Sephie
“What’s up, my girl?” Chen asked as he walked into Adrik’s office.
“Chen! My favorite French person!” I said, jumping up to give him a hug. Shar Chen had been helping us out for so long, the
guys no longer got overprotective of me hugging him. Not gonna lie, I miss that. “Are you ready to just straight up lie to
someone’s face yet again?” I asked, laughing. Chen had discovered that not only did he love being able to lie to someone’s face,
but he was actually quite good at it.
“You know me so well. It’s disturbing how much I enjoy this,” he said, chuckling;. “Also, the three amigos say hi. Trino still wants
to know if there’s a chance you’ll move to Colombia.”
“One has to admire his tenacity,” I said, rolling my eyes.
All the guys but Ivan got ready to go with Chen to meet the journalist. Ivan was staying behind with us at the building. Adrik and
Ivan clearly had a plan, but neither had let me in on it yet, so I was waiting until everyone was gone to see what they’d cooked up.
I caught Andrei before they left. “Have you snooped in the journalist’s head before?” I asked.
He shook his head no, looking at me quizzically. “No, do you think I should?”
“I didn’t before today, no. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I feel like you should snoop today. Just to be sure, if nothing else,” I
said.
“If you tell me to snoop, then I’ll snoop. There’s always a reason that something like this comes up for you. Let you know what I
find out,” he said, his boyish grin on his face.
“Be careful,” I said, hugging his neck before they left.
“Always.”
Once they left, I turned to Adrik and Ivan. “I know there’s a reason we stayed behind. Are you two going to fill me in on that
reason? Or are you enjoying keeping me in the dark?”
“We wanted to have a conversation about Viktor and how best to help him. Without the chance of him finding out. We need your
brain, princess,” Ivan said as he walked to one of the couches and sat down. I followed him, sitting next to him while Adrik
finished up what he was working on at his desk.
I thought for a few minutes. “I’m not sure how to help Viktor. I’m not sure how I helped any of you, if I’m being honest. It just sort of happened.”
“I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit on that one. You were the 5st to call Stephen’s mindf ucking ability, you called
my ability to see demons, and you hyped Andrei up enough so he started trusting what he was seeing. The only one you didn’t
do much on was Misha. I know you’ve picked up on something with Viktor that hints at what his ability is,” Ivan sald
“We’re all somewhat opposites of each other, with the exception of Misha. You can see and feel when something is off, but I have
to touch someone to get the same. Ivan sees evil, Andrei sees good. Now, Stephen can mi ndf uck someone and trap the
demon. Viktor’s ability should complement that somehow, if we’re keeping to the same pattern,” Adrik said.
I was chewing on my lip, trying to think of what it could possibly be with Viktor. They were both quiet, waiting for me to make the
connection that I wasn’t convinced was there.
“What about the nicknames you have for him? Or inside jokes with him?” Ivan asked.
“I don’t have as many for him as I do for everyone else. I spend the least amount of time with him. He’s always on master of
schedule duty,” I said. “I call him Papa Bear because he silently goes around making sure we all have what we need and he’s
kind of like the father figure of the group. He’s arguably the most mature of all of us,” I said, cutting my eyes at Ivan, unable to hide my grin.
Adrik, who had been quietly contemplating everything got up and moved to the couch. I leaned over on him, stretching one leg
across Ivan’s lap as we all struggled to figure out this puzzle.
“So, master of schedule. I think you’ve called him the security master before as well. And he’s like a father figure,” Ivan said,
rubbing his goatee.
“He’s also the one that’s most terrified of me, I think. Maybe that’s why it’s so difficult for me to get anything from him. He’s gotten
quieter as things have gotten more weird. I used to get little things from him now and then that he needed to talk about, but since
you all know I can read your minds, that’s stopped, now that I think about it. Like Stephen, I don’t think he likes the idea of me
being in his head,” I said. “Does he have sisters?”
They both chuckled. “No sisters. Brothers. But he gets along well with them, Adrik said.
“Is he the oldest?” I asked.
“He is. He has two younger brothers. Both of them are much like Viktor. Both are still in the military, last I knew,” Adrik said.
“His youngest brother wants out. He’s trying to come here when his service is up in a few months. Viktor told him we could give him a job,” Ivan said.
“I’m not surprised. He’s such a helper,” I said. I grabbed one of Adrik’s hands se my hands could fidget as I thought about Viktor.
“Okay, what if Stephen breaks them, but Viktor somehow fixes them? That’s what he’s really good at. Squish, you said you can
see demons riding around on people looking for ways in now, right?”
“Yeah, they’re looking for weaknesses is what it looks like. Or trying to make their own weaknesses,” he said.
“That’s what Viktor’s good at. He puts the systems in place to make sure everything runs smoothly and there are no outside
threats. Between you and Bubba, you can see where the weaknesses are. Viktor somehow fixes that and it’s one less person
Stephen has to break. Because while I think. Stephen’s gift is f u cking incredible, I can’t imagine he’s meant to just break half
the world’s population and leave them in a waking coma for the rest of their lives. That would be weird. Stephen is the last resort.
Viktor helps make sure Stephen isn’t needed very often,” I said.
As I was talking, Adrik showed me his arm, which was covered in goosebumps. had been looking down at my hands that were
still playing with Adrik’s hand, but when I looked up at Ivan, he had a silly grin on his face. He pointed to Adrik. “Show him, too,” he said.
I looked back at Adrik, who smiled at me. “We knew you’d be able to figure it out,” he said, kissing my temple.
“They’re purple?” I asked, still somewhat confused as to what they were talking about. They both nodded.
“Still slightly weird, but much less alarming than the white, not gonna lie,” Ivan said.
“She went from black to purple the other day. That might be my favorite color transition so far. It was incredible,” Adrik said. I
could feel the familiar pull in my chest that meant he was thinking about how much he loved me.
“You’re late to the party, Squish. When are you going to figure out you can strike even more fear into the hearts of regular
people?” I asked.
He cut his eyes over at me, his sly grin creeping up one side of his mouth. “Since your dad told me it was possible and I saw
Boss do it, I may have tried to make it happen when no one was around.”
“Shut up. Did it work?” I asked, completely curious to see if he could make his eyes go dark now too.
He closed his eyes briefly, opening them to reveal his much darker eyes. His eyes were normally golden brown, but they were
much darker when he looked at me and Adrik.
“Squish, you’re barely angry right now, too. That’s impressive,” I said. “Did you have to get to insane levels the first time it
happened?”
“I did. I kept trying to make it happen without going nuclear, but it just wasn’t happening. I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to feel it. I
didn’t want you to come running downstairs, so I waited until I knew for sure you were asleep,” he said, grinning at me.
“You did it at the ungodly hour of 4 am, didn’t you?” I asked.
He laughed. “Yep. I know you’re dead to the world then. It worked. I figured it out and you were none the wiser,” he said.
“Well-played.” I looked at both of them. “You’re both going to need contacts now to keep from scaring the entire world. It’s bad
enough when people see it on me. You two have an added intimidation factor. People are going to nin from you.”
“I think that’s kind of the point, princess,” Ivan said
Sephie
“So, princess, how do you control yours so quickly? You can get your eyes to change from normal to black and back again in a second now, without getting ridiculously angry. What do you think about to make that happen?” an asked.
“Um, I don’t know that I’ve ever really thought about this before. I just kind of do it. But I learned very early in life to think of my anger like a living being, almost. Maybe what I think of as my anger is actually my demon? It’s much the same as when I’m sending stuff to you guys. I just concentrate on it and push it forward,” I said.
Ivan closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them this time, they were much darker than they were just a few moments ago. I couldn’t help but grin at him. “Clearly, that explanation worked,” I said. I turned to look at Alrik. “Have yours turned dark other than that one time when we were
all in here?”
He nodded. “I was talking to Ivan the other day and they changed. Like him it now, I was barely angry when it happened.”
“You guys are learning much faster than I did. That’s impressive,” I said. Adrik closed his eyes for a moment, opening them to reveal his almost-black eyes. “Yours are getting darker much faster, too. How?”
“When you showed me how you control your anger, I started thinking about reine like a living thing too. Maybe we’re just giving acknowledgement to our little buddies in there?” He smiled, his eyes still dark.
“Are you asking me because you think I have the answer? Because that’s not a thing I have,” I said. “Has anybody else seen this yet?”
“Not that I know of,” Ivan said.
“I might’ve had it happen in one of my meetings. I noticed a look of surprise on someone’s face and blinked when I noticed my mind was wandering to Ricardo,” Adrik said. His eyes had returned to their normal blue as he laughed about scaring his business associate.
“All this time I’ve been worried it was me who was going to scare everyone off. Turns out it was you,” I said, laughing.
“Told you that you’re gonna need contacts too,” Ivan said.
Once the guys came back with Chen, Andrei caught my eye. He tapped his temple and raised one eyebrow at me. I took a peak in his head, looking through what he’d seen when he looked into the journalist’s head. When I looked into people’s minds, I could see what they saw, so I got a chance to see the journalist how Andrei saw him. I clearly saw his aura around him, but also saw it was broken in a few places. Dark spots, like holes were visible. Andrei felt nothing bad from him as he talked to Chen. I couldn’t stop looking at the way Andrei saw him. It was fascinating.
It also gave me an idea on how to help Viktor. “Squish, can you call the acupuncturist? Bubba just gave me an idea about Viktor. Also, I was able to see what he could see when I just went fishing in his head, so I’m gonna need to do that to you the next time you see a little demon riding shotgun on somebody’s shoulder.” Ivan laughed loudly, which made me struggle not to laugh, because it looked like he wasn’t talking to anybody. “My bad,” I thought.
“What did you do to Ivan, solnishko?” Adrik thought. I caught his se
xy smirk on his face as he pretended to listen to Viktor.
“I have an idea on how to help Viktor. I also said I wanted to see what it looks when a demon is riding shotgun on a person and now I know how,”I answered.
Adrik was much more in control. I could hear him laughing internally. When ooked at him, he looked like he was still listening to Viktor, who was going through the information the journalist had given Chen on the mayor a the police commissioner.
As everyone started to pay attention to Viktor, the mood turned more serious. Our suspicions were confirmed by the journalist. It was Henry, not the mayor, that was dirty. However, it appeared that he hadn’t been on the take as long as we thought. From what the journalist could find, Sal had only recently gotten to Henry. We still weren’t sure what he was doing with the information on Ricardo, but we could still get that information to the mayor, along with this new information on Henry, and get them both taken can of. Along with a win in the next election for the mayor.!
“So how do we get to the mayor without Henry finding out?” Misha asked.
“I might actually be able to help with that,” Chen said. He looked somewhat nervous to interject.
“How?” Adrik asked.
“Well, since you were gracious enough to take me on as a contractor on your latest building project, word has gotten around. I have a crew starting at job at the mayor’s house next week. I’m meeting with him Monday morning before we get started. I can get information to and from him and no one will ever know.”
“F u ck ing sh it, Chen. You’ve been a criminal mastermind this entire time and you’re only just now telling us?” I said, trying not to laugh.
“I could say the same for you, my girl,” he said, laughing.
The guys started to discuss the logistics of getting information to and from the mayor through Chen. What that looked like, how it would work, and how he could get information to us. Once they agreed upon a plan, Chen said his goodbyes and left Adrik’s office, leaving the guys to discuss the latest information we’d received.
I was still frustrated with having to deal with yet another reversal of loyalty when it came to Henry. I was chewing on my bottom lip, staring off into space while I thought about how irritating it was to not be able to trust anyone. I suddenly noticed that everyone had stopped talking and they were all looking at me, with very amused expressions on their face.
“How many times do I have to tell you that spontaneous human combustion is a real thing, gazelle?” Misha asked.
“What? I’m not even that mad right now?” I said, somewhat confused.
“Your idea of “not that mad” and mine are clearly different,” Stephen said.
“Your eyes say differently,” Viktor said.
“That’s not fair. You know these things have a mind of their own now, right? I’m just slightly irritated,” I said.
Adrik walked to me, smirking. He wrapped his arms around my waist as he stood behind me and rested his chin on top of my head. “She’s not lying.” This is barely anything for her. You guys are just becoming really sensitive to being able to feel her now. You’ll soon get used to it. This is like a 1-2 on her scale. Once you feel her 10 a few more times, you’ll be able to differentiate,” he said. I could hear him smiling as he talked.
“I still don’t understand how you don’t kill everyone,” Stephen said quietly. “I beginning to wonder if Vlad learned his scorched Earth policy from
You.”
Sephie
Ivan arranged for the acupuncturist to come to the penthouse. It had been a while since she’d worked on me. My lung was continually getting better, but I was still struggling with controlling my panic if I struggled to catch my breath. I was more interested, however, in asking her questions about Andrei’s gift and how it could pertain to Viktor.
Once she and I were in the room alone, she said, “your connection with all of them is much stronger now. But there’s one that’s still resisting?”
I smiled at her. She always knew. “That’s actually why you’re here. He knows that I’m the one that’s been helping people discover what their gifts are, so he’s been avoiding me. He’s also very careful what he thinks around me since he found out I can read his mind. He’s been grieving the loss of his wife. I keep saying that’s why he’s resisting, but now I think he might just be scared.”
She held her hand out for mine, gently pressing on the spot in between my thumb and forefinger. She closed her eyes, reading all the information she would need from me like she always did. She had a small smile on her lips when she opened her eyes again. “Your connection with Ivan is much deeper this time. You can communicate with him much like you communicate with your fiancé, no?”
