Page 87 of Demon Unleashed

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Enya gave Grayson a long look. “You’d better be okay with lying to your father, or you might as well turn back now.”

She, Zoltan, and Grayson had traveled to San Francisco via the portal and were approaching the Scanguards headquarters in the Mission District. Simultaneously, Pearce and Aiden were traveling to the council compound to retrieve the source dagger. An invisible Pearce was following Enya’s instructions on how to remove the dagger from its hiding place, while Aiden was visible at all times to provide a cover for Pearce. Had Pearce traveled alone and exited the portal invisibly, suspicion would have arisen. But by Aiden exiting the portal visibly, nobody would blink or question what Aiden was doing at the council compound. He would visit with his father under a pretense, then return with a still-invisible Pearce and the source dagger.

“Don’t worry,” Grayson assured Enya. “It won’t be the first time I don’t tell my father the whole truth. Though I really don’t know why you can’t tell him—”

“If he knows that the council didn’t sanction this, he’ll feel obligated to inform them. You of all people should know his high moral ethics.”

Grayson shrugged. “His ethics never stopped him from doing the right thing. And the right thing is defeating the fucking demons, no matter how.” He glanced at Zoltan. “No offense, man.”

“None taken.” Zoltan motioned to the large building on the next block. “That it?”

Grayson nodded. “Yeah.”

Enya heard the pride in his voice. As the son of Scanguards’ owner and founder, it was his destiny to take over the business one day—if Samson ever decided to retire, which was questionable.

“Uhm, so the building is full of vampires. Is that right?” Zoltan asked.

“Yep, and humans and witches,” Grayson said.

Zoltan stopped walking and looked up to the top floor. “I’m assuming your father has his office on the top floor.”

“Yeah, so?”

“Then I think we have a problem.”

Enya turned to him. “What do you mean?”

Zoltan pointed to the building. “The moment we encounter a vampire, he’ll take one sniff of me and identify me as a demon. Remember? I still have green blood. I still have no aura. They’ll attack me faster than you can explain to them that I’m not a threat.”

Enya looked at Grayson. With everything that had happened in the last hour, she hadn’t even thought of this issue. “Grayson, I’m assuming you have the highest clearance?”

“You bet.” Grayson seemed to understand her unspoken question immediately. “If we enter through the garage and take the elevator from there to the executive floor, we have the best chance of not encountering anybody.” He pulled out his phone. “I’ll text Blake to clear the executive corridor for us.” He typed a message on his phone and sent it. A moment later, his device pinged. “Okay, let’s go.”

As they walked around the corner to the entrance of the parking garage underneath the east side of the building, Enya asked, “What did you tell him?”

Grayson smirked. “That I’m bringing a high-value prisoner in and need an escort to my father’s office.”

Zoltan stopped. “Are you shitting me? Why don’t you stab me in the back while you’re at it?”

“Calm down,” Grayson said. “It’s the only way to assure that nobody attacks you. I know what I’m doing.”

“I hope you do,” Enya said. And she hoped that Blake would keep a cool head once he realized who exactly they were bringing in. “Let’s do this.”

Grayson used his access card and thumbprint to open the gate for the parking garage, and they walked inside. By the time the gate closed behind them, they’d already reached the elevator. Moments later the doors opened, and Grayson ushered them inside. He used his access card again to select the executive floor, then pressed a second button.

“What’s that for?” Enya asked, pointing at it.

“To make sure the elevator won’t stop at any of the other floors.”

“Good.” It appeared Grayson was much smarter than she’d given him credit for.

The elevator slowed, and a soft ping sounded.

“Here we are,” Grayson said.

Enya’s hand instinctively went to the dagger hidden inside her jacket pocket. She was prepared to defend Zoltan should Blake make a wrong move.