Demon Unleashed

by Tina Folsom

  “Not necessarily. The locations for the new portals are thoroughly vetted for any security concerns. If you must know, Cinead’s first choice of location was denied, because the council deemed it not secure enough.”

  “Even though Cinead’s on the council?”

  Pearce shrugged. “Didn’t matter.”

  “So what was his first choice?”

  “Vancouver Island.”

  “What was wrong with that?”

  “The council will never approve an island, because there’s no escape route via land, should the portal have to be destroyed in case of detection by the demons.”

  “Makes sense.”

  Pearce pointed to the clock. “You should get going.”

  “See you later.”

  “Good luck.”

  Enya turned and left the command center. The sound of her heels hitting the stone floor echoed in the long corridor of the compound. She descended two flights of stairs to reach the level where the compound’s portal was located. She’d placed her hand on the symbol of a dagger that was etched into the stone and already felt a warmth underneath her palm, indicating that the portal responded to her command to open, when she heard footsteps behind her. She looked over her shoulder and saw Winter hurrying down the stairs.

  She wore her long red hair down, and it looked like she’d just awoken. “Enya!”

  Enya took her hand from the portal and turned. “Is something the matter?”

  “I heard you’re going to see Cinead.”

  She nodded. “Yes, he’s moving to his new place, and we’re installing a new portal.”

  “Logan told me.” Winter hesitated. “Cinead called me last night.”

  “About?”

  Winter met her gaze full-on. “The same as always.”

  “Hmm.” Enya knew what this meant. Winter, a true psychic, who’d once been kidnapped by the demons who wanted to exploit her gift, had visions of events from the past as well as the future. One of these visions had saved her own life, another had led to the discovery of the source dagger and indirectly saved Pearce’s life. But there were other visions that had led nowhere, as in the case of Cinead’s kidnapped son.

  “He said that while he was packing up the house, he found an old toy that belonged to his son, and he wanted me to have it. Would you mind bringing it back for me?”

  “No problem.” Enya sighed. “He’s not giving up hope, is he?”

  “Would you? As long as there’s even a one percent chance that his son is still alive, he’ll keep looking.” Winter let out a long breath. “And hoping that I’ll have another vision. I don’t have the heart to tell him that I doubt I’ll ever have another vision about his son’s abduction. He keeps sending me things baby Angus might have touched in the hopes that it will help me conjure a vision and tell us if he’s still alive.”

  “Maybe the move will be good for him. There are too many memories in his old place. It’s time he moved on, physically and emotionally.” Despite her words, Enya understood the elder statesmen. His baby son had been believed killed by demons over two hundred years earlier, and only a few years ago, one of Winter’s visions had established that the baby had been abducted, not killed. Ever since then, Cinead had tried to find his son. His wife, heartbroken after the loss of her child, had killed herself on her son’s first birthday, unable to continue living with her grief. Cinead had never bonded with another.

  “Thanks, Enya.” Winter turned on her heel and walked back up the stairs.

  Moments later, Enya stepped into the portal, willed it to close, and allowed the darkness to surround her. She concentrated on her location, the secret council compound, and felt the air around her stir. Seconds later, everything was quiet again, and the portal opened, allowing light to stream inside. The sudden light made her sway, and for a fraction of a second, she felt dizzy. Damn it, she should be used to this. Besides, only creatures other than Stealth Guardians felt the disorienting movements of the portal.

  Enya stepped out into the corridor and was instantly greeted by Jay, her fellow Stealth Guardian, who’d been assigned to the Baltimore compound a few years earlier and was now on assignment at the council compound.

  “Hey, Enya. Long time.”

  “Yep.” She wasn’t particularly keen on Jay. While assigned to Baltimore, he’d made a couple of passes at her, and she’d rejected him. She hadn’t exactly been very diplomatic about it either, which meant Jay had been rather frosty to her ever since.

  “So it’s just you and me. Let’s get it over with, then.”

