Page 72 of Princess Avenged

I took Phil at his word that he’d gained control over the demon. I won’t do that again. Phil’s still on the island. I can sense his presence, but for some reason I can’t pin down his location.

The night is overcast, a light rain falling. The forest is dense, and very little rain reaches the ground, but the humidity has heightened the earthy scents of the pine needles and the soil, not to mention all the animals living here. I pause to inhale a few deep breaths of the heady scent. It’s been far too long since I spent any quality time in nature, and I’ve never been anywhere this remote. Even through the dense cloud cover, millions of stars are visible

“What the fuck do you want?”

I turn to find Phil sitting on a rock that’s emerging from the earth between two large trees.

I brace, suddenly unsure of the man who’s been my closest friend for more than two hundred years. “Are you okay?”

He shakes his head, looking down.

“What the fuck happened back there?” I take a tentative step closer.

“Demon took hold. I almost—” His throat tightens around his words, his voice coated in shame.

“But you didn’t.” Despite what he did to Ana, I feel for the guy. He wasn’t in control of himself. I know how hard he’s been trying to stay away from her, and I can’t even begin to imagine the torture of having a demon inside your mind, especially one that compels you to hurt someone you love.

“Who stopped me?” He shakes his head. “Where did the silver ropes come from?”

I step closer, and he doesn’t move. Phil truly seems like his old self, but he fooled me earlier.

“It was Ember,” I tell him.

He looks up toward me, clear shock on his face. “That baby vamp? How?” He leans back, planting his hands on the rock.

Stopping, I cross my arms over my chest. I’m not sure if I should reveal the details. Whether or not Phil’s got the demon tamed at the moment, the thing’s still in him, and anything Phil learns, the demon learns too. The last thing we need is to neutralize the only weapon we currently have against this demon.

I’ll keep it simple. “Ember’s got magic.”

Phil nods as if that’s enough information for him. I didn’t see what happened myself, but it sounds like Axe, who can walk in the sunlight, broke a window to get into the room, and then Ember wielded magic to create silver ropes. And she used them to constrain Phil, pulling him off Ana and containing him until she was safe.

Then she used more magic to cloak Phil from the sun, as she and Axe led him to a cave. Only then did Ember release him from his silver bindings, knowing he’d be trapped in the cave until dark. Long after the plane left the island with Ana.

They’ve been gone for hours, and I miss her desperately.

After the incident with Phil, she agreed to go with Ember to see the witches. There were only so many spots on the float plane, so Ana, Blade, Ember and Zuben went. Flame fought to be included, claiming Ember and Ana were small enough to share one of the seats, but Ana spoke to him, and whatever she said convinced him to stay here. And their long kiss goodbye nearly shattered my heart.

“Fuck, man.” Phil punches the sides of his skull with his fists.

“Is the demon hurting you?” I remember seeing the effects of the pain the demon clearly caused Timur, or rather Rasputin pretending to be Timur.

Phil shakes his head. “Fucker calmed down after the plane took off.”

I nod, taking another couple of steps closer to my old friend, my brother, and his eyes fill with what looks like anguish, his expression twisting.

“You sure it’s not torturing you now?” I ask, although I’m not sure how I could help either way.

He shakes his head. “The only thing torturing me is knowing she doesn’t love me anymore.”

“You don’t know that.”

“After what I did?” The pain in his voice nearly crushes me.

Then he shakes his head. “Even if she still loves me, she’ll never want to see me again.” He slams his fists against the rock so hard I hear bones cracking. “Even after I get this fucker out of my head, she’ll never trust me again.”

“Welcome to the club.”

His gaze snaps toward me. “You’re in the doghouse too?”

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