I nodded. “We haven’t told the others yet. We’ve almost been caught already because I can’t help myself from saying st upid stuff that makes them laugh.”
She laughed softly. “The others won’t mind. They know there’s a special bond with you three, even if they’re not aware they know it. The one who is like you he’s seen me for who I really am?”
don’t think he saw your wings, but he sees auras. I have questions about that, actually. We think Viktor’s gift has something to do with fixing people or healing people, since they all seem to be opposites of each other in some way. We just found out that Stephen breaks people, so it makes sense that Viktor would fix them. The only one that’s truly different is Misha, who can see the future and the past,” I said.
She started putting the needles where they needed to go as she thought about what I’d just said. She put her hand over my ribs. “You’re still struggling to catch your breath sometimes?”
I nodded. “It also makes me have a panic attack when it happens, which makes it worse. I’ve never had to deal with that before so I don’t know how to control it. They all feel it, too.”
She looked at me, then looked at the door, then back to me. She said quietly, your ribs are still not completely healed either. It’s a constant reminder of the pain you went through. It’s hard to heal from something when you get to relief from it. I will fix it.” She silently went to work, putting more needles over the area than usual. Once she was finished turning me into a pin cu shion, she said, “the one who is like you can he see the holes in people’s auras?”
I nodded. “I’ve seen what he sees. It looks like dark spots.”
–
“There are ways to heal one’s aura, but none of them are quick fixes. All of them require the person to do deep work on themselves. While you might still be right about the last one’s gift, I’m not certain how it would work, without him needing an extra boost from us,” she said.
As soon as she said that, she noticed my eyes turning what I assumed were puple, as I had goosebumps rising over my entire body. Her eyes went wide, just as mine did. I suddenly remembered another detail about Viktor I had all but forgotten. “He’s the only one other than my fiancé that can calm my shaking after it starts. He just did it one day, without a second thought.”
She was quiet for a moment. “It’s not unheard of, but it’s rare. It means he has someone in Heaven helping him. He would need an angel’s grace to make it happen, but he could do it.”
“His wife,” I said.
She shook her head no. “She’s already reincarnated. It’s his unborn child.” She inhaled deeply, smiling at my confused look. “A soul can clear a tremendous amount of karma when they sign up for tragic ends. His wife was still pregnant when she was killed, which is one of the most tragic endings for a life not yet realized. People tend to mourn the unknown even me. That little soul cleared much of its karma and is now helping him in this lifetime. They’ll be linked forever now, as well.” She was quiet for a monjest, then added, “that soul has chosen not to come back, just so it can always help him.” She looked at my eyes for a moment. “Your eyes say this is the truth.”
We heard a knock on the door. “Spider monkey, I don’t want to bother you, but are you okay? You’re kind of all over the place right now. It’s worrying me and Misha.”
I laughed. “I’m good, Bubba. Thank you for checking, though.”
The acupuncturist walked to the door, opening it far enough that she could stick her head out. “It’s resetting her emotions when this happens. They’re going to feel stronger as they recalibrate and her body goes back into alignment. I can show you, if you like?”
I giggled, knowing Andrei was terrified at the thought of getting tiny needles stuck in his skin.
“Uh, no. No, I’m good. I just wanted to make sure she was okay,” he said, nervously.
“She’s fine. She’ll be done in a few minutes,” she said. She had a wide smile across her face as she closed the door and turned back to me. She said quietly, so he couldn’t overhear, “I might like messing with him more than Ivan, which is saying a lot.”
I laughed. “You’ve been hanging around my father, haven’t you?” She didn’t answer, but her smile grew even wider on her face.
Adrik had come to the penthouse with Vitaliy and Aleksei while I was talking with the acupuncturist. As soon as we walked out of the spare room, his eyes landed on me. His wide, handsome smile stretched across his face. Before we got to them, I pointed to Vitaliy and said to the acupuncturist so only she could hear, “let that man shake your hand. You’ll make his day if you do.”
She gave me a knowing smile. She surprised me by walking right up to him, putting her hand on his shoulder, and whispering something in his ear. His eyes went wide, but his cheeks turned as red as my hair. Even his ears were red. He stammered for a reply, but she just smiled at him as she walked to Ivan to be escorted out.
We were all left trying not to laugh at Vitaliy’s flustered state after she left.
“I might like her a little more each time she’s here,” Adrik thought. I finally couldn’t contain my laughter any longer and a small giggle escaped. That was all it took for the rest of them, even Aleksei, to start laughing.
“No idea what she told you, old man, but it clearly made your day,” I said, grinning at him.
He grumbled something under his breath, but he also laughed along with everyone else.
“Who was she?” Vitaliy asked, once everyone had gained control. I knew he wasn’t interested in hearing about her acupuncture skills, but that’s the route I took anyway.
“She does acupuncture. She’s amazing,” I said, grinning at him. He knew I knew more than I was saying, but he didn’t push it further.
“Perhaps I should get this acupuncture. Your light is very bright right now, sladkaya. Come, let me feel,” he said, extending his hand to me. I walked over and put my hand in his. “You will tell me more later,” he whispered as he took my hand. I nodded my head, smiling at his softening expression. He looked from me to Adrik. “Everything feels stronger. That woman does this to you, too?” he asked.
“Not every time. She has in the past,” Adrik said.
“You need it every time,” Vitaliy said, frankly.
Adrik chuckled. “Noted.”
“The old man has spoken!” I thought, making Adrik laugh a little harder.
Sephie
I asked that Stephen and Ivan stay behind while Viktor, Andrei, and Misha were gone Monday morning to make sure Chen was okay while he met with the mayor. No one suspected anything other than a contractor meeting with his client, but since Chen had been so instrumental in helping us, we all wanted to make sure he was okay. He was also delivering very sensitive information, so it was worth our while to make sure he was good and had backup, should it be needed.
“So, this must be important since I’m most responsible for Chen’s bravery when lying to people’s faces,” Stephen said once the others were gone.
I laughed. “Technically, he’s not lying to the mayor this time. I think he can live without you just this once,” I said, sliding my arm around his shoulders as he sat at the kitchen island..
“You know something more about Viktor, don’t you?” Ivan asked.
“I do. That’s why I wanted to talk to both of you while I was sure he wasn’t around. I think I have it figured out and also why he might be so resistant to it,” I said. I walked back to Adrik, who was leaning against the counter. He opened his arm for me, sliding it around my waist as I stepped closer to
him.
“The acupuncturist helped you, didn’t she?” Stephen asked. I could tell he was putting as many pieces of the puzzle together as he could already.
“She did. We were starting to suspect what it might be, but she confirmed it. You realize that everyone complements each other somehow, right?” I asked Stephen.
He nodded his head. “It makes sense that Viktor would somehow be opposite either me or Misha and it doesn’t make sense for him to be opposite of Misha. That’s just a normal person who can’t see the future or past. That’s not helpful in the least,” he said, grinning.
“You’re so smart, Yoden. Viktor, we think, is opposite of you. While I think your gift is f u cking amazing and quite possibly the most bad a ss thing that any of us can do, I can’t wrap my brain around you needing to do it very often. It doesn’t make sense that your life’s purpose is to just break half the world and leave them as a dribbling mess for someone else to care for. Much like your sn iper skills, I feel like your gift is highly specialized and only meant for a select few,” I said.
“While you are capable of breaking a person, Viktor is capable of healing thern Adrik said.
“After I break them? Because I can tell you right now, that’s going to make me go harder in the paint when it comes to breaking them. I can’t help it. I’m competitive,” Stephen said, his sly smile creeping across his face.
I laughed. “No, before you’re needed. There are going to be those that Viktor can’t do anything about. I’m sure there’s a point where his services are useless and yours are needed. His gift should prevent people from getting to the point where you’re needed as much.”
“Andrei can see auras. He can also see where there’s holes in the auras,” Adrik said.
Ivan put it together in his head. “I can see when they have demons trying to get in through those holes. Viktor can help ensure that doesn’t happen.”
“You’re needed, Stephen, when the demon has already gotten in and has taken over so completely that there is no other choice. You’re the last chance that soul has at surviving,” I said.
Ivan glanced at Stephen, who was looking down at the counter during this conversation. He nudged him, causing Stephen to look at him. Ivan pointed to me. “Her eyes,” was all he said.
Stephen glanced over at me, an immediate look of wonderment on his face. “I thought the black was difficult to get used to, but the purple might be even stranger. Can you do red next? I feel like that will make Vlad feel more confortable once he makes it out of customs.” When I laughed, they changed to green. Stephen hadn’t seen them as they changed yet. “Whoa. I just saw that, but my brain is freaking out trying to convince me I didn’t just see that.”
Adrik turned me to face him, so he could see what color they were. “That’s not even the best transition. When they go from black to one of the other colors, it’s incredible.”
“Speaking of, I think he needs to know about your eyes and Ivan’s eyes. His presence is going to bring out the violence in any demon we meet, which will also bring ours forward. It’s going to freak him out if he’s not prepared,” I thought. I was trying to talk to both Adrik and Ivan at the same time.
I wasn’t sure it had worked, until I heard Ivan say to Stephen, “so, there’s something else you should know about, since your presence is going to really irritate all demons from here on out.”
I turned to look at Ivan, who had his eyes closed. I could feel his anger, just under the surface. When he opened his eyes, they were just as black as mine. I grinned as Stephen’s jaw hit the floor.
“It’s not just him, either,” I heard Adrik say. I turned to look at his eyes, now also just as black as mine.
“I’ve never regretted not wearing adult diapers so much in my entire life as this moment here,” Stephen said, completely shocked.
Both Adrik and Ivan closed their eyes, turning them back to normal. “Allow me to explain,” I said, walking to Stephen. I slid my arm across his shoulders, as he sat in the kitchen. He wrapped one arm around my waist like he was holding on for dear life. “Battista was correct when he said that my black eyes were a warning to other demons that I owned them, but he didn’t know the full specifics of it. He also didn’t know that Adrik and Ivan were the same as me in that respect. Remember when I told you the best way to defeat your demons was to make friends with them?” I asked, looking down at Stephen.
His eyes got wider. “You’re working with your demons.”
“Mostly correct. They work for us. It’s virtually unheard of, which is why Battista couldn’t fully explain it. When our eyes go black, it’s our demons stepping forward, but we’re still in complete control of them. While I can’t say for sure it’s happened to other, normal people, I’ve got memories of my uncle with black eyes when he would beat me. I just don’t know if it was real or not. Also, the guy that attacked me on the sidewalk when I was out with Misha. I’m guessing that once someone gives in completely to their demon, their eyes are also capable of going black. They’re just no longer in control. The demon is,” I said.
“You needed to know we could do this before you see it happen on someone else. I have a feeling that seeing someone else’s eyes turn black is going to bring our demons forward, whether we want them to or not. You need to know that we’re in control when it happens,” Adrik said.
“Not because we think you’ll try to break us. Just so we didn’t freak you out. We’ve been told that now that you know your gift, we’re going to see increased aggression from the demons that are controlling people,” Ivan said,
“They’re going to know what I can do?” Stephen asked.
“We think so, but we’re not sure yet. They’re going to be scared of you, but if they all act the way Armando did, they’re likely going to be aggressive,”
said.
Stephen was quiet for a moment. He sighed, then looked up at me, a very snill grin on his face. “Is it wrong that I’m looking forward to them being
scared of me?”
“Not at all, Yoden,” I said, laughing.
“It’s about time you felt it from the other side,” Ivan said.
Nephe
“So, how does Viktor’s gift work? Does he know about it yet? Mephen asked
Adrik and I exchanged a glance. I looked to Ivan, then to Stephen. With a sight said, “he doesn’t know yet. We’re not totally sure of how it works, but I know why he’s been so resistant to it. It’s going to be tough for him to handle
“What do you mean? It seems like it would be a good thing, right?” Stephen 16ed, more confused than
“It is a go d thing. It’s going to be difficult for him once he learns how he’s able to do it. If his gift works the way I think it will, he needs to have help to make it happen as quickly as we will need it to happen,” I said.
“The same way I used your help and Misha uses you? Why would he have a joblem with that?” he asked.
“Not the same way. I can’t help him with what he’s going to do. He needs eve more of a power boost than I can give him, if you will. He needs to have angelic help.
Ivan was starting to put the pieces together in his head. “His wife,” he said.
I smiled at Ivan. “That’s exactly what I said, but it’s not her. She’s already started her next life.” I paused to see if Ivan would figure it out, but it was Stephen who did.
“His child,” Stephen said.
“And I thought your gift was heavy,” Ivan said looking at Stephen.
“No sh it, man. Mine was a breeze next to this,” he said.
“So how does that work? Did his child die on purpose to make this happen? Ian asked..
“I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. Apparently, a soul can clear a tremendous amount of karma by signing up to die either tragically or before they’re born. His unborn child is now helping him as a way of thanking him for helping to clear the karma,” I said. I looked to Ivan and Adrik. “I have, no idea how you two are going to tell him about this. Or if he’ll even believe you when you do.”
“You’re not going to tell him, Seph?” Stephen asked.
“He knows I’m the one that’s helping everyone figure out their gifts. He’s been avoiding me and he’s careful about his thoughts around me, as well. Much like you, he does not appreciate me in his head,” I said. “I also think he’s the most freaked out about my eyes. He’s going to sh it himself once he
sees it’s not just me anymore.”
We were all quiet for a few moments, trying to figure out a way to help Viktor. We all came up empty for the moment.
“I’ve got nothing right now,” Ivan said. He looked at his watch. “They should be back soon, though, so we should probably change the subject
anyway.”