  He motioned her to follow him into the direction of the archive. Considering that she had seniority—Jay was a good three decades younger than she—it irked her that he made it look like he was giving the orders. Not wanting him to get any ideas, she sped up and walked past him, then moved into the center of the narrowing corridor so he had to walk behind her. When she heard him huff, she grinned to herself. One-nil Enya.

  In front of the archive, two heavily armed guards were posted. This hadn’t always been the case. The coded entry system had been sufficient to protect the contents of the council compound’s archives before the source dagger had been recovered and placed there. Protecting it was now the council’s highest priority.

  “State your name and business, guardians,” the female guard demanded.

  “Enya and Jay to retrieve the source dagger and bring it to council member Cinead,” Enya said before Jay could open his mouth.

  The female guard nodded at her colleague, who pressed a small receiver in his ear and spoke into the microphone extending from it. “We have an Enya and Jay here to retrieve the source dagger for council member Cinead.”

  For a moment, there was silence, then the guard looked at them. “Council member Norton is on his way. Please wait over there.” He pointed to a bench several feet from the door.

  Enya made her way there, but didn’t sit down. Neither did Jay.

  “Tight security,” Jay murmured.

  “As it should be,” Enya replied tightly.

  “But to waste a council member’s time to sign out the dagger? That’s a bit over the top, don’t you think?”

  “And who else, in your opinion, should have the authority to sign it out?” she snapped. “Pearce nearly died for this dagger. Our compound fought to get it back. And you think it’s a waste of time for a council member to have to come down here to verify our credentials and sign it out to us? Think again.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Hey, you got a bee in your bonnet or what?”

  “What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?” She glared at him. She didn’t know why he irritated her, but he did.

  To his credit, Jay quickly said, “Nothing.”

  It didn’t take long until Norton walked toward them. “Enya, Jay, good to see you both.” As always, he was casual. “I reviewed your assignment.” He pointed to the door of the archive. “Shall we?” To the two guards he said, “Please open the archive for us.”

  The female guardian entered a code into the keypad next to it, then pressed her thumb onto the scanner. Apparently, the automatic entry system had also been upgraded. When Norton caught Enya’s look, he explained, “Another layer of security. Only the guards assigned to the archive are able to operate the keypad. And only during their hours of duty. It’s all programmed in. The guards change every two hours, and rotate in an unpredictable pattern, making it impossible for an outsider to figure out.”

  “You’re leaving nothing to chance,” Enya said. “I like it.”

  Norton opened the door and walked in ahead, then held the door open for her and Jay. Inside, it smelled musty. The large, cavernous room was made of thick stone walls on two sides and butted up against the mountain that the new council compound was located on. As they walked deeper into the space that contained row after row of steel shelving with boxes and crates, overhead lights, activated by motion sensors, flicked on. They were neon lights, and as long as they worked, the Stealth G
uardians could be sure that no demon had entered, because neon lights burned out instantly in the presence of demons.

  Norton led them to a corner of the room that penetrated the mountain the farthest. There, the symbol of a key was carved into the stone, but there was no keyhole. Norton placed his hand over the symbol, and a few seconds later, part of the stone was gone. Behind it was a small space laid out with dark green velvet, and in its midst lay the source dagger.

  Even Enya had to admit that the vessel the dagger was kept in was genius. “So even if the demons got in here, they could never open the dagger’s hiding place.”

  “That’s right,” Norton said. “Only a Stealth Guardian can open it.”

  “But isn’t this like a tiny portal?” Jay asked. “One that’s connected to all other portals?”

  Norton shook his head. “No. All portals carry the symbol of the dagger to connect them. This doesn’t. It might look like a portal, but believe me, it can’t be accessed from anywhere else. It’s safe, even if this compound were to be compromised.”

  Norton reached into the opening and retrieved the dagger, then turned to face Enya. “Guard it with your life.”

  Enya took the dagger and nodded.

