by Folsom, Tina
“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.”
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.
21
Enya held on to Zoltan as the vortex seemed to swallow them. This was different from traveling in a Stealth Guardian portal. And very disorienting, not to mention nauseating.
She’s safe. Thank God she’s safe.
She knew instinctively that those were Zoltan’s words, though he hadn’t spoken. Which could mean only one thing: she could hear his thoughts.
Zoltan, I can feel what you’re thinking.
But there was no reply. Instead, more of his thoughts penetrated her mind.
I’ll kill whoever wants to harm her. I can’t lose her.
His words made her realize that Zoltan couldn’t hear her thoughts, even though she could hear his. And one other thing became clear despite her having a hard time believing it: his feelings for her ran deeper than she’d expected. Could it be possible? Was it possible that a demon could… love another being?
“We’re here,” Zoltan announced.
At the same time, the disorienting feeling subsided. Zoltan dropped one arm, but still held on to her with the other, then pulled her with him to step out of the vortex.
The vortex now behind her, Enya made herself visible and stared at a wall. She quickly oriented herself. They’d transported to the back of a building, where industrial-sized garbage containers stood next to a large metal garage door. They were at a loading dock. She glanced down to the opposite end of the alley and could see the gold-tipped rotunda of City Hall.
“This way.” She pointed in its direction and looked over her shoulder.
The vortex was collapsing into itself, and Zoltan reached into his inside pocket. For a fraction of a second, she wondered if he was reaching for his weapon, and her heart stopped. A moment later, he slipped dark sunglasses over his demon-green eyes, and Enya’s heart began to beat again.
He caught her gaze and tilted his head a little. “Enya, by now you should know that you’re safe with me.”
Feeling stupid, she put her arms around him and kissed him. “I’m sorry, but I just escaped the Underworld. Guess I’m still a little jumpy.”
“Yeah, you and me both. Let’s get off the street before they figure out that I helped you escape.” He took her hand in his.
She looked at their intertwined hands.
“Something wrong?” he asked.
She shook her head. She’d never held hands with a man, not even in private. And now here she was, holding hands with a demon in daylight for everybody to see. “No, nothing is wrong. Nothing at all.”
They made their way out of the alley. Enya continued to scan the area, observing the pedestrians they encountered on the main street, prepared for an ambush. When nothing happened, she started to relax.
“I heard your thoughts in the vortex.”
Zoltan whipped his head to her, but she couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark glasses. “You what? How?”
“I don’t know. But it gels with what some of my colleagues reported. When they were in one of your vortexes, they heard the demons’ thoughts. They always wondered whether you could hear them too.”
“I had no idea,” Zoltan said, genuinely surprised. “I never hear any thoughts of the other demons riding with me. And
I didn’t hear yours. Of course, now that I know, I have to try to remember what I was thinking when we were traveling in the vortex.” When she didn’t answer right away, he added, “Was it something along the lines of once we get out of this mess, we need to have sex?”
She chuckled softly at his attempt at levity. “I think you know very well what you were thinking of, and it wasn’t sex.”
He squeezed her hand. “We’ll talk about all that later.”
“Yes, after we find out who’s trying to kill us both,” Enya said, glad that they weren’t discussing their feelings in the middle of downtown Baltimore.
Once they were only a block away from their destination, Enya remembered something. “Oh, crap, we’re armed. We won’t get into City Hall. They’ve got metal detectors now.”
“Then make us invisible, and we’ll just sidestep them,” Zoltan suggested.
Enya looked around. “Too many people. I can’t just make us invisible in broad daylight.”
Zoltan motioned to a sign for a parking lot. “See those two vans parked in the corner? They can shield us.”
Enya nodded, and together they walked to the lot. Nobody took any notice of them when they walked into the narrow space between the vans. Enya assured herself that nobody saw them standing there before she made herself and Zoltan invisible.
