Rasputin

**Rasputin** — First seen in Touch the Dark.

## Introduction

**Rasputin** is a Russian Master Vampire that Tony used to do business with—he runs half the rackets in Moscow.

He was causing a lot of trouble. He was angry because his senate seat went to Mei Ling. He didn't take the rejection well and disappeared for a while, then about six months ago showed up again and began attacking Senate members. He has killed four Senate members, wounded two others and has challenged the Consul to a duel. The Consul is powerful, but she isn't a duelist so she borrowed Louis-Cesare to champion her.

At the start of the series, Rasputin is allied with the **Black Circle** along with a lot of other groups who are not happy with the status quo. Tony has also allied with them for protection against M.A.G.I.C. and the Dark Fey who would target I'm for slaving Witches to the Light Fey. Rasputin has promised to protect Tony in return for him killing Cassandra Palmer. He sees her as a threat, it's unknown why.

## Books Appears in / Mentioned In

* Touch the Dark
* Claimed by Shadow

## About

### Associates / Allies

* Black Circle
* Tony
* Dark Mages
* Tony's Court of Vampires
* Myra
* Tomas
* Various disgruntled groups

### Enemies

* Consul
* Louis-Cesare
* North American Vampire Senate
* M.A.G.I.C.
* Mei Ling
* Cassandra Palmer
* Mircea Basarab
* Tomas
* Dark Fey
* Radella

### Other Details

* He doesn't stand a chance of getting onto the European Senate—most of those crazy sons of bitches make even him look soft.
* Kit Marlowe said that Rasputin somehow turned three of his own vamps against him, and one of them had been with him over two hundred years.
* Rasputin He sees her as a threat, it's unknown why.
* Rasputin doesn't need Cassie, he already has a sybil (Myra) who does whatever he wants—the only thing he wants Cassie to do is die.
* Rasputin is making unregistered vamps.

## Backstory / Biography

"**Rasputin** was the old adviser to Nicholas II, the last tsar of all the Russias, had been poisoned, shot, stabbed and drowned by some prince who thought he had too much influence over the royal family. He was right: the tsarina loved the unkempt, self-proclaimed monk because her son was a hemophiliac, and only Rasputin's hypnotic stare was able to heal him. In return, Rasputin got power, and a lot of his friends were appointed to important government jobs. The prince and the group of nobles he'd talked into helping him remove the new power in town had been real surprised that poison, stabbing and gunshot wounds hadn't seemed to faze Rasputin. It wasn't until he fell off a bridge and they hauled his apparently lifeless corpse out of the freezing water that they were satisfied. Historians had been arguing ever since about why it took him so long to die. The Russian mafia could have told them: it's hard to kill somebody who's already dead."
He found other uses for his formidable persuasive abilities once a Russian prince "killed" him. After lying low for a while, he brought much of the drug running, counterfeiting and illegal magical weapon-selling rackets in Eastern Europe under his control.
## Other Associated Characters, Groups, Places, etc.

* Tony
* Consul
* North American Vampire Senate
* Carcassonne
* Mei Ling
* Kit Marlowe
* Light Fey
* Faerie
* Fey

## Events in the Series

*This section may have **spoilers**. Think of the book title as a "Spoiler Warning" if you haven’t read it yet*.

### 1. Touch the Dark

Billy Joe informs Cassie that he is killing vampires and challenged the Consul to a duel—Louis-Cesare is to be her champion, borrowed from the European Senate. Rasputin sees her as a threat, it's unknown why. He called Tony's vamps to tell them that Cassie would be at Dante's a half hour prior to her arriving there, when she did't even know she was going there herself.

He's plotting to use Myra to stop Louis-Cesare from being made a vampire. He only needs to kill him before the third bite. Rasputin attack M.A.G.I.C. with an army of weres and dark mages and is breaking down all the wards too easily. Mircea puts it together that Tomas betrayed them and turned sides—he's working for Rasputin.

Rasputin and Myra shift to Carcassonne in 1661, joined by Black Circle mages of that time, to prevent Louis from becoming a vampire. But instead of targeting Louis, they target Radu... Mircea and Cassie get there just before they do. He prods Myra to kill Radu with her dagger. Cassie's Dagger Bracelet sent two daggers that put holes in Myra. Myra try to stab Cassie, Agnes freezes time before that blow lands. When time restarts, Cassie orders her ghost to get Myra, but Rasputin brags the girls and they shift out—both still at large to cause trouble. Rasputin and Myra could try to do to her what she tried to do to .

### 2. Claimed by Shadow

After the failed coup, Rasputin had simply disappeared. Thousands of vamps and mages were searching for him with no result. It's likely that Tony and Myra are with him since they vanished at the same time.

## Book References

1. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 5
2. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 8
3. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 3
4. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 5
5. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 5
6. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 8
7. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 13
8. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 14
9. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 5
10. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 3
11. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 5
12. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 8
13. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 11
14. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 12
15. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 14
16. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 3

## External Links

* Grigori Rasputin - Wikipedia
* Rasputin - Religious Figure - Biography.com
* Grigori Rasputin - New World Encyclopedia
* Grigori Efimovich Rasputin
* First World War.com - Who's Who - Grigory Rasputin
* Murder of Rasputin
* Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin | biography - Russian mystic | Britannica.com
* Saint Petersburg encyclopaedia
* Nicholas II of Russia - Wikipedia