  “I’ll contact Cinead and let him know that you’re on your way.”

  Less than an hour later, Enya and Jay entered Cinead’s new residence several miles outside Seattle’s city limits and made themselves visible the moment they were inside the foyer and away from prying eyes.

  Cinead was already expecting them and put away his pocket watch. Despite being several centuries old, he looked like a virile man in his late fifties. “Right on time.”

  “Cinead, it’s good to see you,” Enya said.

  Jay stretched his hand out and shook Cinead’s. “It’s an honor to be chosen to witness the creation of a new portal.”

  Enya stopped herself from rolling her eyes. She’d never thought that Jay was one to suck up to the elders, but it was all too clear now why he’d gotten one of the assignments at the council compound, where rarely anybody ever saw combat. She preferred to work in the field, to slay demons, to defend her people. Unfortunately, there hadn’t been much demon slaying lately. Perhaps today was her chance to speak to Cinead directly and tell him about her concerns. But first things first.

  Enya reached into the inside pocket of her leather jacket and pulled out the dagger. “Here it is.”

  Cinead took it from her hands, his mouth dropping open. “Every time I see it, it takes my breath away. The power, the magic this weapon possesses… I can feel it seep into me just by holding it in my hands.” Then he caught himself and smiled. “I’m sorry. You must think me an old fool, talking like this. But you’re both still young; you weren’t around when we lost the source dagger. It was a tragedy. And the circumstances under which it disappeared are still hazy today.” He sighed. “Hmm. Let’s get to work. The less time the dagger spends out of its hiding place, the better.”

  Cinead walked through a door that led down a staircase. At the bottom of the stairs, he turned into a corridor that split in two directions. He took the one to the left, and Enya and Jay continued following him until they reached a large room with several doors. Cinead opened one door and marched through it. He flipped a light switch. They stood in a small room that at one time had been a coal cellar. Coal dust still stuck to the crevices between the bricks.

  “This is where the portal will go,” Cinead said, and pointed to a wall that was fashioned from large flagstones. He approached the wall. Enya and Jay flanked him.

  Cinead took a bow before the wall, then he set the blade to the stone and began the etching. Enya watched him and was surprised to witness that Cinead didn’t seem to need much force to scratch the symbol of a Stealth Guardian dagger into the stone. As if the dagger did it on its own and only needed a guiding hand.

  “Unbelievable,” Jay whispered, and for once, she had to agree with him.

  “It’s like magic,” she murmured.

  “Ancient magic,” Cinead said, and continued etching the symbol of the dagger into the stone. It didn’t take long for it to take shape. Only minutes passed instead of hours, like Enya had expected.

  “And now to the final stroke.” Cinead opened his left hand, and before Enya knew what he was about to do, he was cutting into it with the source dagger.

  “Cinead!”

  But Cinead didn’t even seem to hear her. Instead, he pressed his bleeding palm over the symbol he’d just carved. Instantly the stone beneath his hand began to glow. A few seconds later, the flagstone was gone. Behind it was a space the size of an elevator shaft.

  “A new portal,” Enya said with awe. “You did it.”

  Cinead turned around and smiled at her. “The dagger has lost none of its power. Now our people can fulfill their destiny and save mankind from the demons.”

  “Amen to that,” Jay said.

  After wiping the blood from the dagger, Cinead handed it back to Enya and wrapped a cloth around the wound.

  “You should let me bandage you properly,” Enya said. It would give her the opportunity to talk to him.

  Cinead looked at her, already shaking his head, when their gazes connected. “Oh well, why not? You’re probably better at this than I am.”

  They made their way upstairs and entered the great room, a large room that served as kitchen, dining, and living room.

  “There should be some bandages in the top drawer of that cabinet over there,” Cinead said, and pointed to one of the kitchen cabinets. “Jay, why don’t you get them?”

  While Jay walked into the kitchen, Cinead sat on the sofa, and Enya took a seat next to him.