“Oh, they’re here. They’ll be walking in right about…now,” I said as we all heard the penthouse door open.
“Okay, you’re going to have to tell me how you do that now, princess,” Ivan said.
“How she does what?” Misha asked as I walked to him. I would never get over feeling relieved when they came back safely. I hugged his neck before moving to Andrei and Viktor.
“She said you guys were back, right as you walked into the penthouse. Only she didn’t hear you first,” Ivan said.
“You have been doing that a lot lately, spider monkey. How do you do it? Like can you hear us coming?” Andrei asked.
“Do you get notifications that you have thoughts to read like normal people get email notifications?” Misha asked, laughing.
“No, it’s not like that. I’m not in any of your heads either, for the record. I keeji telling you that I don’t go looking without permission. It’s more of a feeling You all feel different to me. You always have, so it’s easy for me to tell you apart, especially now that I’m hyper-sensitive to each of you,” I
said.
“But you knew that Boss’s meeting was irritated the other day when it was just Viktor downstairs and you’re not as connected to him as the rest of us yet,” Andrei said.
“He’s not as connected as the rest of you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still feel him. Viktor is probably the most even of all of us, so when he’s amused about something, it comes through strongly. He was amused that they was irritated, so it was easy to feel,” I said.
“Nice save, princess,” Ivan thought. He flashed me a quick grin when no one was looking.
“Shut up. I’m not lying. I’ve always been able to feel you guys. It’s just next el now.”
“What about when Andrei was looking in your head? How did you know that was happening?” Misha asked.
“She can feel it. Just like I can feel it when she does it to me,” Andrei said.
“I didn’t feel anything when she looked in my head. Am 1 brain-damaged? That’s a distinct possibility now that I think about it,” Misha said, trying to
sound serious.
“No. Well, maybe. I’m guessing it’s unique to us. No one else seems to notice when we do it,” Andrei said.
“How did it go with Chen?” Adrik asked Viktor, thankfully changing the subject for now.
“Everything’s good. The mayor is interested in what we’ve got. He wasn’t surprised to hear that Henry has been framing him. He said he heard bits and pieces from the two police chiefs about it, but Henry is keeping his cards close to his chest. He hasn’t said too much to anyone else about what he’s got. So we just need to make sure that the mayor moves first on the information on Ricardo,” Viktor said. “The mayor was surprised that Chen was bringing him information, but he said he appreciated the discretion and he agreed to use Chen for the duration. He said he had more work for Chen once this project was complete, just to keep anyone from getting too suspicious.”
“This works out well for Chen,” I said, smiling. It made me happy to see him doing well enough that he didn’t need to deal any longer.
“The mayor was going to take a look at what we have from the journalist about Henry and get back to us. Everything will come through Chen,” Viktor
said.
“Did you two see the mayor today?” Adrik asked Misha and Andrei. They both nodded their heads. “Did you get anything from him? Good or bad?”
“I didn’t feel anything bad,” Misha said.
“I didn’t either. I couldn’t see him when he was talking to Chen, which always gives me more accuracy. I didn’t feel anything off,” Andrei said. He glanced at me, tapping his temple discreetly, indicating he wanted me to look in his head again. When I looked, he showed me what he could see when the mayor was leaving after meeting with Chen. I could see his aura, but he also had dark spots, or holes.
I suddenly had an idea. “Misha, come here,” I said, extending my hand to him.
“Who are we looking for?” Misha asked.
Sephic
“You’re not looking for anybody. F’m trying to show you something I want to and think of a blank movie screen,” I said, I grabbed Misha’s hand and tried
but finally he saw it.
“Whoa! That’s what people look like to you?” Misha asked Andrei.
“Not all the time, but yeah,” Andrei said.
it this will work. Don’t think about anything, if you can. Maybe try roject what Andrel could see into Misha’s mind. It took me a second,
“Holy sh it, that’s awesome. Is everybody the same color?” Misha asked, complely enchanted by what he was seeing.
“No, different people have different colors. I’m not sure what the colors meat, to be honest,” Andrei said.
I let go of Andrei, then extended my hand to Ivan. “Squish, you’re next in my little experiment. Come here.”
“I think I know where you’re going with this, princess,” he said as he took my band.
Misha looked at me, confused. “Now what am I supposed to do?”
“I need you to replay what you just saw for Ivan,” I said.
“I can do that?” Misha asked, completely surprised.
“We’re gonna find out,” I said, grinning at him. He started to replay what Andei saw in his head. I could see it clearly right away, so I tried to push it to Ivan. I felt Ivan squeeze my hand, so I knew he was seeing what I was seen. Once I felt like he had the video clip in his mind, I let go of Misha to see if I could see what Ivan sees.
I saw the same short clip of the mayor, walking outside his house. His aura was visible, just like Andrei had seen, only now, I could see the outline of something else hovering just behind him. Wherever the mayor moved, it move with him.
I grinned at Ivan. “It worked,” I said. I looked back at Misha, asking, “want to see what Ivan sees?”
“Don’t ask st upid questions, gazelle,” he said as he took my hand. He was quiet for a minute, while he watched. I could feel Misha’s nausea as he saw what Ivan saw. “Is that what it always looks like?” he asked, still watching what I was projecting into his head.
“No, this one is actually faint. Some of them are really well-defined. This one doesn’t look firmly attached, either. Like it’s moving with the mayor, but it’s also hovering away from him. Some people have them literally sitting on them, or holding on to them,” Ivan said.
“Blink, Ivan,” Adrik thought. Ivan quickly shut his eyes. When he opened then again, he was normal.
“I can feel your nausea though, Misha,” I said.
Stephen stood up, walking to me. “Okay, I want to see. It might not work on in, but my curiosity is overriding my aversion to having you in my head,”
he said.
“I want to see what Ivan sees, too,” Andrei said.
I grabbed both of their outstretched hands, trying to project the final picture to both of their heads.
“I’m reevaluating my entire existence now,” Stephen said. His eyes were wid he was watching what no one else in the room could see.
Andrei was quiet for a moment as he looked. I had stopped projecting, thinking he was done, but he said, “wait, no. Show me again.” Stephen dropped my hand, so Andrei grabbed that one too. When he did, I could see what he was focusing on. It was difficult to see, unless you were looking for it, but
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you could clearly see the demon focusing on the dark spots in the mayor’s aura. Because the mayor was moving, it looked like the demon was just moving with him. But Andrei managed to slow it down so I could actually see the demon was not only staying with the mayor, but was constantly trying to force its way inside his auric field.
“How did you see that? I totally missed that, Bubba,” I said.
“I just remembered where the dark spots were. That’s gotta be how they get then,” Andrei said, taking a step away to lean on the counter.
I caught Adrik’s eye. Since my little idea had worked, I was feeling co cky. Instead of needing to touch him, I just pushed the images I’d just shown everyone else by touching them to him from across the kitchen. He looked surprised initially, but just as intrigued as everyone else.
“Blink, Boss,” Ivan thought quickly.
“Well, now we know that seeing other demons is going to bring both of yours to the front. Did mine do that too? Is this something you guys can eventually get a handle on?” I asked both of them, silently.
“I didn’t notice yours, princess, but I wasn’t paying attention. We’re going to have to keep an eye on it,” Ivan replied..
“I couldn’t see your eyes when you saw it, so I don’t know either. For now, though we at least know that seeing other demons makes ours get a little too excited,” Adrik thought.
“So. Many Dirty, Jokes.” I replied, trying not to laugh..
Viktor’s curiosity finally got the best of him. “Okay, somebody explain what you all just saw.”
“See if you can show him too, gazelle. I bet it’ll work. I’ll help if you need a boost,” Misha said.
I looked hesitantly at Misha, then looked at Viktor. “It’s up to you, Papa Bear, I know you don’t like me in your head.”
“Only because I know you’re going to force me to deal with things I’ve been pitting off dealing with. This is not that, so let’s try,” he said, walking to me. He very timidly took my hand. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked.
“You don’t have to do anything. Just try to clear your mind. She’ll show you, Misha said. He took a step closer to me, in case I needed a power boost
to let Viktor see.
I concentrated on pushing the short clip of the mayor to Viktor. Nothing happined for a few moments, so I grabbed Misha’s hand. Once I did, suddenly Viktor’s eyes went wide. He was seeing what everyone else had just sen.
Except that wasn’t the only thing that happened. Misha took over the movie. He fast forwarded until we were no longer watching the mayor. Now, we were watching Viktor with someone I didn’t recognize. I didn’t want to interrupt, so I didn’t ask for specifics. The guy was younger than Viktor and actually looked vaguely similar to him. They were talking quietly, but it was difficult to hear the conversation. The other man looked upset; he looked older than what he should have. He looked worn down, tired, like he had been put through the ringer.
Viktor, in his calm, paternal way, put his hand on this man’s shoulder. It seemed like an innocent thing to do, but when he did, we could clearly see the aura around the man become visible. The dark spots were everywhere. It was dim. This man was struggling. Viktor took his hand off his shoulder, but remained close to him. We watched as a white light came down from somewhere above them and hovered above them both. Neither of them saw it in the movie, but it was visible to us watching it.
It stayed still, hovering above them both for a moment, then we watched Viktor open his palm upward, toward the light. It landed in his palm. When it did, Viktor touched the man’s shoulder once more. This time, his aura lit up. We watched as all the countless holes filled in. As his aura got brighter, he looked stronger, younger, more vibrant..
Viktor took his hand off the man’s shoulder, once again turning his palm upward. He released the light upward, all of us watching as it disappeared above them. The man in front of Viktor looked stunned for a moment, but the he broke out in a huge smile. He grabbed Viktor, hugging him tightly.
as the movie ended for us.
Misha looked down at me, somewhat confused. I looked at Viktor, who looked so stunned I wasn’t sure he was going to be able to speak.
“Did you know that man?” I asked:
“That’s…that’s…my brother,” he said.
Adrik
While Andrei and Stephen were watching Sephie and Misha show Viktor what we had all just seen, Ivan caught my eye. “What do you want to bet she’s about to unlock his gift for him?” he thought.
“You might be right. She just unlocked a new level for us. Might as well unlock Vikfor while she’s at it,” I replied, unable to hide my smirk.
“What now?”
“She just showed me everything everyone else saw from across the kitchen. She didn’t need to touch me to make it happen. That’s been happening with thoughts and emotions, but never images.”
“Can you see what she sees now?”
“I really want to look, but I also don’t want to f u ck it up. She’ll show me later.”
“Coward.”
“As shole.”
We saw Misha look down at Sephie. He was clearly stunned with whatever the just saw. She looked at him, her eyes wide. Then she looked at Viktor. “Did you know that man?” she asked him.
“That’s…that’s…my brother,” Viktor said. He was completely stunned at what he’d just seen.
Clearly they had just seen something new..
“What happened?” Ivan asked.
“Viktor just saw his gift in action, but I think we broke him,” Sephie said silently to me and Ivan. “I don’t know what to say to him. He’s completely numb”
Ivan walked to Viktor, standing in front of him, trying to get Viktor to focus on him. “Sephie and Misha just showed you your gift, Viktor. I don’t know what it looked like. She can show me, if you want her to, but I can tell you that you’re the one that makes sure we don’t need Stephen very often,” he said. Viktor just stood there for a moment, not moving, not saying anything.
“Did he see his child?” Ivan asked Sephie.
“No and yes. It looked like a ball of light to me and Misha. It might’ve looked different to Viktor though, but he saw that he got help from something else
besides us.”
Ivan reached out and put his hand on Viktor’s shoulder. Viktor looked down at Ivan’s hand, then back at Ivan’s face. “This is going to be hard to hear, Viktor, but the help you’re going to get isn’t from any of us. It’s from a soul you weren’t able to meet, but one that is forever linked to you now. You’ve spent so much time focusing on the tragedy that you’ve missed the happy ending.”
We could see Viktor look down for a moment, then back up to Ivan. “How is this possible?” he asked quietly.
I walked over to Viktor, hoping to help Ivan out. “Your unborn child cleared so much of its karma by signing up for that ending to its almost life. That soul is so grateful to you that it’s willing to help you with your gift. Your gift wouldn’t be possible without it. You’re what can help fix people to prevent demons from getting in. You’re the other end of the spectrum from Stephen. When it’s too late for you to be of any good, then Stephen can still save the soul. But you’re the first line of defense for people who haven’tt let the demon all the way in. You’re doing what you always do, Viktor. You’re making sure people are safe and taken care of.”
I felt Sephie walk up half beside me, half behind me, holding onto my arm. ” had to go through all of that to make it here, Papa Bear. It was horrific, but you wouldn’t be here without it and you wouldn’t have a sweet angelic gift without it,”
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“And apparently you’re going to save your brother, which is also the complete other end of the spectrum from Stephen,” Misha said. We heard Stephen laughing quietly behind us..
Viktor finally started to get a handle on himself. He turned to look at Misha. “How did you know that my brother was coming here in a couple weeks?”
“I didn’t. I don’t always control the movie. This was one of those times where was not at all in control,” Misha said, shrugging his shoulders.
“You saw what you needed to see, Viktor. You’ve been avoiding this, but Bubba and Misha created a scenario where you couldn’t avoid it any longer. They likely didn’t know they were doing that, but their souls knew. It’s become obvious to all of us that you’ve been avoiding me for quite some time,” Sephie said quietly.
“Totally didn’t know I was doing that,” Andrei said.
“Me either. I stand by my earlier statement that I am not in control of the mbie at all times,” Misha said.
