Page 57 of Demon Unleashed

He nodded, then marched the last fifty yards toward the circle as if he owned the place—and, actually, he did. And as long as he behaved like the Great One and not like a man who’d betrayed his subjects for a woman, they wouldn’t know what hit them.

The vortex circle was guarded by more men than usual—three in fact. Yannick was clearly not taking any chances, and were the situation any different, Zoltan would commend the man. But today, a little less initiative by Yannick would have been nice.

The guards had already spotted Zoltan and greeted him with a bow of their heads. Time to distract them.

“Guards,” he said in a firm voice, approaching them. “I was told I’d find Yannick here. Where is he?”

“Yannick, oh Great One?” one of the demons replied. “But he only ever guards the main vortex circle himself.”

Zoltan knew that Yannick had a preference for the vortex circle closest to Zoltan’s study. It was the reason Zoltan had decided to use this one instead.

“He told me to meet him here.” Zoltan glared at the three guards and walked even closer, until only a couple of feet separated them. “Are you fucking telling me he’s not here?”

The demon who’d first spoken averted his eyes. “He didn’t tell us to expect you, oh Great One. My apologies.”

“Then what are you still doing here? Go get him!”

The demon quickly took a step to the left, away from Zoltan, while Zoltan continued with the next part of his deceptive maneuver. To the demon on his right, he said, “Here, do something useful and hold the dog for me.” He pressed the leash into the man’s hand.

It was his sign for Enya to act.

Zoltan turned to the third demon, pulled his dagger from where he’d strapped it inside his sleeve, and plunged the blade into the demon’s heart. He didn’t have to look back to know that Enya was stabbing the demon who was about to fetch Yannick; he could hear the grunt Enya expelled upon thrusting her dagger into him and the gurgling sound the dying demon made.

Zoltan spun around, ready to attack the demon who was hindered by the leash in his hand, but he needn’t have worried: green blood was already soaking his shirt, and his fist opened to release the leash.

“Got ’im,” Enya said, still invisible.

“Thanks!” Zoltan grabbed the leash and quickly tied it around a small boulder. Then he moved his hand and cast a vortex in the middle of the circle. “Give me your hand.”

Enya clasped his hand, and together they stepped into the swirling mass of fog and air, the pit bull howling in protest.

Zoltan wrapped both arms around Enya and held her tightly while he concentrated on their destination.