  “You’re here to pick up the toy for Winter?” he asked in a low voice.

  Enya nodded and replied just as quietly, “Yes, but that’s not all. I need to bring something to your attention. It’s important.”

  Cinead raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s not in here,” Jay called from the kitchen.

  Cinead turned his head. “Oh, I must have put it somewhere else. You know, I think after the move I decided to put bandages into the bathroom. Upstairs, second door. Would you be so kind, Jay?”

  “No problem.”

  The moment Jay left the room, Cinead said, “That should give us a few minutes. He’ll never find them, ’cause they’re in the downstairs powder room.”

  Enya chuckled. “You’re terrible.”

  “Resourceful. Now, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

  “The demons. Over the past few weeks, they’ve been too quiet. There have been no run-ins with them in Baltimore, not even any sightings. As if they’ve disappeared. That’s not normal. Baltimore is a hotbed for them. So why would they suddenly all disappear? Something is up.”

  “You had Aiden speak to Barclay about it, didn’t you? Primus brought it up with the council.”

  “And?”

  Cinead shrugged. “The lack of demons isn’t evidence enough that they’re planning something big. We’ve had no worrisome reports from other compounds. It’s an anomaly for sure, but at this point there’s nothing we can do, even if they are planning something. Just remain vigilant.”

  “But—”

  He put his hand on her forearm. “You’re a good warrior, Enya. I commend you for your diligence. But sometimes a lull in the action is just that: a lull. Use it to recharge your batteries. And live a little.” He rose. “Now let me get the toy I found.” He walked to a mahogany armoire and opened its doors.

  Enya approached. Inside the armoire were stacks of papers, small trinkets, and other items that most likely only had sentimental value.

  “I haven’t put everything back on the shelves yet,” Cinead said, turning, his eyes displaying a telltale sheen. Dealing with old memories was hard for him.

  He held an old rag doll in one hand, a small framed painting in the other. Enya glanced at the painting. It was that of a naked baby lying on its stomach. She’d seen it several times. Ci
nead and his wife had it painted a few weeks before Angus’s abduction. She reached for the doll. The colors had faded, but she could still make out that it had been a knight.

  “My wife made it for him, while she was pregnant. She knew we’d have a boy.”

  “She was very talented.” Enya put the toy into the same pocket as the dagger. “I’ll give it to Winter the minute I return to Baltimore.”

  “Thank you.” He didn’t look at her. He looked at the picture of his son.

  “One day, I hope you’ll find him,” Enya said, though she knew there was little hope of ever finding out what happened to the baby, let alone finding him alive.

  9

  Zoltan had chosen two of his weakest and most gullible demons for this mission. They were also the most expendable. Now he could only hope that they followed his instructions to the letter and showed up exactly when and where they were needed. They would serve two goals. The first was to squash Enya’s suspicion that something was going on due to the lack of demon activity in Baltimore. She had said as much during their dinner a week earlier by telling him that work had been too quiet. She’d called it the calm before the storm, and she wasn’t wrong. Things were brewing in the demon world.

  The second goal was even more important: the two demons he’d chosen would make sure that his relationship with Enya graduated from a purely sexual one to one where she would see him as a partner whom she could trust with her life. Not that he minded the sex. Hell, he enjoyed it more than anything else. The way she got him hot with just one look, one touch, was addictive, and just thinking of their last encounter got him randier than he’d ever been. And then there was another thing about Enya: the way she’d soothed away his migraine by rubbing his temples, by pressing her body to his, and by whispering calming words to him had been unexpected.

  Oddly enough, he’d felt a connection to her at that moment, and his nefarious plan had vanished for the rest of the night. When she’d straddled him after his migraine dissipated, something changed. He hadn’t simply fucked her; he’d made love to her. It was a first for him. Even now, he didn’t know what to think of it. Had he gone completely mad? There was only one reason why he was with Enya: so she would get him inside the world of the Stealth Guardians, so he could destroy them.