Page 94 of Demon Unleashed

“They discovered that the guards were gone,” she whispered. “Zoltan and I stashed their bodies behind some rocks. They might have found them, which means they’ll be prepared.”

Samson shrugged. “Can’t help that. And it doesn’t change the plan.”

Amaury nodded and pulled his dagger from its sheath. “Yep, still the same plan.” He looked at his stopwatch. “Gotta hurry.”

Enya nodded and pulled her dagger too. “Do it cleanly.” Then she motioned to the two vampires to follow her. They kept their footfalls light and approached in total silence. Only Enya could see them, Samson carrying the equipment, Amaury ready to strike. Enya motioned to the guard standing near the first tunnel entrance to the left, then pointed to Amaury, while she approached the guard who stood at the fourth tunnel entrance, which was located directly opposite the first one. When she reached him, she cast a glance over her shoulder, and saw Amaury in position, looking back at her.

She mouthed, One, two, then whirled to the guard and stabbed her dagger into his heart, making sure to immediately sidestep him, so none of his blood stained the shirt Zoltan had lent her. The demon collapsed with a soft gurgling sound, and she heard a similar sound from behind her, attesting to the fact that Amaury had killed the other guard.

Enya rolled the guard over so she could retrieve her dagger. She wiped it clean before she slid it back into its sheath. Then she turned to look at Amaury. He was doing the same.

She walked over to him. “Let’s hide the bodies,” she said in a low voice, then added to Samson, “We’ll only be gone about fifty yards, but I might not be able to keep you invisible while I’m that far away.”

“Don’t worry, my hearing is excellent. I’ll hear anybody approach before they can possibly see me. Now go.” He was already opening his bag of supplies and pulling out a hand-crank drill to make holes in a strategic rock that would cause the magma chamber below it to open up and fill the vortex circle with lava.

Together, Amaury and Enya carried the first body to the same spot where Zoltan and Enya had deposited the other three demons. When she reached the spot, only two of the demons were still there. One was gone: Yannick.

“Shit!” Enya cursed. “Yannick is gone. He was the traitor who worked against Zoltan.”

“You think he wasn’t dead?”

She shook her head. “Oh, he was dead. Zoltan and I made sure of it. I think somebody took his body.”

“Why?”

“Because somebody cared about him.” It was clear all of the sudden. “He had a partner. Yannick wasn’t the only traitor.”

“Well, soon it won’t matter whether he had help or not.” Amaury pointed his thumb over his shoulder to where Samson was working. “Let’s get the second body.”

They did just that. By the time they were done, Samson had made good progress, and Enya made sure that all three of them were invisible again. Amaury helped Samson place the explosives for maximum impact, then they attached the fuses and the timer. Samson was just setting the timer when both vampires froze. A second later, Enya could hear it too: dogs. The Underworld was on full alert.

A few more seconds, and Samson rose. Then he and Amaury grabbed several rocks the size of footballs and basketballs and piled them around the explosives, hiding them as well as the timer without crushing the latter.

“Done,” Samson announced.

“Let’s go,” Enya said, and together they traced their way back to where they’d come from.

The direction they were heading was almost devoid of demons. Zoltan had chosen the space for the Stealth Guardian portal well. It was off the beaten track, yet close enough to the three portals to reach within a reasonable time.

When Enya, Samson, and Amaury reached the portal, Quinn was already back with his team, Logan and Aiden, and was busy rigging the portal itself. For obvious reasons, it had to be destroyed. They couldn’t leave a functional portal in the Underworld, potentially giving the demons a way out of their fiery grave.

“Almost done,” Quinn said without looking at them.

“Good,” Enya said, then told Aiden, “I have to find Zoltan.”

Both he and Logan shook their head. “There’s no time,” Aiden said. “The first vortex circle will blow in”—he looked at his stopwatch—“thirteen minutes.”

“That gives me nineteen minutes to find him and transport back.”

“That’s suicide,” Aiden said, “and you know it.” He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I admit I don’t know Zoltan well, but I know one thing: he wouldn’t want you and the baby to perish. He would want you to save yourself.”

She knew that. But it didn’t mean she had to agree with it. “Well, he’ll just have to suck it up, won’t he? Because I’m gonna find him and bring his ass back.”

“That’s if he wants to be found,” Logan said.

Enya glared at him. “You’re wrong. I need to find him. Save him.”

“Save him? From what? From himself?” Logan asked.