Page 21 of Princess Avenged

“I’m not sure.” She runs her fingers through her hair. “Things at DEFTA.” She shakes her head. “Let’s just say it’s chaos at DEFTA right now.”

“In what way?” I set the bottle down on the table next to me, wishing I had another one.

“Diederik’s gone. Vanished. Presumed dead. But before that he…Diederik went insane. Well, more insane than normal.” She shakes her head. “When we got rid of Octavia, we all thought the days of mind control were behind us at DEFTA. But Diederik, it’s almost like he turned the security team into some kind of zombie army…” She turns away.

“I know.”

Her head snaps back toward me.

“Crusher and I…” Grief floods me, wondering if I’ll ever see my brothers again. “Crusher and I met Diederik’s zombie army.” I’m glad I wasn’t the only one to notice that Diederik had preternatural control over at least a dozen DEFTA security team members.

She leans toward me. “What happened? Do you know how Diederik was controlling the others?”

“No, but I’d fucking like to.”

“Do you know where Diederik is now?”

I shake my head. I’d be willing to place a bet that his body is hanging on a hook somewhere, but don’t want to get into it with Julia.

She tucks her hair behind her ear and leans forward. “The DEFTA board called in Zuben. Do you know him?”

I shake my head, but the name sounds familiar.

“Zuben resigned his position at DEFTA a few months ago, but he’s kind of a brainiac, and he seems to think that Diederik was possessed by a demon.”

Now I remember why I know the name. Blade talked to Zuben when he was doing demon research. And Zuben’s mate is Ana’s friend. She’s named Fire or something. No, it’s Ember.

“Could I talk to this Zuben guy?” I ask her.

Julia nods, a grin spreading across her worried face. “Actually, I came over to ask if you’d meet with him.”

I down the last of the scotch.

“We can go now, if you’re willing,” she says. “There’s a way into DEFTA from here without going outside.”

A glimmer of hope rises inside me. If Zuben knows about demons, maybe he’ll know how to get this fucker out of my head. I shouldn’t let my hope grow too high, but for the first time since the demon took me, I feel like it’s possible that I might be able to see Ana again. Some day.

Chapter

Ten

Ana

Irace down the hall, giving little thought to my destination. I need time alone. I need time to think.

No. I need to talk to Selina.

In truth I have no idea what I need right now. I’m so wound up, so packed with anger. I’m a ticking bomb about to go off.

The walls are closing in. This corridor is wide, it’s well lit, and it sports an objectively high ceiling. Everything about my surroundings shouts opulence, splendor and openness, and yet the marble covered surfaces, the paintings and tapestries, the hand-knotted rugs are all conspiring to crush me.

I squeeze shut my eyes, imagining I’m outside and running through the woods, enjoying the night sky.

I smash into someone.

“Anastasia!”

Warm hands fall onto my shoulders, and then rise to cup my face. Lifting my gaze, I confirm what I already knew from his scent and the feel of him. I smashed into my father, the king. Two guards, Knights of the Order of Sanguis, stand at attention, flanking him a few steps back.

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