Minutes later, they arrived at City Hall, followed another visitor inside, then stepped over a cordon, bypassing the metal detector, and found themselves in the large entry hall of the building. Without saying a word, Enya pointed to the sign for the restrooms, and it appeared that Zoltan understood, because he nodded.
Down a short corridor, a small foyer opened up, showing a door for the men’s room and a second one for the ladies’ room. Nobody was around.
“Okay, we’re visible again,” she said.
“What now?” Zoltan asked.
“Tessa’s office is one floor up. You can come up to the second floor with me, but it’s best if you don’t come in with me.” They started walking up the staircase. “Hamish might be there, and there’s a chance he’ll recognize you. I believe the two of you had run-ins before.”
“The mayor’s husband?” Zoltan asked. “Yep, we’ve met. He thwarted my plan to make somebody else mayor of Baltimore.” He shrugged. “No worries, I’ll stay out of his way.” Arriving on the second floor, he pointed to a sign for the restrooms. “When you’re done, look for me back there.”
“Okay.” She was already turning toward Tessa’s office when Zoltan pulled her to him and kissed her. She couldn’t help but respond to him.
When he released her a few breathtaking moments later, he said, “Just so you won’t leave without me.”
“Not a chance,” she murmured, feeling her cheeks flush.
“Good.”
Her heart still beating excitedly, Enya walked toward the mayor’s office and entered the ante office without knocking. Collette, Tessa’s assistant, sat at her desk, sorting a mountain of envelopes. She looked up.
“Oh, hey, Enya,” she said with a friendly smile.
“Hi, Collette. Is Tessa in?”
“She’s pretty busy right now.” Collette had been working for Tessa since before she’d become mayor, and was very protective of her and her time.
Nevertheless, Enya had to press her today. “It’s important. I need just two minutes of her time.”
Collette sighed, then pressed a button on her intercom. “Tessa, Enya is here to see you.”
“Enya?” came Tessa’s reply, then the door was ripped open and Tessa stood in the doorframe. “Where on earth have you been? Everybody is looking for you.”
Enya walked toward her. “Tell you later, but I need a favor now.”
Tessa was already pulling Enya into the office. “No calls or visitors, Collette, thanks.” Then she shut the door and hugged Enya. “The guys are beside themselves. You didn’t come home. They couldn’t reach you on your cell. Have you spoken to them? What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you everything later, but there’s something more important right now. Remember the day you were drugged by the demon?”
During the election for mayor, the demons had tried to harm Tessa and help another candidate who would have divided the racially-charged city even more. The demons had gone as far as painting Tessa as a drug addict to get her to bow out of the race. But Hamish, who’d been assigned to protect her, had saved her just in time after the demons had administered an overdose of heroin.
Tessa furrowed her forehead. “I don’t like to think back to it, but I do remember it. Why?”
“Would you recognize the demon who drugged you?”
“I’ll never forget his face.”
“Good.” Enya whipped out her phone and navigated to her photo app. “I’ll show you several photos. If the demon who drugged you is among them, point him out, okay?”
“But—”
Enya turned the display to show Tessa the first photo.
Tessa gasped. “Oh my God, you photographed demons?”
“Is it this one?”
Tessa shook her head, and Enya swiped left and continued, until Tessa suddenly grabbed the phone. “That’s him. That’s the demon who came to my apartment and drugged me.” She stared right into Enya’s eyes. “Where did you find him?”
“You’d better pack up here. We’re going back to the compound. I don’t wanna have to explain everything twice. Okay?”
“This had better be good.”
“Trust me, it is.” When Tessa grabbed her handbag, Enya added, “Call Hamish that he doesn’t need to come and pick you up.”
“Oh, Hamish is already here. He just went to wash his hands.”
Enya’s heart started to beat out of control. “Oh shit!”
~ ~ ~
Zoltan knew he wasn’t alone in the men’s restroom. One of the five cubicle doors was closed, and somebody flushed the toilet. Zoltan turned to the row of sinks and turned on the faucet. To look inconspicuous, he pumped soap into his hand and foamed up under the water, then the cubicle door opened and a man came out. Zoltan glanced at his image in the mirror, then lowered his gaze back to his hands.
