Chapter Eleven
“No.” Stephen backedaway from Kilian. “No, no, no, no, no.” He reached the far wall before the binding spell dragged Kilian forward. The feeling of magic tightening around him intensified the fury that fueled Kilian’s vampire. Silas had tested Kilian’s control under every circumstance, but rage and fear and the restraint of the binding ring made something dark ooze through the cracks in Kilian’s control until he wanted to kill and tear and rend.
“Stephen, enough. Stop moving,” Kilian snapped. He was done with being dragged about by the metaphorical scruff of his neck. Stephen’s demonic features vanished. He wrung his hands and looked so much like a little boy that it short-circuited the growing anger.
“I didn’t mean it,” Stephen hurried to say. “I wouldn’t drain you, but I’m frustrated and you’re being an idiot.”
That didn’t improve Kilian’s mood. “The Army will never listen if we’re running. They will assume you’re the villain, and if they even suspected that you... Stephen... are still in control, you will never get out of prison. You do not want to know how ugly a supernatural prison is. So we need to slow down and talk about this.” Kilian focused on the logic of his words, and not how anger made him want to strike out. Maybe whatever evil was possessing him was aggravating his vampire instincts because the desire to hurt—to drain—Stephen pressed forward, even though Kilian would never do anything to hurt him.
“You’re so worried about me that you’re not protecting yourself,” Stephen said, his voice small and mulish. “You’re worried about what the Army will do to me. I already told you that the worst they can do is send my demon back to where it should be, so that’s not that bad. But you... your life is on the line.”
Kilian rubbed his eyes and regretted it when his venom made them water and sting. Fucking hell. Luckily, vampires had some immunity to vampire venom so he didn’t blind himself. “I have arrested dozens of witches on a charge of attempting to assist a demon, and most of those hadn’t come close to carrying an actual demon. So what they’ll do to you...” Kilian whistled.
“And you’ll still be dead,” Stephen spat back. “We need to talk to your sire. Judas vamps don’t sire until they’re old. Super old. He would know of any supernatural baddie with the ability to possess vamps. Supernatural creatures are pretty damn good about knowing who is above them in the food chain.”
“Wait, so your grand plan is to go to Chicago and wake up a thousand-year-old vampire who specifically told me I could not wake him?” Kilian waited for some sort of denial. He had to have heard that wrong. Supernatural creatures hid their own vulnerabilities, so any vampires would guard the secret of how to possess them through their magical natures. That wouldn’t be the sort of information they could find on the internet. That said, Kilian didnotwant to disturb his sire.
“Exactly!” Stephen had the audacity to sound excited.
“That’s a terrible plan. That’s the sort of plan that is going to end up with both of us dead right before the Army tries to arrest our ghosts for being fucking morons.”
Stephen threw his hands in the air, frustration etched on his features. “Whatever is possessing you is too powerful for you to fight off. Who else can we go to for help?”
“The Army,” Kilian said, his voice flat. If they contacted a base now, they could still argue that Stephen had temporarily lost control to the demon. That would protect Stephen from legal charades. But it would leave Kilian with this monstrous growth in his soul and no one searching for an outside attacker. Assuming there was one. If Kilian was wrong about Stephen and the demon was the source of the malevolence, an Army base was the safest place for both of them.
“No.” Stephen’s eyes darkened again.
“Assume you’re right,” Kilian said. “Right before my last unit was sent out against a witch, she got her claws into one of the other teams from base. She killed them and used a feral spirit to animate them. They raged across the base killing and maiming everyone in their paths until the base witches could cut the possession strings. If something is taking me over, I don’t want to be the one indiscriminately killing everyone.”
Stephen leaned forward, his voice low and stained with desperation. “Then we go talk to your sire, unless you know another vampire old enough to know what supernatural creature or spell could attach to a vampire.”
Kilian rubbed his hands on his pants. The venom made his palms sensitive the way sunlight did. It didn’t hurt as much as it made everything feel too intense. Part of him wanted to listen, probably because he hadn’t felt safe since Silas had left him. Sure, everyone on base said they didn’t blame him for surviving that first team’s massacre, but even the werewolves with their exuberance and oversized emotions had kept a certain coolness around him. At least most of them had. Barrett hadn’t. The thought still pained Kilian. This felt like the perfect excuse to disturb Silas’s rest, which was the best reason to avoid doing it. Silas had asked to be allowed to retreat, and Kilian had no right to interrupt. And if he did, Silas would not be in a forgiving mood.
“Not a good idea.”
“Maybe not, but it’s a hell of a lot better than any other idea, including yours. Trusting the Army to fix this or even investigate is a fool’s errand, and you’re not a fool. Well, unless you insist on going back, and then you’re a complete fool. Total. Unforgivable, even.”
Kilian rolled his eyes. There was still a good chance that Stephen’s demon was manipulating him, but if that was the case, then Silas would be Kilian’s best ally. A thousand years ago, he’d been a limner of some renown and that had given him access to a wealth of knowledge. He might know of spells that targeted vampires, but he would also know how to banish a demon. Many of the medieval texts people had wanted illustrated had focused on magic. If Stephen carried the true danger, Silas and he could fight shoulder to shoulder against the danger.
“Kilian.” Stephen whispered his name almost reverently. He closed the distance and brushed drywall dust off Kilian’s shoulder before he rested his warm hand on Kilian’s arm. “Please. If this doesn’t work, we can call Mia. I’ll apologize. I’ll beg for her forgiveness.”
“No you won’t.”
Stephen sighed. “No, I won’t. But I will admit to being wrong and promise to be a slightly less annoying shit for as long as I can manage to suppress my supreme aggravation at her existence.”
That sounded almost honest. “If you can’t magic us to Chicago, we need help,” Kilian said.
