Page 16 of Princess Avenged

Blade rubs his head like he does when he’s overwhelmed with thought. “You think that the demon was possessing Diederik, right?”

“Sure seemed that way,” I reply. “Like I said before, Phil’s wound ached when Diederik was near him. Also, whoever showed up on the roof, their appearance switched from Diederik to Rasputin and back at least once. Plus, his eyes didn’t seem natural.” I add that last detail, in case I forgot it the first time I ran through this. I have no idea which details might be important to Blade’s demonic possession research.

“Does that fit with what you’ve read?” I ask Blade. “Do you think the demon might have possessed Diederik the same day Phil killed Rasputin?” Diederik went back into that house after the four of us took Ana away.

“Demons can’t possess the minds of vampires.” Blade shakes his head. “At least not in recorded history.”

“But what about…” I glance toward Ana. “What about Timur.” We all saw how the demon was inside Timur. Not to mention inside Mariano.

Ana shrinks into herself, and I feel horrible bringing up Timur’s name. Plus, it reminds me of something else I need to tell her.

Blade shrugs. “I don’t think the demon ever possessed Timur.”

“But we saw it.” I shake my head. “We saw the demon in Timur’s body. And probably in Mariano, too.”

“That was Rasputin.” Blade glances at Ana, then back to me. “The demon can grant its hosts the power to transform into the shape of the dead, especially into those its host has killed. What we saw was an illusion—Rasputin casting Timur’s image.”

Blade rubs his head. “Now that I think of it, none of the texts mentioned hosts casting the images of dead vampires. Only humans. All the demonic possession records involve humans.”

“So, does that mean demons can possess the minds of vampires too?” I ask. “I mean, just because it’s not in a book, doesn’t mean it’s never happened.”

Blade rubs his head again. “Anything is possible, but I think it’s highly unlikely. Vampire physiology—” He cuts himself off. “I don’t want to speculate.”

“Whether it was Rasputin impersonating Diederik, or the other way around, the bastard came to the roof with more than a dozen vampires, and they were acting oddly, like they weren’t fully in control of their bodies.”

Blade’s eyes widen, and his focus drifts, as if lost in thought. Ana is staring at her hands clasped in her lap. I long to see into her eyes, but at the same time I’m grateful I no longer feel the full force of her hatred and anger.

“It was more likely Rasputin, not Diederik, you met with on the roof,” Blade finally says.

“But Phil killed Rasputin.” My mind is clogged with uncertainty—a foreign state for me.

Blade leans forward. “I don’t like to speculate?—”

“Fuck that!” I snap. “Speculate! Tell us what you’re thinking!”

Blade shifts back, making me sorry I yelled. Ana hugs the light blue silk robe more tightly around her. Not only does she hate me, now she’s afraid of me too.

My best guess,” Blade says, “is that the demon restored Rasputin’s life, just like the demon restored his life in the past.”

“Like back in Russia,” Flame pipes in. “When everyone thought he’d been murdered.”

Blade nods. “Yes. And once the demon brought him back to life, Rasputin must have killed Diederik. That’s why his body disappeared from DEFTA, and why Rasputin was able to take Diederik’s form, the same way he did with Timur and Mariano’s bodies after they were dead.”

Flame absentmindedly strokes Ana’s arm, but she continues staring down at her hands.

“Speaking of Timur,” I say.

Ana’s eyes rise to meet mine, full of pain. “Is it your intention to discuss every man that I’ve loved and lost?” Her words are clipped and accusatory. “Go ahead, Crusher. Keep piling more rocks on my heart.”

I swallow, hard. As difficult as this is, I need to come clean about everything. I need to tell Ana the truth.

“Ana, the night we met. I was the one who staked Timur.”

Chapter

Eight

Ana

---