We could see that Viktor was still struggling with accepting everything. “Ivan why don’t you two go downstairs. Or go to the gym. Just get him away from everyone for the day. He deals with things better when he’s not in front of everyone”I thought. Ivan nodded his head. Without a word, he just slid his arm around Viktor’s shoulders and walked him out of the penthouse.
“Did we break him?” Misha asked. He was obviously worried about showing Viktor something he shouldn’t have seen.
“I don’t think so. We knew this was going to be hard on him. I think he’s doing better than I expected him to, honestly,” Sephie said.
“Okay, so explain his gift since I didn’t get to see it,” Andrei said.
“Viktor is the opposite to Stephen, much like you’re the opposite to Ivan,” I said. “You can see where people are weak in their auras. Viktor’s able to fill those holes in, basically. But no human can do that so quickly without some kind of angelic help. So Viktor’s unborn child is helping him.”
Andrei looked to Stephen. “And I thought your gift was heavy, man.”
Stephen laughed. “Same, Andrei. Same.”
“Viktor is like the first line of defense against demons. Stephen is the last,” Sephie said.
“So Andrei and Ivan are like visual detection systems, you and Boss are the tichy-feely detection systems, Viktor fixes those who are still able to be? fixed, and Stephen is everyone’s last hope? And I’m just here for entertainment? I feel like that sums it up nicely,” Misha said, trying to keep a straight
face.
“I’m not sure I could have said it as succinctly as you, Misha,” I said, laughing at him.
“Somehow, I feel like it’s slightly more nuanced than that, Misha,” Andrei said.
“He did leave out a few details, but he got the broad overview. He’s a big picture guy,” Sephie said, shaking her head, laughing.
“You’re right. We also have Sephie’s demon warning system,” Misha said. “I did forget that one. Good lookin’ out, bro.”
“You know, Vlad’s been talking about hiring a new chronicler. His last one met with an unfortunate end. Misha might be perfect for the job,” Stephen. said, in his normal, completely serious manner.
Adrik
We didn’t hear from Ivan or Viktor for most of the day. Finally, that evening. an let me and Sephie know that he had taken Viktor to the house.
“He’s okay, but he’s now having to deal with everything he hasn’t dealt with since his wife died. He mourned her. He never mourned his child. I decided to just get him completely away from everyone.” Ivan told us.
“Are you there now?” Sephie asked him.
“Almost. We’re on our way.”
“I want to know if this still works even when you’re that far away from us,” she replied.
I could tell what she was thinking. We’d never tested how far away the guys could be from her and still be able to feel anything from her.
“If he manages to fall asleep before you do and this still works, let us know. It’s act often we get a chance that you’re away from Sephie and not working.”1
told him.
“You guys want to know if I can still feel her, don’t you? That’s a solid plan. I’ll let you know.”
Sephie looked at me, her eyes swirling. I could feel she was worried about Viktor, but I could also feel that she was curious about how far away Ivan could be and still feel her and talk to her. I walked to her, pulling her against me. I loved watching her eyes swirl, but I hadn’t seen them do it since the addition of the purple. It was even more mesmerizing than before.
“When are we going to tell the Wonder Twins about your eyes?” she asked me.
I sighed. “I don’t know. They’ll figure it out eventually. I think they’ll be able to handle the surprise of it better than Stephen would have. He’s more overwhelmed than those two are about everything happening right now.”
She giggled softly. “They have been good about taking everything in stride. I think Andrei likes it when I snoop through his head now. I think Misha might be helping him deal with everything better.”
“How did you know you’d be able to show Ivan what Andrei sees?” I asked, resuming my eternal battle with her curls.
“I didn’t. It was a hunch. When Chen went to meet with the journalist, I asked Andrei if he’d snooped through the journalist’s head before. He hadn’t. I told him to do it this time, but I didn’t know why. When they got back, he let me see the journalist how he sees him and that’s what gave me the idea to call the acupuncturist. When they got back from the meeting with the mayor, he told me to look again. Since Ivan wasn’t with them, I was curious whether his gift would be able to work like that, so I wanted to try it figured I would need Misha to make it clearer for them,” she said. She was fidgeting with my shirt collar as she talked. Her eyes were still an ever-changing kaleidoscope of color.
I watched her for a few moments, a grin slowly spreading across my face. “And when it worked, you felt co cky so that’s when you discovered you could share it with me without having to touch me?”
She slowly raised her gaze, looking me in the eyes. Her eyes landed on green as her wide smile stretched across her face. “I mean, might as well have fun with it, right?” she said, hiding her face in my shoulder as she started to laugh.
G od, I love her.
Later that evening, once the other guys had gone back to their apartments for the night, Sephie and I were alone. I was just about to ask her if she’d heard anything from Ivan, when we both heard him.
“Viktor finally went to sleep. More from exhaustion than anything, I think. He’s talked more today than he has in the past ten years,” he said to both of us.
“Poor guy. How is he handling everythir
Is his
*I think he’ll come around. He might need another day or two here, though. It helped tremendously to come here. He stopped thinking about everything he’s not doing at the bullding once we got here.”
“Keep him there as long as he needs. We can manage without you both for a few days,” I replied.
“Bright side, we know this works from a distance now,” Ivan said. We could both hear him chuckling as he said it.
“You’re sure he’s asleep?” Sephie asked.
“I’m sure. I went to get a glass of water a minute ago. I could hear him snoring. Han said.
Sephie looked to me. I sent a quick text to the other three, telling them not to worry about whatever they felt from Sephie in the next few minutes. Once it was sent, I gave her the okay.
“Okay, Squish. I want to see if you can still feel me even when you’re far away,” she said. “Tell me if and when you feel anything.”
I felt her anger starting to rise. She always impressed me with how controlled the could keep it when she was consciously using it. Her eyes turned black, which I still found to be incredibly hot. I tried not to think about that, snice Ivan was privy to my thoughts at the moment.
“I can feel your anger, princess,” Ivan said, laughing. “I can also feel how your demon eyes turn Boss into a h o rny little boy.”
Sephie looked at me, a look of surprise on her face, but she immediately burst into laughter.
“I can also feel your happiness right now. That one comes through strongly. You weren’t that mad, so it was faint. I might’ve missed it if I hadn’t been looking
for it.”
Sephie walked to me, pulling my arms around her. “Okay, last one, Squish, just because I’m curious,”I could feel her panic starting to rise, her eyes changing to white. She hadn’t panicked in a while. This time was different. It felt like she had more control over it. It got to the level that previously would have made her start hyperventilating, but she stayed outwardly calm.
“I can feel it. You can stop now. Please stop now. That one is the worst,” Ivan said.
“I agree,” I said. She looked up at me, a look of surprise on her face.
“It turned his eyes dark. Can you check to see if your eyes are dark now too, Ivari she asked.
There was silence for a moment, then Ivan came back. “Yep. Black”
I held her tighter against me. “I think it’s because when we feel your panic, we hint to destroy whatever is causing it,” I said.
“Yeah, even from the first night we felt it, nothing will put me into kill mode faster than feeling you panic,” Ivan said.
My phone beeped, then beeped again, then beeped a third time. I went to check it, as I rarely got messages, especially this time of night. It was Misha, Andrei, and Stephen. They all said the same thing: “I know you said don’t worry, but I felt her panic and it made me freak out too.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Apparently everyone else also hates feeling her panic warned the others we were doing this, but they still sent messages checking on her because of her panic,” I told Ivan and Sephie. Sephie walked to me, asking for my phone so she could reply to them and apologize.
“I’m so high maintenance,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“I’m not sure you understand what those words mean, princess. I would not use those words to describe you. But now we know that the connection is still there, even over shorter distances. I don’t know if we’ll have a chance to, but now I’m curious how it works for even longer distances,” Ivan said.
“I agree. This is quite a convenient trick to have. At some point, we’re going to have to let the others in on this, as well as our eyes, but for now, I’m enjoying this,” I said, chuckling. “Keep us informed on Viktor. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help. Keep him there as long as he needs, too.”
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“Will do, Boss,” Ivan replied, as Sephie was still busy typing replies to the guys on my phone. When she finished and looked at me, her eyes were completely black once again. She wasn’t angry in the slightest. This was completely for my benefit.
“So, h o rny boy, what should we do now?” she asked, her sly grin stretching slowly across her face.
G od, I love her.
Adrik
I could tell from the look on Sephie’s face that my eyes had turned dark in rosjonse to seeing hers go dark. “I’m beginning to understand why you have a hard time controlling yourself, even more than usual, when my eyes go dark. It’s surprisingly hot,” she said, chewing on her bottom lip as she looked at me. She hesitated for a moment, making me wary. I knew she’d been struggling with her fear and even though her eyes had been going black for a while, she’d never seen it. Knowing it happens and seeing it happen are two different things.
She studied me for a moment, like she was memorizing every detail. Her grin crept slowly across her beautiful face. “You’re not angry in the slightest. right now. I’m really impressed,” she said.
“I can say the same for you,” I said.
“You’ve been doing this for a much shorter period than I have though. You mastered it much faster than I did,” she said, as I took a few steps toward her. As I got closer, I could see her eyes were still mostly black, but also swirlin
“Is it alarming?” I asked, still not completely sure she wanted me to touch her yet.
She looked up at me, confusion evident on her face. “Why would you think that?” she asked.
“Your eyes are swirling. They’re still mostly black, so I’m guessing mine are st black as well, but I can see the other colors swirling in the background. I can see the white mixed in.”
“Do I feel scared to you?” she asked.
“No, I wouldn’t say that. Cautious, maybe,” I said, watching her chew on her
She cut her eyes up at me. I could see her cheeks flush and even feel the embarrassment she was feeling. “Because I know I’m about to be out of breath and I’m wondering how I’m going to stay quiet enough that Vitaliy and Aleksei don’t hear.”
She didn’t even give me time to respond to her before her lips were on mine. She practically jumped on me, wrapping herself around me. The desire 1 felt for her was overwhelming on a normal day. What she hit me with was even stronger than anything I’d ever felt. It was primal.
She felt it just as strongly as I did. She ripped my shirt open, pushing it off my shoulders, as her lips never left mine. Seeing her lose control only served to turn me on more than I thought possible. I groaned into her mouth, my hands feverishly ridding her of her clothing while she helped. Once she was naked, I pushed her onto the bed. She moved farther onto the bed as she watched me pull my pants off and take the last two steps to her.
I ran my hand up her leg, enjoying watching her reaction to my touch. Instead of climbing on top of her, I grabbed her leg and flipped her over. I heard her gasp in surprise, but she didn’t protest. I pulled her hips up as I climbed on the bed behind her. She sat up on her knees, pressing her body to mine as she twisted around and her lips found mine once more. She moare softly as my hands roamed over her body..
She pressed her hips back into mine and that was all it took. I pushed her shoulders down as I kept a hold of her hips. She arched her back, granting me access. I wasted no time, shoving myself inside her. I heard her mu ffled moon as she buried her face in the mattress. I could see her hands grabbing the sheets as I felt her pu ssy pulsating around me.
The tiny amount of control I had managed to maintain was now completely gone when she pushed her hips back into me harder. All I could think about was ravaging her. I didn’t care how loud she got or who heard us. I wanted to make her scream.
I could feel her push her hips back into me, her legs spreading wider, trying to hit the perfect spot that she knew would send her flying over the edge. I grabbed onto her hips, pulling her back into me with each thrust. It wasn’t long and I could feel her euphoria building. I reached up and grabbed her hand, guiding her to touch herself while I drilled into her. Her moans were even louder as she pushed herself even higher. I was sure if her face wasn’t in the mattress that the guards outside the door would be able to hear her from here.
I felt her org asm start as she worked her hips against me. I wasn’t sure how long I could draw it out as she was absolutely driving me crazy. She shared her waves of pleasure with me as she felt them, bringing me into her complete euphoria. I could feel her start to come down from one or ga sm just as the next one was building. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before whenever it happened. It just kept going until her moans finally pushed me over the edge with her. Even mu ffled, her moans were something I wanted to hear as often as possible for the rest of my life.
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We were both breathing heavy, but I was worried about her catching her breath. I moved beside her so I could flip her over. She had a lazy grin on her face as she worked to catch her breath. Her eyes were closed and I couldn’t feel her panic, so I was surprised when she opened her eyes and they were
white.
“You’re okay, solnishko. Just breathe slowly. You’re with me. You’re safe,” I started repeating. She normally closed her eyes when she would panic, but she kept them open this time. I started to feel her panic, but it was at a much lower level than it normally was when she couldn’t catch her breath. She was trying to breathe slowly, as she held onto my arm and held my gaze Finally, she was able to take a deep breath and a small smile crept across.
her face.
I watched as the white in her eyes faded to the deep blue that I adored. “That was better. Have you figured out how to control it? I could barely feel your panic when it first started this time,” I said, kissing her lips gently.
She reached up, her hand running lightly over my face. “I’m trying to get a hardle on it. I actually think seeing your eyes go dark in response to my panic helps calm me down, even though that sounds really weird to say out lid.”
“I don’t think it’s that weird. Like I said earlier, feeling your panic makes me want to destroy whatever is causing it.” I got up, pulling her up with me toward the shower. “Maybe you’ve needed something to focus on visually instead of only listening to me,” I said as I walked us into the shower, turning the water on.
She wrapped her arms around me, resting her head between my shoulder black. “It all helps.” I felt her sigh as she hugged me tighter. I turned toward her, pulling her under the warm water with me. Her eyes were still de blue as she smiled sweetly at me.
