Page 7 of Demon Unleashed

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Zoltan entered the cave and closed the door behind him. He’d made many changes in the Underworld in the last few months, and one of them was this meeting room, a cave that had only one entrance and lay somewhat separate from the main areas where his demons congregated, drawing as little attention as possible to the meetings held here. The seven demons who had been invited to this meeting were already assembled and consisted of men and women Zoltan considered either particularly loyal to him or particularly talented in a specific area of expertise. Some were both.

The previous Great One, who Zoltan had dispatched by killing him, had ruled with an iron fist and been hated and feared in equal measure, and while Zoltan was just as feared—and possibly hated for the cruelty he inflicted on demons that crossed him—he’d learned to seek counsel and delegate tasks to his underlings. His frequent absences had made it necessary, though he would never admit to any of them why their ruler wasn’t always reachable. If they knew that the crushing migraine attacks he’d had for a long time forced him to hide out in the human world so he could recover, his underlings would rise up in arms against him and kill him. Nobody wanted a weak ruler. Least of all the demons. Why his attacks became more painful from one time to the next and didn’t respond to any kind of medication or drug, he didn’t know. And, of course, there was nobody he could ask. Doing so would mean he had to admit that he was weak. It would literally be his death.

Everybody was assembled around the stone table, a natural formation like so many in the underground system of tunnels and caves the demons called their own. Zoltan took his seat at the head of the table, and the conversations stopped.

“Oh Great One,” they said in unison, the voices of five men and two women bouncing off the stone walls, sounding like the deep rumbling of a locomotive as it raced through a dark tunnel.

Zoltan nodded. “We have much to do. Let’s get started.”

He motioned to Vintoq, his right hand, a demon with above average intelligence, who’d earned his place here through loyalty. So far, Vintoq had never disappointed Zoltan—however, while Zoltan liked the fact that Vintoq was intelligent enough to immediately grasp whatever plan Zoltan laid out, that same intelligence could prove to be a liability one day. What if Vintoq was too smart to remain in his current position? What if he was ambitious and wanted to become the leader?

“All your orders have been executed,” Vintoq said, and pointed to the others in the group. “I believe we’re making great progress in all areas, strengthening our hold on humans under our influence and widening our network of spies.”

“What about recruitment?” Zoltan asked.

“I’ll let Quentin and Tamara speak for themselves,” Vintoq said, and pointed to the two demons in question.

Tamara looked straight at Zoltan. “May I?”

She was beautiful, and her beauty made her an excellent demon. She knew how to seduce a human to do bad things, to do evil things, things that would eventually turn the human into a demon. She used her sexuality to achieve her goal, and Zoltan could attest personally that her skills when it came to sex were superior. He’d quite enjoyed sex with her, but he wasn’t blind. Tamara was ambitious and had hoped to become his queen. However, while she’d pleased him in a carnal way, he felt nothing for her. So instead, he’d put her—and his loyal subject Quentin—in charge of recruitment, softening the sting of rejecting her. She’d taken it well and thrown herself into her new responsibilities.

“Go ahead, Tamara,” Zoltan said.

“I’ve made headway recruiting several influential leaders of industry. We’ll soon have an in with the software sector and the rare earth mineral sector.”

“Rare earth minerals? Explain,” Zoltan interrupted.

“Rare earth minerals are elements needed for virtually every electronic gadget on the market these days. Controlling this sector means controlling the production and availability of communications and computer networks. We’ll be controlling the market and pitting countries against each other. And together with new recruits immersed in the software industry, we’ll soon be able to upgrade our outdated systems and outsmart our enemies.”

“How close are you?”

She gave him a sly smile. “Very close. Another month or so, and they’ll both be mine.”

“Well done,” he praised, then looked at Quentin. “And what have you got to report, Quentin?”

Quentin had impressed Zoltan a few years earlier, when he’d insisted that he sensed a disturbance in the Underworld, which turned out to be an intrusion by a Stealth Guardian. Quentin’s vigilance had led to a chase of the Stealth Guardian and her companion, but due to the dog handler’s incompetence, that chase had ended unsuccessfully. Klaus, the dog handler in charge back then, had paid for it with his life.

“Also very good news,” Quentin said quickly. “I’m working on several top-level politicians—leaders of their respective countries, in fact.”

“Which countries?”

“Russia, North Korea, and the U.S.”

Zoltan chuckled. “That’s hardly an effort on your part. Those leaders are pretty much a shoo-in, don’t you think?”

Quentin lowered his lids. “I don’t disagree, oh Great One. But if I may say, despite the fact that these three leaders will fall into my hands like ripe fruit from a tree, nobody has ever attempted it before. As if it had been overlooked.”

Zoltan nodded. “You have a point. Nobody before you suggested getting them to join us. Let me suggest you add the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria, and Venezuela to your workload, and I’ll overlook the fact that you’re going for easy pickings.”

“Excellent suggestion,” Quentin said eagerly.

Of course it was an excellent suggestion. Zoltan didn’t need Quentin to tell him that. He looked at Wilson.

The short, stocky demon sat up straighter in his chair. “Oh Great One.”

“Anything notable in the weaponry department?” Zoltan asked.