeah, you said that before. What about afterward?”

“Shh!” she suddenly warned.

A split second later, he heard footsteps and barking coming from a side tunnel a dozen yards ahead of them. Moments later, he saw a Rottweiler on a leash come around the corner. Behind the animal three demons emerged, all armed to the teeth and out for blood.

When their eyes fell on Zoltan, they immediately said, “Oh Great One.”

But Zoltan didn’t get a chance to reply. The Rottweiler charged toward him, teeth bared, snarling and growling. Its handler tried to hold him back, but the animal was so strong that it dragged him along.

“Get a hold of your fucking dog!” Zoltan ordered.

But the beast kept pulling on its leash and barking loudly. The pit bull joined in and moved in front of Zoltan, trying to defend him.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” the dog handler said.

Zoltan knew very well what was wrong with the dog: it had picked up Enya’s scent.

“Hold him back, for fuck’s sake!” Zoltan growled. “Or I’ll unleash the pit bull on him.” He narrowed his eyes at the man. “If you can’t control a dog, you shouldn’t be handling one.” Attack was the best defense. “Now get out of my fucking way!”

Zoltan turned sideways, so Enya was now between him and the tunnel wall, the pit bull in front of him, the three demons with their Rottweiler only three yards away from them.

A second demon grabbed the leash, and together they pulled the dog closer to them, so it couldn’t lunge toward Zoltan and the invisible Stealth Guardian behind him.

“Now, pass! And if your fucking dog so much as brushes me, you’ll all pay for it!”

Sufficiently intimidated, the three demons rushed past, dragging the protesting Rottweiler with them, even though the animal continued looking over its shoulder and barking at the invisible foe.

“That was close,” Enya murmured behind him.

“Come,” he whispered, and hurried along the tunnel.

It took another few minutes until he could finally see the vortex circle he’d been heading for. “You know what to do,” he whispered to Enya.

“You bet.”