I found myself completely lost in her for a few moments. It was these moments, those seemingly insignificant moments that were some of my most favorite with her. Little moments where I knew she was just as overwhelmed with the love she has for me as I was with the love I have for her.
Her smile grew as she rested her head on my chest, her arms wrapping around me tightly. I held her just as tightly as we both felt my pull in our chests and her warmth throughout our bodies.
“I could stay like this forever,” I thought, not wanting to break the peaceful silice between us.
“I find myself thinking about how many times we’ve had moments like these, not just in this lifetime, but in every lifetime we’ve spent together. I hope you never get tired of them, because I don’t think I ever will,” she responded.
“Never. I love you. Always and forever.”
“I love you. Plus infinity. Plus one.”
Ivan
Viktor was exhausted last night when he finally went to his room, so it didn’t surprise me that he didn’t get up at a normal time this morning. It was strange to be at the house without Boss here. It was nice though. The house hid become our sanctuary. The place we could go where we didn’t need to constantly be on guard. The place where we could just relax for a few days. We were always happy when Sephie wanted to come here. It gave us
more of a break than it did her. I think.
1
I think she knew that. I think most of the time when she asked to come here she was asking more for us than she was herself.
This situation with Viktor really bothered her. She knew he’d been avoiding het for weeks. It was hard for her to not take that personally. I still wasn’t completely convinced that Viktor was as happy about finding out he had a gifts everyone else was. Even with the way Stephen’s gift happened and the back story that went along with it, he was much happier about it than Viktor.
It felt like Viktor was an outlier now. We all had very close connections with Suphie. I had an even closer connection with Boss now, too. I can’t be sure, but I think somehow Misha and Andrei are becoming even more connected with each other as things progress. But Viktor. He’s wanted no part of it. It has me worried.
He finally woke up after I was done with my workout and on my way back to shower. He looked like he hadn’t slept well, even though he was pushing 10 hours by the time he decided to get up. If he drank, I’d say he was hungover.
“You don’t look like you slept very well, man,” I said when he stopped in the hallway.
“I didn’t,” he grumbled. He just turned and walked toward the kitchen.
After my shower, I decided to force him to go to the lake, after a short conversation with Sephie.
“I’m not sure what to do with him, princess. He’s hella grumpy this morning. He said he didn’t sleep last night, even though he didn’t wake up until late this
morning.”
She was silent for a few moments. Almost long enough that I was worried she hadn’t heard me. I could feel her emotions all over the place, at least, so I knew she was trying to come up with a solution.
“Take him to the lake. It’s not the best time of year for it, but at least it’s sunny today. I don’t know why he needs to go there, but he needs to go there. That spot is magic.”
“No arguments from me there. I’m honestly not sure if he’s even been there. Step either.”
“I don’t think they’ve been there. They rarely stay at the house with me when we there. But I feel like it will help. No idea how, so don’t ask me details.”
I chuckled. “If I haven’t learned to trust you yet, then there’s something seriously wrong with me, princess.”I could hear her laughing, as well as feel her happiness. Since I had paid attention to the connection last night when we were experimenting, it now felt stronger.
Clearly, it was that way for her as well. I was quiet for a moment, still worrying over Viktor, when she said, “there’s something else, isn’t there? You’re worried about him?”
I laughed. “Of course, you’d notice. Side note, the connection feels stronger since our experiment last night.”
“It does for me too. We should check Adrik later. I can feel you the same way I do when you’re in the room with me this morning.”
“Same, princess.”
“Now tell me why you’re still worried about him. Did something happen? I’ve never fished in anyone’s head from this distance, but I’ll give it a try if you make
me.”
“No need. Nothing happened. I just caught myself thinking about him this morning when I was working out. He’s like the outlier of the group now. It used to
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be Stephen, but he seems like his connection has gotten much stronger with you. I think the Wonder Twins are building their own connection between the two of them, as well as having stronger connections with you. Viktor seems like he hasn’t wanted any of that. Like, he almost feels like Stephen, before Stephen told us all he was g ay. Like Viktor is hiding something he doesn’t want the rest of us to know.”
“I think you’re right, Squish. He definitely hasn’t wanted to be a part of it. I don’t know about him hiding something though. He might just be sp ooked when he learned what Stephen had to go through for his gift. He probably suspected he would have a similar experience and was trying to avoid it. If Misha was right, though, Viktor will at least use it on his little brother, so maybe we have to wait until he comes before Viktor finally wraps his head around everything.”
“Great. He said he’s not coming for a few weeks. I don’t know if I can deal with himpy Viktor for that long. He’s an a ss when he’s grumpy,”
She laughed, her joy once again coming through the connection strongly. “I might pay to see that. I’m not convinced it’s possible.”
“Oh, it’s possible. You’ll be glad he’s avoiding you once you see it.”1 was hit with her sadness once I mentioned him avoiding her, but she tried to quickly hide it with laughter. “Don’t be sad about it, princess. He still loves you. What’s happening with him is all him. It has nothing to do with you.”
She was quiet for a moment, then she sighed. “I know. Thanks for the reminder. You’re my favorite.”
Viktor protested going to the lake, so I told him I’d kick his a ss if he didn’t. “You don’t have to talk, man. Just trust me. You need to go there. Get your da mn coat alteady.”
He grumbled as he walked back to his room to get his coat, but he came out with it a few minutes later.
We walked in silence all the way to the lake. While I didn’t mind the silence, I did find myself wishing that Sephie was here. She always knew just what to say. I didn’t have the first clue on what to say to Viktor. This was going to be the quietest trip to the lake I’d ever had.
We sat by the lake for longer than I was expecting. Viktor was very much lost in his thoughts. He didn’t make a move to go back to the house for almost two hours. It was me that finally broke the silence. “When does your brother come? Which one is it? Aleksander or Ilya?”
Ilya. Sasha is still in Germany. Ilya is done with his service. He wants to come here, at least until he figures out what to do next. He didn’t sound so good when I talked to him last. I’m the one that talked him into coming here. He was going to go back home when he got out, but there’s nothing for him there. So I talked him into coming here,” he said.
“Give him a job. We could use the extra help,” I said.
“That’s what I was thinking. I’ll see what he’s like when he gets here. He’s still getting over some girl. I think she did a number on him. Young love, 1 think,” he said, shaking his head.
“When does he get here?”
“Next week. He said he had something to take care of before coming here, but he actually texted last night and said he’s coming here earlier. Whatever it was he was taking care of isn’t important anymore. I have a feeling he was trying to save whatever was left with the girl, but that must be off the
table now.”
“It’ll be good to get him to a new place, then. It’s been a long time since I saw him. He was just a little sh it the last time I saw him.”
“He’s not anymore. He’s as tall as me now. He’s still a skinny sh it, but he’s strong. Like Misha, it gives him a speed advantage. The last time I saw both of them, him and Sasha got into it. Aleksander did not fair well.”
I laughed. Viktor’s middle brother, Aleksander, was shorter than him but just as wide as he was tall. Nobody ever messed with Aleksander. “Sometimes it’s good to be humbled,” I said, still laughing at the thought of his brothers fighting.
“He might not agree with you, but Ilya definitely does,” he said. He finally laughed. I could see some of the tension he’d been carrying around since yesterday morning melt off him. Sephie was right. This place is magic.
Ivan
I didn’t ask about anything serious while we were at the lake. I figured if he wanted to talk about it, he would talk about it. It took until we got back. to the house for him to bring it up.
“Sephie’s mad at me for avoiding her, isn’t she?” he asked.
“Not mad. She’s hurt. Maybe worried you’re scared of her. Bat she also knows that you’ve been avoiding whatever it is you’re dealing with more than
her.”
He nodded, sighing. “It’s not her. I need to make sure she knows that. I’ve been suspecting whatever weird thing was going to happen to me would either involve my wife or child for a while now. I’ve been having dreams about them both very often lately.” He looked at me, his eyes were clearly
troubled.
“What kind of dreams?”
“Some are good, some aren’t so good. Since they were killed, I’ve regularly had dreams where it’s like my life if they hadn’t died. They’re both still alive. Those are almost harder to take than the ones where I relive her death seeing the kid grow up is sometimes too much,” he said. He was struggling to keep the tears in his eyes from falling.
“It’s his kid trying to give Viktor back what he lost,” 1 heard Adrik say in my head, “Sorry, man. I was about to check on him and heard Viktor in your head.”
I appreciate the assist,” I said, trying not to outwardly laugh.
“Viktor, your kid is forever linked to you now. Whatever karma that little soul teared by dying the way it did, it must’ve been a lot, because that soul is forever grateful to you now. It’s trying to thank you. The dreams are a way of trying to give you back what you lost,” I said.
“His kid has also agreed to not come back so it can stay and help Viktor. Can’t reisember if we told him that already or not,” Adrik said.
“Now that all this has happened with all of us, your kid has made the decision to not come back, specifically so it can always be there to help you.”
Viktor inhaled deeply. “I know. He told me last night.” He looked at me, almost like he wasn’t sure if I’d believe him. “We were going to name him Konstantin if he was a boy. We were both hoping for a boy. We never found out if he was a boy or girl before they died, but he’s always a boy in my dreams. I can still hear my wife calling him Kostya as she would rub her belly guess he decided to keep the name.”
As Viktor was talking, I felt Sephie’s sadness coming on strongly. I couldn’t feel her in my head, so I wasn’t sure she was listening in with Boss, but I
could feel her sadness.
Viktor continued. “He came to me last night in a dream. He told me everything. It was like you and I talking right now. Everything was so clear. He also told me Ilya needed my help, just like Misha showed me. He said it was him showing me, not Misha. He knew I’d been avoiding Sephie, too, so he used Andrei, Misha, and Sephie to force me to realize my gift.”
“He’s still focusing on the tragedy more than the good that’s going to come out of,” Adrik said. “I don’t know if you can feel the sadness, but it’s not Sephie. It’s him. Her eyes are amber, but this is not her sadness.”
“Viktor, I think you’re still focusing on the tragedy more than you’re thinking about all the good that’s going to come from this. Your gift is what you do anyway. It’s just to a new level. You always make sure everyone has everything they need, that we’re all taken care of, and you do it without most of us realizing it most of the time. Your gift really isn’t that different. You’re just making sure their souls are taken care of, instead of just their bodies. I can see if Sephie and Misha can show you what I see when I see demons trying to get in and what it looks like once they’ve gained access. It’s not pretty. It’s not something that anyone should have to endure. You’re making sure that doesn’t happen.”
He was quiet for a few minutes, before finally saying, “I’ve been focusing on the tragedy for so long that I don’t know how to stop.” He got up, without another word, and walked to his room.
“When is his brother coming? Sephie showed me what Misha showed Viktor. It’s going to take that happening before he comes to terms with everything.” Adrik asked.
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“We just talked about it earlier. He’s coming next week. He seemed like he was better when we were of the lake. We talked about his brothers and he seemed like he was slightly better.”
“It’s going to take time, Ivan. I was going to ask if we should come to the house to, but I think it’s better that he’s there with you.”
“Yeah, I agree, even though I feel like I have no idea how to help him
“I think he just needs time and reassurance. It appears you have help from multiple angles, so hopefully between all of us, we can get him through this.”
“I think he needs a few more days. You’re still okay without us?”
“Yeah, you guys can stay through the weekend. We’ll manage.”
“He did say he needs to make sure that Sephie knows it’s not her he’s been avoid. He asked if she was mad at him earlier.”
“She’s not mad. She’s more hurt than anything. She’s also worried he’s scared of her.
“That’s what I told him too. At some point, he’ll make that right again.”
“It’ll all work out. This is all a bit much for all of us to deal with. It’s understandable.”
“If you guys come up with any insight on what to say to him again, let me know can use all the help I can get right now.
Viktor stayed in his room most of the day. This was going to be a long few days….
Adrik
I looked at Sephie’s amber eyes as she stood in front of me. She’d just heard the last bit of the conversation between Ivan and Viktor, as well as me and Ivan. I knew she felt Viktor’s sadness. It was very different than anything ever felt from her. I didn’t realize he was struggling with it as much as he clearly has been for the last few years. Even Sephie was struggling to get a handle on it.
“I didn’t realize he was struggling this much with everything,” she said quietly
“None of us did. I think we know now why he always kept so busy. I can feel his sadness through you. I can also feel that you’re struggling to deal with it, the same as him,” I said, pulling her closer to me.
She rested her head on my chest. “Yeah, this is a lot.” She folded her arms up in front of her, pressing her body even closer to mine. “I feel really
cold.”
“Come. We’ll go upstairs and get one of my sweatshirts for you and I’ll make you something warm to drink.”
“Your meetings are done for the day?” she asked, following me out of my office. I nodded, my heart threatening to stop at the smile that stretched across her face. “Good.”
We met Stephen in the elevator. “We’re going upstairs. She’s cold,” I said, as Sophie went back to the same position she was just in before we left my
office.
He chuckled. “Seems like as good of an excuse as any to leave the office.”
“Where are the Wonder Twins?” I asked. Sephie giggled against my chest. She still found it funny that I used her nickname for Misha and Andrei.
“They’re on a quick errand, but they should be back shortly,” Stephen said. He cut his eyes at Sephie, who wasn’t looking at him, then looked at me. with a small smile. I knew they were planning something, I just wasn’t sure what yet. “I’ll tell them to come upstairs when they get back,” he said. pulling out his phone..
We had just walked out from grabbing one of my sweatshirts for her when Andrei and Misha walked in. They were each carrying a box, each had giant grins on their faces.
