“Did you kill Mia?” Kilian asked. He remembered demon claws slicing through Mia’s shoulder, but he didn’t know if he’d blacked out long enough for Stephen to do more damage.
“Um... maybe,” Stephen said in an unsure voice. On one hand, the tone was reassuring because demons were famous for being dangerous or seductive, not awkward and insecure. On the other hand, Kilian feared that uncertainty. Mia was the sort of military talent that the Army spent years developing. If they lost her, either through death or disability, they would want their pound of flesh. Since they couldn’t touch a demon, Kilian would pay the price. Fair? Nope. But Kilian didn’t expect fairness from the Army.
“Great,” he said dryly. Kilian had the feeling he hadn’t been passed out for long, but he needed to make contact with the local base.
“She attacked me. I just counterattacked,” Stephen said.
“That matters less than you think.” Kilian tried to stand, but vertigo sent him stumbling to the side. His feet tangled and he collapsed onto the couch, sending up a plume of dust that choked him.
“Are you okay?” Stephen leaned forward until their noses were almost touching and he studied Kilian. It would've freaked Kilian out, only Stephen’s eyes were still the warm honey-brown that Kilian associated with his human half.
Kilian tried to say something, but reality warbled in and out of focus.
“This is not me. This is totally not me. Mia can be as speciesist as she wants, but demons are not responsible for every case of possession. Someone has scrambled your brain, but at least you’re way better now than you were on base.”
“I'm pretty sure that Mia assumes the someone in question was you.” Kilian appreciated that she had been trying to protect him. He was going to feel like shit if she was permanently disabled or dead, but he doubted that one hit would have killed her. Witches were tough.
Kilian closed his eyes and let out a slow breath as he pressed his hand against his breastbone. He opened himself to the power that flowed through his veins, letting instinct push against the dam of his mind. Guilt. Always guilt came first. Sorrow. Regret. Then on the heels of those, rage. Kilian let the emotions pass through him, but he dismissed each. Once he had filtered out his own emotions and those of his magical heritage, he felt the malevolence—the darkness clinging to him, threading tendrils through his soul. Malice, loathing, resentment, and avarice tangled together into a leaden weight that pressed against his ribs.
He’d been possessed once—a madness sent by a pishacha. At the time, he’d been human, and his team had tied him hand and foot to keep him from tearing his own eyes out. Kilian remembered the coldness that had sunk into his bones and the tendrils of dread that it sent out. This was similar enough to scare the shit out of him. How the fuck had he missed it? “We need to contact the nearest Army base.”
Stephen reared back. “What? No we don't. We totally don't.”
“If we don't, they're going to assume that you're the one who was trying to possess me and then kidnapped me.”
“So?”
“So?” Kilian stared at Stephen in horror. “So, they'll destroy you.”
Stephen snorted. “Mia can't even figure out what part of the world the demon is from, much less any potential time periods to pull holy relics from. So I am completely safe. And face it, even if Mia has a holy relic to banish the demon, he wouldn’t die. Killing a demon is way above a human’s pay grade. And as far as I know, all the old gods have pretty much slid into blissful sleep.”
Kilian was fairly certain that was an oversimplification. The old gods didn’t sleep as much as they lived in a twilight created by human disinterest. Without human devotion and sacrifices, the old gods were little more than spirits.
“Stephen, the Army is going to be happier with both of us if we make contact and tell them what has happened.”
“Why? So they can willfully ignore the attack on your soul? I wasn’t trying to possess you, but something sure as hell was, and I will tell you one thing, whatever it was, it was grabbing onto your vampiric nature first. Mia cast a spell to identify any potential hitchhikers, and the vampiric side of your soul lit up like a Christmas tree.”
That might explain why Kilian hadn’t felt the presence earlier. “What kind of creature can possess a vampire more easily than a human?”
“You're asking me? In case you've forgotten, Mia didn’t let me have any books on either dark magics or possession. So there's no way in hell I can answer that.”
Kilian took a deep breath. He had to think this through. Maybe the demon was targeting him, corrupting him in some way. Maybe. But Kilian had been a soldier for a long time, and he trusted his gut. His gut said that Stephen would have sweeter words if he had arranged this possession. Instead, he seemed near panic. However, that still posed a tactical problem. With the binding ring, he couldn’t leave, and Stephen was stronger. “So we find the nearest Army base, explain what happened, and return to base. That’s the best way to avoid any further drama.”
“No can do.” Stephen was annoyingly cheerful.
“Are you trying to be difficult?”
“Nope, it comes naturally. Surely you remember how many people hated me for that very reason.”
The disgust in Stephen’s voice broke Kilian’s heart. “Stevie,” he whispered.
Stephen waved him off. “It doesn't matter. Some people are more difficult than others. For example, you got yourself turned into a Judas vamp, so I'm guessing your Catholic parents put you into the difficult column as well.”
He wasn’t wrong. “Explain why you don't want to go back to the base.”
“It’s a can’t more than a won’t. First, Mia refused to listen to me about your attack. That means she's not looking for the real attacker. We need to figure this out on our own. If we don’t, your soul is going to get shredded.”
“So we call her on the phone and explain that she needs to look for another attacker. And then you can take us back to the base.”