Fuck!
None other than Hamish, the Stealth Guardian married to the mayor, and one Zoltan had fought several times before, walked toward the sink. Zoltan felt his heartbeat accelerate. He wore his sunglasses to disguise his eyes, but the accessory was hardly inconspicuous when worn indoors. And Hamish wasn’t stupid. Once he noticed them, he might take a closer look at Zoltan’s face and realize that they’d met before.
It was high time to get the fuck out of here.
Zoltan turned away, shook off the excess water from his hands, and took a couple of steps.
“Have they still not fixed that damn hand dryer?” Hamish asked from the sink, and looked into the mirror.
From the corner of his right eye, Zoltan noticed Hamish fix his gaze on Zoltan’s reflection. He paused, staring at the sunglasses.
If he didn’t reply to Hamish’s question, he would look even more suspicious, so Zoltan mumbled, “Guess not,” and continued toward the door, passing by the hand dryer, when the damn thing suddenly came on—activated by motion sensor.
Zoltan hesitated for a fraction of a second. Drying his hands under the hand dryer would mean turning his face and giving Hamish another good look at it in the mirror. He couldn’t risk it. But apparently the Stealth Guardian didn’t need another look.
“Fucking demon,” Hamish grunted.
Zoltan spun around. Hamish already held a dagger in his hand and had taken a fighting stance. But Zoltan knew he couldn’t draw his weapon. If he injured—or worse, killed—Hamish, Enya would never forgive him.
“It’s the sunglasses, isn’t it?”
Hamish motioned to the large window behind him. “Been overcast all day. And I’d never forget a mug like yours.” He paused. “Zoltan.”
Zoltan lifted his hands. “Listen, Stealth Guardian, I don’t want any trouble. I�
�m just gonna walk out of here and nobody gets hurt.”
“I’m not gonna make it that easy for you.” Hamish narrowed his eyes. “Guess you’re not quite as brave when you don’t have a bunch of demons to back you up.”
The insult stung. “When I said I’m gonna walk out of here and nobody gets hurt, I was talking about you. I don’t wanna have to hurt you. Take the out.”
Hamish scoffed. Of course the idiot wouldn’t accept what Zoltan was offering. He could tell from the way the Stealth Guardian looked at him. He wanted this fight. He wanted a chance at killing the Great One. And had he never gotten to know Enya, Zoltan would have given him the chance. But things were different now. Hamish was part of Enya’s family.
“Hamish—that’s your name, isn’t it?” Zoltan didn’t need a confirmation, nor did he get one. “If you attack me, I’m gonna have to defend myself.”
“Oh, I hope you will defend yourself. It’ll make your death so much sweeter. I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since you left Tessa to die.”
Zoltan shook his head. “Wasn’t me.”
Hamish snorted. “So you don’t do your own dirty work. What else is new?”
“I didn’t sanction the overdose on your mate.”
“A liar and a murderer. No surprise there.”
“And the insults keep coming. You’re making it increasingly difficult for me not to hurt you.”
“Stop stalling.”
“Fine.” Zoltan pulled his dagger from his pocket and readied himself.
Hamish pounced first, charging toward Zoltan with a ferocity fed by his belief that Zoltan had harmed Tessa. His hatred for Zoltan was evident in the way he glared at his enemy. But Zoltan couldn’t allow Hamish to take his revenge. Nobody would die today. Not if he could help it.
Zoltan jumped to the side, out of Hamish’s path. But the Stealth Guardian seemed to have expected the move and swerved at the last second, his dagger grazing the hand Zoltan had raised in defense. The wound wasn’t deep, but it bled. Green drops rained onto the tile floor.
Hamish grunted angrily, pounced again, and forced Zoltan into another defensive sidestep. As he spun on his heel, Zoltan slammed his elbow into Hamish’s side, knocking him off his feet. But the bastard was agile and regained his balance inside a second.