“Spider monkey, we got you something,” Andrei said as he walked to the kitch. He set the box down on the counter, then slid it over toward her. Her face brightened for the first time since we’d overheard Viktor talking to Ivan. The heavy sadness that was attached to her lifted for a moment. She opened the box and her heart-stopping smile stretched across her face. “I don’t know the first thing about baking, but we found a baker that makes lemon sugar cookies,” he said.
“We also got a box of orange, since you and Boss are basically the same person now. We figured you’d want to experiment and see if lemon is still your favorite, now that you know orange is his,” Misha said as he set his box on the counter, sliding it toward me.
“You guys are the best,” she said, as she went to Andrei, then to Misha.
As she looked up at Misha after hugging him, he was clearly confused. “Gaze you feel happy right now. Why are your eyes amber?”
“They’re still amber?” I asked, walking toward her to see.
“Why are you sad, Seph?” Stephen asked.
“It’s not hers, is it?” Andrei asked.
She looked at him, a small smile on her face. “Bubba’s right.”
“How did you know?” Misha asked Andrei.
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“It feels different.” Andrei said. Stephen got quiet, like he was trying to see if he could feel a difference. He looked at Andrei, then to me. “It’s colder. No wonder you needed a sweatshirt,” Stephen said.
“That’s why Adrik and Andrei picked up on it so quickly. They’re always warm. They noticed the difference. You and Misha tend to be cooler so it wasn’t so obvious,” she said. Misha had been doing his own checking as they talked. He finally felt the difference as well.
“Yeah, I don’t know if I would’ve noticed that if I hadn’t been looking for it. Misha said. “Where’s it coming from if it’s not you?”
“Viktor,” I said. I looked at Sephie, having a silent conversation about whether we should tell them about our newest trick. She smiled at me, leaving the decision completely up to me.
“Your connection to him is already that strong?” Misha asked.
“It’s a little more complicated than that,” I said.
“It has something to do with you being able to talk to Ivan without words, deesn’t it?” Stephen asked.
I was surprised, just as Sephie was. “You know?” she asked.
He nodded. “He came up with answers that he couldn’t have known without talking to you. He also has a special connection to Sephie that the rest of
us don’t have, so it makes sense he’d be able to do so, just like Boss can. The three of you share a few special things.”
“Really? You can talk to him the same way you can talk to Sephie?” Misha asal.
I nodded. “It only just started happening, but yeah. I went to check on Viktor arlier and we overheard a conversation between him and Ivan. That’s when her eyes changed. She can feel his sadness.”
“What else can you do? Stephen said there were a few things,” Misha asked.
Sephie couldn’t keep her grin from her face. “I think you should show them. They’re going to find out eventually.”
I chuckled, closing my eyes. When I opened them, I looked at Sephie first. Her eyes switched to black immediately when she saw mine, which confirmed that mine were also black.
“HOLY SH IT! You can do it now too??” both Misha and Andrei said.
“So can Ivan,” Stephen said. “Are you guys considering adding adult diapers to your wardrobe right about now? Because I did, when they first showed
me.”
“Solid life choice,” Andrei said, still completely astonished.
“But how? Do your eyes change the same way hers do now, too?” Misha asked
“I think that’s going to remain true for her only. But the reason hers turn black is because her demon is stepping forward when it happens. Same for me and Ivan,” I said.
“But I don’t feel nauseous when it happens. I’ve never felt nauseous when her eyes have gone black. It usually makes me happy because I know there’s about to be some f u ckery afoot,” Misha said, grinning at Sephie.
“You wouldn’t feel nauseous with us, my adorable Russian guardian,” she said, Miding her arm around his waist. “Our demons work for us.”
Misha’s eyes went wide as he looked between me and Sephie. “You just unlocked a new life goal for me,” he said quietly.
“Me too,” Andrei said.
As always, Stephen offered the comic relief in the most serious way possible Tokay, so we all agree to learn how to do this now. Vlad is going to be ecstatic when he hears about this, but we’re going to need to step up the training. Mehmed’s Janissaries are no joke and when they see our black eyes,
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they’re going to be scared, which will make them fight harder. We might need to increase the number of impalings happening, just to keep the fear working for us, rather than against us.”
Sephie laughed, walking to Stephen. “I love you, Yoden. Please never stop being you.”
“Can’t stop, won’t stop,” he said, hugging her tightly, an uncharacteristic smile across his face.
“Who wants cookies?” she asked. She had a wide smile on her face, but I could still feel the heavy sadness from earlier surrounding her. It was starting
to worry me that she couldn’t get rid of it, even though she was doing what she does best and smiling through it.
Adrik
Ivan and Viktor stayed at the house for the rest of the week and through the weekend. Viktor’s youngest brother, Ilya, was supposed to arrive Monday evening, so they came back late Monday morning. Sephie and 1 had talked to an periodically over the weekend, but it seemed like Viktor still wasn’t completely ready to fully accept everything happening.
Sephie was wary about being around Viktor now, too. She was worried she was going to make something worse for him. Ivan had said Viktor had talked some over the weekend, but he was mostly staying quiet. When Ivan told us they were on their way back, Sephie took the Wonder Twins upstairs to the penthouse.
“I have an idea for an experiment anyway,” she said, her sweet smile on here. She was using it as an excuse to not be around when Viktor got back. The heavy sadness that was from Viktor was still with her. She’d been quiete han usual most of the weekend. The guys all tried their best to cheer her up, but they could feel her struggling against it as well. None of us knew how to get rid of it.
“What experiment now, love?” I asked her, curious.
“You’ll see,” she said, grinning at me. For a brief moment, the sadness lifted. Her eyes had stayed amber for almost the entire weekend. They would change briefly now and then, but even her eyes weren’t changing like normal, er emotions were constantly changing, which meant her eyes were constantly changing. But right now, it felt like the overwhelming sadness was the dominant emotion and was overriding all other emotions. It was
starting to worry me.
I stuck my head out of my office door, motioning for Andrei and Misha to come to the office, instead of her having to go to them. Since I’d learned she was self-conscious about people looking at her, I tried to make sure I was hith her as often as possible or that she didn’t have to walk across the floor very often. I’d started paying attention to the people in the office as they watched her, as well. Most were fascinated by her, but she was still dealing with everything from being taken so it still felt negative to her.
“Take her upstairs,” I said as they walked in. I watched as they looked at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation between the two of them. Misha clearly won whatever contest they were having. He walked to Sephie, schatting down in front of her while Andrei walked behind her and picked her up so she could wrap her arms and legs around Misha.
She giggled as Misha bounced her higher. “I know I can jump again, but not gonna lie, I prefer to be picked up like the princess I am,” she said, hugging Misha’s neck a little tighter.
“It’s easy when you’re still too skinny,” Andrei said, grinning at her.
She glanced back at me, a devious grin on her face. “Bubba said I can eat more cookies, so I’m going upstairs to eat more cookies.”
I just laughed as they walked out of the office as Stephen walked in with my next meeting. While she hadn’t been in my life for an entire year yet, I almost couldn’t remember my life before her.
I could feel her have moments of happiness, as I’m sure she was laughing and joking with Misha and Andrei during my meeting. Once that meeting left, I had a few minutes before the next meeting arrived that I was planning on using to catch up on some paperwork. As I got started, I figured out her experiment.
She was at her piano, but I could hear her just as well as if I was in the same room as her. “This makes paperwork so much more enjoyable, solnishko,”
“It works?”
“It does. I can hear you just as well as if I were in the same room.” I could hear her soft laugh as she continued to play while I continued to look through boring reports.
Ivan walked in my office without Viktor. “He’ll be down in a minute. Aleksander called when we got here. I guess he talked to Ilya before he left to come here. It might be worse than we thought from what it sounded like,” he said.
“That doesn’t sound good. When does he get here?” I asked.
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Ivan looked at his watch. “Not for a few more hours. Viktor still has to leave st upid early to make it to the airport since he’s flying commercial. I hate that airport,” he said, a clear look of disgust on his face.
“It is very peopley there,” I said in agreement..
“Where’s the princess?” Ivan asked.
I could still hear her playing in my head. “She’s upstairs,” I said, as I shared bet impromptu concert with Ivan.
“That’s impressive,” he said. “Did she just figure out she could do that?””
I glanced toward the open door, expecting Viktor to walk in at any point. “She worried about being around Viktor. She was looking for excuses to go upstairs to try and give him space.”
Ivan nodded in understanding. “He’s some better. I’m hoping seeing Ilya will help him. She’s still sad, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, it’s starting to worry me. She can’t get rid of it. Her eyes have stayed amber the entire time you two have been gone. The Wonder Twins and Stephen have tried their best to keep her distracted and find ways to make her laugh, but it’s always short-lived. The sadness is becoming oppressive. I don’t know how Viktor has handled it if he’s been walking around with that for this long.”
Before Ivan could respond, Viktor walked in. He did look better after his short time away, but it was obvious he was still struggling to come to terms with everything.
“Everything okay, man?” Ivan asked.
“Yeah, Sasha is worried about Ilya too. He talked to him before his flight. He said he hasn’t ever heard him like that. I guess the girl he thought he was in love with really did a number on his head,” Viktor said.
“Hopefully some time away from it all can help him clear his head,” I said. “Give him a job, if he wants it. We could use the extra help.”
Viktor chuckled. “Ivan said the same thing. I’m waiting to see how bad he is before I offer him a job, to be honest.”
“Fair. Totally fair,” Ivan said.
“Where’s Sephie?” Viktor asked.
“She’s upstairs with the Wonder Twins. She wanted playing time while it was quiet,” I said.
I almost expected him to want to go upstairs then, but he stayed quiet.
“He’s totally still avoiding her,” Ivan thought.
“Agreed.”
Sephie
My experiment helped me channel some of the sadness I’d been feeling from Viktor, but it still didn’t get rid of it completely. I knew this kind of sadness. I’d felt it when my mom died, but even then, I had an easier time geting over it than this. It was like a cloud was following me everywhere 1 went. I’d have moments where I felt a little better, but the sadness would always return.
Along with the cold. I hadn’t been this cold since I was in the hospital after (in and I were taken. I was quickly becoming convinced I was incapable of feeling warm any longer. I doubled up on my warmest clothes, which helped, but not enough.
Andrei was happy to be on heater duty anytime I needed him, but even that isn’t enough. They’d all tried their best over the weekend to help cheer me up as best they could and I loved them for it. The moments where I got a reprieve were great, but very short-lived.
Ivan walked into the penthouse after I was done playing. I was making yet another cup of coffee when I saw him. “Squish!” I said, immediately running to him.
He caught me mid-air and held me off the floor in a bear hug. “Princess, I missed you.”
“I missed you, Squish. Life isn’t the same without you here,” I said, hugging his a little tighter. His grip on me tightened as well, popping my back in the process. I groaned in relief. “Apparently you’re my chiropractor now, too, said, laughing.
When he set me down, Misha asked, “how’s Viktor?”
Ivan sighed. “Not as good as I’d like. He won’t talk very much about it either so trying to figure out how best to help him is next to impossible. You guys have felt her sadness all weekend, too?” he asked, looking between Andre and Misha.
“Yeah. Stephen can feel it too. We’ve been trying to find ways to help cheer her up, but nothing lasts very long,” Andrei said.
“Her eyes have stayed amber almost the entire time, too. I think I’ve only seen them change the one time when Boss showed us his demon eyes,” Misha said. Even Misha sounded more somber than usual. I think it was beginning to affect everyone.
“They know we can do this now, too, by the way,” I thought. “Stephen actually figured it out before we told them. He’s wicked smart.”
Ivan chuckled, but looked at me curiously. “Yours change when you see ours change, but did you feel anything different when it happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did it give you relief from the overwhelming sadness you’ve been carrying around?” he asked.
“Um, I don’t exactly remember. I might have. I get moments of relief, but they’re just moments right now. I don’t remember ever feeling this way before,” I said. “And I don’t know how to get rid of it. Nothing I’ve tried has worked for very long.”
Ivan was always good for solutions. He thought for a minute, then looked to drei. “You haven’t seen anything weird around her, have you?”
“No, but she’s dimmer than she normally is,” he said.
I set about starting to make dinner as they discussed possible solutions to our latest unexplainable problem. The fact that Viktor kept himself constantly occupied for so many years was starting to make more sense. Distractions definitely helped, but it was only a temporary solution.
Adrik and Stephen eventually came upstairs, along with Vitaliy and Aleksei. W were all waiting on Viktor to come back with his brother. When they finally walked in, both of them looked like they’d had the world’s toughest conversation on the way back from the airport.
Even though things were awkward with Viktor, I was still relieved to see him and greeted him like normal. “Papa Bear!” I said as I went to hug his neck. His brother was somewhat surprised when Viktor wrapped his giant arms around me and picked me up like normal.
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“Sestrichka, this is Iva,” Viktor sakt, motioning to his younger brother.
He smiled warmly at me, finally putting it together. “You must be Sephie,” he said, extending his hand to me. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you.”
“It it was good, then he was just being modest. It it was bad, then he was lying” I said, taking his hand. As soon as my palm came into contact with his, much like with Stephen, I was hit with very specific memories from Ilya all at once. These memories revolved around a woman. I could see the evolution of their relationship, I could also see the subtle manipulations that Liter turned into all-out me ntal abuse, along with the heartbreak and trauma during the breakup. To say she did a number on him was an understatement. But more than that, I could feel he was struggling against his own darkness. And he was losing. I suddenly felt like someone had thrown into a wall and I was gasping for air.
I must’ve done something weird, or zoned out, because I suddenly had Adrik and Ivan beside me. I’d put my contacts in before he got there, hoping to not completely scare the poor kid, so I knew it wasn’t that. I could feel Andrei, Misha, and Stephen on guard behind me, as well.
liya took a step back from me, his eyes the size of saucers, and Viktor steppet in front of him, like he was protecting his little brother from us.
“Viktor, calm down. I can explain what just happened to her and why they rected that way,” Andrei said, quickly rushing to my side as well.
I was having a hard time focusing, between the overwhelming sadness from Vitor and now the darkness from Ilya. It felt a little like I was drowning. I reached for whoever was beside me and felt Adrik’s arm go around my waist hral Ivan’s hand caught mine.
“You’re freezing, Sephie,” Adrik thought.
“I can 7…Ft…anger,” was all I could manage to get out. My body was starting to shake, but I think this time it was legitimate shivering instead of my weird response to trauma. I was getting colder by the second..
“Nun, she needs our anger,” I heard Adrik say in my head. As soon as he said that, I could feel them both sending me their anger. They were both holding back. It wasn’t enough.
“More. All of it.”I told them.
1 got hit with a wave of fire. It was so intense that it almost took my breath away, but it helped clear my mind and it pushed the darkness completely back. I could feel my own body again. I realized Adrik was basically holding me up. I stood up on my own, looking between him and Ivan.
“Better,” I said.
While Andrei had told Viktor he could explain, he was distracted by feeling yah and Adrik’s anger through me. He was somewhat stunned into silence. Everyone knew something was happening, they just didn’t know what yet.
“Somebody better explain something in the next 30 seconds or we’re out of here,” Viktor said, his deep voice booming. I’d never heard Viktor angry, but he was clearly angry right now. It almost surprised me to hear him angry
“She got hit with all your brother’s pain and darkness that he’s been carrying around since his breakup when she shook his hand. She’s also been carrying around your years of sadness that you never dealt with all weekend long. It was too much for her. When Boss and Ivan felt her start to falter, they got protective,” Andrei said. He paused for a moment, looking at Ilya. “You know there’s more to it, but I don’t know how detailed you want me to get right now.”
“He knows enough. You can speak freely,” Viktor said. Anger was still prevalent in his tone..
“Her demon tried to save her when she got hit with Ilya’s darkness. She’s just wearing her contacts, so you couldn’t see her eyes go black. Anytime her demon steps forward, it makes theirs do the same. Oh, by the way, they can do it too,” Andrei said, sharply. It was almost like Andrei was angry that Viktor was angry.
Viktor cursed under his breath. “When were you going to tell me that you can do that now too?” he asked, looking between Ivan and Adrik. He was clearly frustrated with both of them.
“Check your tone, Viktor. We just found out this weekend. You were already dealing with enough without one more thing on top of it,” Andrei said. When Viktor first spoke, Misha and Stephen had quietly stepped behind me. Ajdrei put himself in between Viktor and me as they were talking.
424
I squeezed Ivan’s hand, letting it go so I could put my hand on Andrei’s back. I didn’t have to say anything, he just moved enough to the side so that I could see Viktor, who was still trying to get a handle on everything and was still more angry than anything. I glanced past him at Ilya, who was simply
a rollercoaster of emotion.
“Viktor, none of this really matters right now. What does matter is that Ilya is struggling even more than you know and you have the tools to fix that,” I said, flatly. “Both Andrei and Ivan can see it. I can feel it. But you can fix it with that, I turned to walk back to the kitchen. Everyone but Viktor and Ilya followed me.
Sephir
Viktor and Ilva quietly left the penthouse without a word to anyone else. We were quiet for a few moments, when Andrei finally broke the silence. He looked to Misha, saying, “I think you should confirm, but he’ll be back. He just needs time.”
Misha got his faraway look in his eye for a moment, then looked at Andrei and nodded his head.
room. As I walked down the hallway, I could feel the tears welling up
“At least it means I can take these contacts out,” I said, walking back to the in my eyes. I walked a little faster, trying to avoid having to fish floating contacts out of my eyes.
1 splashed water on my face, trying to get a handle on myself. I glanced in the mirror, noticing my eyes were swirling. At least they’re not amber anymore. As I patted my face with the towel, I did notice that I didn’t feel the overwhelming sadness anymore that I’d been feeling for days now. Moybe they burned it off
Everyone had concem written very prominently across their faces when I wafend back out. While I was still worried about Viktor and Ilya, I was also enjoying not feeling like I was overcome with sadness,
“I think you guys sharing your anger with me burned off the sadness. I actually feel much better now,” I said, smiling at Adrik and Ivan.
It caused Stephen and Misha to laugh. “I didn’t even know a human could get that angry without legitimately exploding and you’re like, ‘right. I feel much better now,” Misha said, laughing.
Vitaliy, always curious, simply said, “explain”
“When she got hit with whatever that was from Elya, she faltered and went kor rold. She’s insanely sensitive to cold. It was starting to consume her, to the point she was losing control. She managed to tell me and Ivan that she needed our anger. Clearly, we were holding back because she then asked for all of it,” Adrik said, smiling at me.
“Because we can feel what she feels, we all felt their anger through her. It’s w
said.
Andrei couldn’t give an explanation to Viktor right away,” Stephen
“How did she tell you? I didn’t hear her speak,” Vitaliy said.
“Yeah, so about that. She doesn’t need to with me and Boss atrymore,” Ivan sud.
Vitally looked to me, surprised. “This is true?”
“It’s true. It’s been happening with Adrik for a long time, just not with words how I can talk to Ivan too. It even worked when he was gone this weekend,” 1 said.
“That’s useful,” he said.
“You do feel better now, spider monkey. Your eyes are normal again, instead of amber, too,” Andrei said. I glanced around quickly to make sure no one would see, then tapped my temple so he would look in my head. I silently thanked him for not only being a buffer between me and Viktor, but for also jumping in so quickly with an explanation. He was the voice of reason in a velitile situation and I might’ve loved him a little more for it.
He gave me a wink and his handsome smile.
As we were clearing up from dinner, Vitaly finally asked what everyone had been wondering, but didn’t want to ask. “What if Viktor decides not to come back? I know you say he will, but he’s still free to make his own decisions. Maybe he decides this is too much for him.”
I sighed. “I have thought about that. I glanced at all the guys. “I kind of unwittingly bound all of them to me, but I haven’t with Viktor yet. They’re all still free to leave at any point, but I also bound our souls together, so they’n kind of stuck with me now until that agreement changes. I never did
that with Viktor.”
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“What do you mean, Seph?” Steplfen asked.
“Did she pinky swear with you?” Misha asked, grinning. “Because she did with me and it’s one I plan to honor,” he said, winking at me,
Stephen laughed. “I actually feel much better that I’m not the only one who took that so seriously.”
“I thought it was how I helped you all discover your gifts, but then I never goth chance to do it with Viktor and now he knows his gift. I’m not sure what that means, honestly,” I said, chewing on my lip.
Adrik walked to me, a small smile on his lips as he watched my eyes for a moment. “I missed seeing them change. They were amber for too long,” he said, pressing his lips gently to mine. He pulled me against him as he spoke to Vitaliy. “I’m actually surprised Viktor is reacting this way to everything. He’s always been the voice of reason for me.”
“This is a high percentage of unreasonable occurrences, though. Everyone has their limit,” I said. “Maybe we just passed his. Maybe it was all out of order so it’s more chaotic with him. I don’t know. I don’t have the answers.”
“It wasn’t your fault he found out the way he did, princess. It was Kostya. Held Viktor he used you and the Wonder Twins to make it happen,” Ivan said. I looked to him, completely confused.
“She came in after that part of the conversation,” Adrik said.
“Viktor told me that his kid came to him in a dream the first night we were gone. He said he’s dreamed of his wife and kid regularly ever since they were killed. They were going to name the kid Konstantin and apparently the kid decided to keep the name. He knew that Viktor has been avoiding you, so he used Misha and Andrei to create the situation where Viktor could see his gift. It was his doing. You didn’t do anything wrong, princess,” Ivan said, his tone softening at the end.
I looked at Andrei. “That must be why I asked you to snoop in the journalist’s head. That’s what started everything and gave me the idea of how to figure out Viktor’s gift in the first place.”
“See? Always a reason,” he said, winking at me again.
Adrik sighed. “If Viktor decides this is too much, then we’ll deal with it when it happens. Until then, I don’t think it’s worth obsessing over.”
It was three days before anyone saw Viktor again. He completely disappeared the night Ilya came to the penthouse. No one could reach him. He didn’t tell anyone where he was going. He didn’t tell anyone that he was okay. He just vanished.
The guys knew he was back the third night, only because they saw light under his door when they all went back to their apartments for the evening. They were all so irritated with him that they left him alone. If he wanted silence, they would give him silence.
Ivan did let us know that he was back. “There’s a light on in his apartment. We could all see it under his door, but no one went to check on him. No idea if Ilya is still with him or not.”
“Thanks for letting me know, Ivan. I’m still not sure how I’m going to handle thine,” Adrik responded.
“Yeah, I don’t envy you on that one,” Ivan said.
Adrik sighed, clearly stressed about what to do with Viktor. On one hand, well knew he was struggling. On the other hand, he essentially deserted his duties, which he’d done before. Again, for good reason, but this was now a pattern.
He had climbed into bed first while he waited for me to finish up. He was rubbing his face in his hands when I climbed on top of him, straddling him.
“I think it’s on him,” I said, quietly. “He’s either going to accept everything that’s happened or he’s not. If he does, then we can figure out what to do. If he doesn’t, then he’s free to leave. This is a lot and I understand that. But not begging anybody to stay ever again.”
“I still think he’ll stay, but he needs to decide. He can’t keep running away from the decision. Once he decides, then the outcome will be much easier to determine,” he said, pulling me to him. I rested my head on his shoulder while he wrapped his arms around me, always grateful for the moments of
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peace that I so readily found in his arms.
Sephle
Viktor and Ilya were both in the kitchen the next morning when Adrik and I walked out. The rest of the guys hadn’t made it upstairs yet. I caught. myself wondering if that was on purpose or just a coincidence.
Viktor stood up, taking a step toward Adrik. “Boss, I need to apologize. I didn’t know what to do, so I ran. I was worried about Ilya too. I wanted to get him away from everything until…” he trailed off, like he didn’t want to finish the thought.
Adrik, in his usual silent way, didn’t respond right away. Even though Viktor knew his tactic, it was still effective. He continued talking. “I also owe you an apology, Sephie. I’ve been avoiding you because I knew you’d force me to deal with things I wasn’t prepared to deal with. Turns out I didn’t need to worry about you,” he said, trying to smile at me.
I looked at him for a few moments. He still looked troubled, but he looked better. I glanced at Ilya, who looked nervous, but he actually looked much better than the first time I saw him. He caught me looking at him, but he looked away quickly, almost like he was embarrassed. I looked back to Viktor, asking, “you fixed him, didn’t you?” Viktor’s cheeks flushed, but he nodded his head. “Good. It would’ve killed him.” I looked at Ilya. “If you’d like to give me the name of the girl, I’ll happily kick her as s for you. And I’m going to say this, even though you’re probably going to think I’m crazy at first, but she wasn’t entirely human. Consider yourself lucky you got away from her when you did.” His eyes went wide as he glanced to Viktor.
Viktor just laughed. “She could probably tell you your life story after she shook your hand the other night. I didn’t tell her anything.”
Ilya looked at me again, saying, “I feel bad for the way we met last time. I didn’t mean to cause any problems.”
You shouldn’t feel bad. You needed it to happen, so it did,” I said, leaning against the counter after putting the coffee on.
Adrik walked to me, pulling me against him. “You’re going to have to decide, Viktor. You can’t keep running from the decision,” he said, matter-of- factly.
“I know, Boss. No more running. I promise. I saw what it did for Ilya,” Viktor said.
“You’ve technically seen it twice now. The question is, do you believe it now?” asked.
Viktor chuckled. “I do.”
“Have you talked to the guys yet? You know they’re irritated with you. Mostly because you lost your temper with Sephie,” Adrik asked.
Viktor looked at me, obviously remorseful. “I know. I talked to them this morning before we came up here. They’re giving us time before they come up. I’m sorry I got angry, Sephie. I didn’t understand that you’d felt everything that Ilya was feeling. I just saw Boss and Ivan’s eyes and freaked out. when they locked in on Ilya.”
“I mean, you wouldn’t have stood a chance against those two. No offense, lly I’m sure you can hold your own. Just not in that situation,” I said. “I
understand.”
I felt Adrik sigh. “I need to know that you’re all the way in on this, Viktor. Whatever this is. If you want out, that’s fine. You’re free to go and no hard feelings. But if you stay, then you’re all in.”
I watched Viktor before he answered. There was still doubt there, but it was ich less than what it had been. I could still feel the sadness he’d been carrying around since his wife and child were killed though.
“Don’t answer, Viktor. You’re not allowed to make a decision yet,” I said. He looked at me, surprised. “I need you to ask Kostya to fix you the same way you fixed Ilya before you decide. The sadness and the grief that you’ve been carrying around for years have become so integrated in who you are that you almost don’t know life without them now. You can’t make important decisions when everything is clouded by grief. I felt what you’ve been dealing with. i had to go to very extreme measures to be able to get rid of it. Ivan met not be able to see anything on you, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. You have a cloud you need to be rid of before you can decide and we all know there’s only one soul that can fix that.”
Viktor was quiet for a moment Adrik said, “she’s right. From the morning after you left with Ivan until the night she met Ilya, her eyes stayed amber and we could all feel the sadness from you through her. She couldn’t shake it. She feels everything intensely, but she also has remarkable control. She
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couldn’t shake this. She’d get mothents of relief, but they were just moments. You need to be rid of that too. It’s okay to let go. You don’t love them any less by moving on with your life. I think that’s what Kostya has been trying to help you with all along.”
Ilya stood up, walking to Viktor. He quietly put his hand on Viktor’s shoulder. “They’re right, you know.” He glanced to me and Adrik, trying to silently tell us he would take care of it. “Come on. I’ll be there the whole time,” he said as he pushed Viktor toward the door.
Once I heard the door close behind them, I said, “it’s going to take a few more days. Apparently, that’s why they were gone. Ilya was out for almost two days after Viktor fixed him. I don’t know if everyone reacts that way, but somehow I think Viktor is going to need some extra sleep.”
“How did you know?” Adrik asked.
“I could still feel his sadness. He tries to push it to the background, which is why I didn’t pick up on it all the time before. But now that I knew what to look for, I could still feel it. He’s learned ways to contain it, if you will, but it’s still there and just as strong.”
Adrik pulled me closer, kissing my temple. “We don’t always realize how lucky we are to have you.”
The other four guys walked into the penthouse, looking very concerned when they didn’t see Viktor and Ilya there. I couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t worry. We talked to them. I made Viktor fix himself before he makes a decision on whether he stays or goes. Apparently, that’s why they were gone for so long. It knocked Ilya out for a couple of days. I expect the same to happen to Viktor, so nobody panic if we don’t see them for a few more days.”
“He told you that?” Misha asked.
“No. I might’ve snooped in Ilya’s head when no one was paying attention,” Ised, grinning at him.
“Devious. I’ll allow it.”
We didn’t see Viktor or Ilya the next morning when everyone came upstairs for breakfast. We were all hoping it meant he was recovering.
“Princess, I’ve been thinking,” Ivan said, as we were cleaning up.
“Me too, but I still don’t quite know how we’re going to get our hands on that many pancakes or if red pandas even like pancakes,” I said. There was silence as they all tried to figure out just what the f u ck I was talking about. I just grinned at them as I watched their confusion.
“I’m so glad you’re back to normal now, gazelle,” Misha said, his wide smile stretching across his face.
I looked to Ivan, who still looked somewhat confused, but mostly amused. “What have you been thinking about, Squish?”
“I think there’s a way to keep what happened with Ilya from ever happening again,” he said
Sephle
“Please explain. Don’t worry about the pancakes, either. We’ll figure the logistics out later,” I said, grinning at him.
“Yeah, I’m still not even completely clear on exactly what happened with Ilya, so if you could enlighten me a little more on that, that’d be great. But, Seph, I’ve got ideas for mass production of pancakes. We’ll talk later,” Stephen said, completely straight-faced and putting his hand up to the side of his face like a phone indicating he’d call me.
Once Ivan finished laughing, he said, “you’ve always said Boss is your sword arul I’m your shield. I don’t think getting hit with Ilya’s memories and thoughts were what was too much. I think it was the cold that came with it. Eximbined with Viktor’s sadness, that was more than you could handle. I think there’s a way that I can keep that from happening again.”
Adrik walked to me, sliding his arm around my waist. “That’s why it’s always felt like Ivan’s anger is facing outward from you. So something like that can’t get to you,” he said, understanding where Ivan was going.
“Also why he puts me in a bubble, I bet,” I said. I looked to Stephen. “I’m still trying to figure out how you shared everything with me when I touched your arm. But at least I know you were trying to share everything with me. I’m not sure Ilya was trying to share everything with me. If it just randomly happened because I touched him, that’s going to make me never wht to touch anyone outside this room ever again.”
“Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,” Adrik said, smirking at me.
“Did you get everything from Ilya like you did with me?” Stephen asked.
“No, it was specific to the breakup he just went through and the relationship he had with that chick. She was really abusive to him the entire time, but it started out subtle. She wore him down over time with little manipulationis, but then it just turned into outright abuse at the end. He loved her. He started to believe all the horrible things she was saying to him and about him,” I said, thinking back to everything I’d seen and felt when I touched Ilya. I suddenly felt both Adrik and Ivan get angry. I looked up at both of them seeing their black eyes. “What was that for?” I asked, surprised.
“The sadness and darkness from those two that you couldn’t get rid of was creeping back. You said we burned it off last time, but apparently we didn’t get rid of it completely,” Ivan said.
“You guys noticed it before I did,” I said, quietly.
“Are you sure, princess? Your eyes went black when we felt it,” Ivan said.
“They did?”
“I saw your eyes go black, then Boss’s eyes changed without even needing to see yours,” Misha, who was across from us, said.
“It’s your demon trying to save you, spider monkey. It did it the other night, too,” Andrei said. “I can’t tell if it just knows that getting angry is the cure or if it’s asking Boss and Ivan for help, though.”
“How do you know that?” Ivan asked.
Andrei shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just know. But I think that’s what happened the other night. She started to struggle with everything she got from Ilya, her demon took over, and you two immediately went on offense without really knowing why.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to come up with answers when I wasn’t even really sure of the question.
“Well, we do know that Sephie can handle insane amounts of anger. In fact, I think it makes her thrive. It would somewhat make sense that the opposite of that would be more crippling for her,” Stephen said.
“I don’t know. She’s so adept at handling her own emotions that I’m still surprised she struggled to get rid of Viktor’s sadness. I think it was the combination of both. It still feels like it’s the combination,” Adrik said.
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“You can still feel it?” I asked.
“Not right now, but when you were talking about Ilya, I could. It’s very cold. It has something to do with the cold, which is why I think Ivan’s idea of him being able to stop it next time makes so much sense for you. If his anger is facing outward, it’s burning whatever is coming toward you,” he said.
“And Boss is there for anything that gets past me,” Ivan said.
“Did you notice anything on Ilya, Ivan?” Stephen asked. I could see him starting to try to connect things in his mind. Ivan shook his head no. Stephen looked to Andrei, asking him the same question.
“He was hurting, but I couldn’t see anything. When they came back, I could see his aura, but it was still dim,” Andrei said.
“What are you thinking, Yoden? Does it have to do with red pandas or pancakes?” I asked, trying to keep a straight face.
“Still pancakes, but now I’m also wondering if red pandas even like pancakes We should really find that out before we move forward with pancake production.”
I couldn’t hold my laugh in any longer. “I f uck ing love you,” I said.
“I’m still working on my theory. What do you know about the girl Ilya just broke up with? Other than her abuse toward him? Anything?” Stephen
asked.
1
“Not much, other than I’d happily kick her a ss,” I said. I was thinking back over what I’d gotten from Ilya, chewing on my lip again. When I looked up, they were all looking at me, slightly amused. I could see Ivan’s black eyes, but this time I didn’t feel his anger, nor did I feel Adrik’s. I turned to look at Adrik, whose eyes were also black.
“Did I do that again?” I asked, confused.
“Yours went black when you were thinking about the chick Ilya broke up with! You told him that she wasn’t entirely human. Your demon confirms it,”
Adrik said.
“When did you tell him that?” Misha asked.
“The morning after they got back. She was trying to make Viktor see how serious the situation was. She said it would’ve killed Ilya if he hadn’t fixed him. Ilya was apologetic, but Sephie offered to kick her as s, then told him she wasn’t exactly human and that he was lucky to get away from her.”
Adrik said.
“I was trying to be somewhat overdramatic at that moment, to be fair,” I said..
“Okay, dramatics aside, what if there was like a lingering effect from that chick still on Ilya. Like whatever demon that chick had was trying to break Ilya down enough that it could either jump to him or another demon could get into him. Ivan can’t see it because it’s not actually a demon, but we all felt the oppressive sadness from Viktor that Sephie couldn’t shake. What if it was the same sort of thing on Ilya? It just follows him around, wearing him down little by little until he’s finally weak enough that another demon con get in?” Stephen said.
“If I’ve learned anything from all this, it’s that there’s a reason for literally everything. Even knowing whether red pandas do, in fact, like pancakes. There’s a reason that Sephie got that cloud from Viktor and it looks like it was so we could figure out what happened to Ilya since neither Ivan nor 1 could see anything on him,” Andrei said, grinning at me.
“Do we know what happens when someone’s demon takes over completely and their soul either gets ejected or it dies? Does the demon stick with that body or does it jump to another one? Does it need a soul to work the body?” Stephen asked, looking at me.
“Why are you looking at me when you ask those difficult questions? I’m still working on the simple math problem of red pandas and pancakes. You jumped all the way to quantum physics,” I said.
“If one soul on one side of the universe gets ejected, does that mean a red panila on the other side of the universe also eats pancakes at the same time?” Misha asked, thoughtfully.
Adrik turned me to face him, trying to hide his smile. “You did this,” he said, pointing to Stephen and Misha.
Sephte
It was three more days before anyone saw Viktor again. After the second day Ian and I started to get worried about him, so we decided to go check. The guys knew that Viktor was at least in his apartment this time. They could see the light under the door at night, Adrik sent Andrei and Misha with
us as well.
“I think he’s fine now,” I said, teasing Adrik about being overprotective of me.Viktor lixed him. It shouldn’t be an issue this time.”
“I don’t care. You’re still not allowed to touch him and you’re taking all three of them,” he said, very firmly. “Or else you wait until my meetings are done and Ivan and I will go with you. But you’re still not allowed to touch hij He had the slightest hint of a smile creeping up one side of his mouth as he laid down his ground rules.
“You’re very cranky,” I said, walking to him. Ivan was waiting just outside the door, along with the Wonder Twins. “It makes me want to f u ck it out of you,” I thought as I made my eyes go black. His immediately changed to blackin response and I was hit with his intense desire for me.
“You do not play fair, solnishko,” he responded. He groaned quietly as he pulled me to him, kissing me deeply. I heard the elevator doors signal the arrival of his next meeting. I pulled back so I could look at his eyes. They were still black. I quickly thought about how much I loved him, trying to make mine change to blue. For the first time, I saw his change from black to normal blue. The black slowly faded into the background as the blue mixed in and slowly took over once more. He raised his eyebrow, noticing my look of wonderment.
“I just saw yours change for the first time. Now I understand why you like watch it so much,” I told him. He pressed his lips gently to mine as Stephen walked in with his next meeting.
He said, in Russian, “I love you, solnishko. Come back when you’re done.”
“How could I refuse?” I responded, in Russian. I walked out of his office, grabbing Stephen’s arm on the way out.
“You guys look like you’re about to get into trouble,” he said, still speaking Rusian. Everyone preferred Russian during the day in the office. It kept everyone else from looking too closely at me. They knew they wouldn’t be able to understand anything they were saying, so they largely ignored the guys. People still stared a little too much for my liking whenever I was with them, but I was trying to get over my aversion to the attention.
The guys, in their usual protective way, did what they do best and kept me as ut of sight as possible from everyone else.
“We’re going to check on Viktor,” I said. “He wouldn’t let me go with just Ivan I’m also not allowed to touch Ilya.” I pointed to Ivan, then Andrei, and finally Misha. “So, it’s on you three to make sure I don’t touch him. I make no promises I’ll be able to control myself.”
Stephen laughed quietly, but he agreed with Adrik. “Until we know for sure what really happened, I think that’s sage advice, Seph. I don’t think you should touch him either.”
Ivan’s giant arms wrapped around me, trapping my arms to my sides. “Okay, ncess. We’ve got it covered. Let’s go.” He started walking us toward the elevator, making me laugh.
I knocked quietly on Viktor’s door. Ilya opened the door soon after, surprised to see us all standing there. He looked even better than the last time I’d seen him. The first time I saw him, he looked much older than his actual age this time, he looked younger. Much healthier and much more vibrant. He smiled warmly when he saw us and immediately stepped back from the doc, motioning us inside.
“Viktor’s still sleeping, but please come in,” he said.
“Has he been asleep this whole time?” I asked.
Ilya nodded. “I was out for two days straight. I kind of expect Viktor to sleep nger. He’s been carrying around so much grief for so many years that I think it might take him longer. We’ve been trying to get him to move past this for so many years and he wouldn’t do it.” He looked straight at me. “We didn’t know we just needed to give him orders,” he said, smiling.
“I did not give him orders,” I said, crossing my arms across my chest.
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“No, that tracks, gazelle. I believe you gave him orders,” Misha sall, grinding
I glared at Misha for a moment, before turning back to Ilya. “How
you? You look much better than the last time I saw you”
“I feel much better. You were right when you told Vitya that it would’ve killed. I came here to say goodbye,” he said. As soon as he said the woods,
sat a low level for now I could feel his anger, but I immediately felt Ivan’s bubble go up around
“You take my hearing away when you put your bubble up, so you have to let me hen this way, “I told Ivan. He nodded discreetly, but kept his focus on
Ilva
everything you felt. That’s what happened when I shook your hand. I quite a lot. Maybe more than most. Between the grief and
“Ilya, I saw everything she did to you, everything she said to you, and I also don’t know how much Viktor has told you about me, about us, but I can hang
ling what you’ve been carrying around, it almost broke me. I don’t overwhelming sadness that your brother has been carrying around and then
said, I wild still see Ilya clearly, but I could only hear what Ivan heard while his break easily. What you were dealing with would’ve broken anyone,” bubble was up around me. Ilya was struggling with his memories. I put my hals in my pockets because the urge to comfort him was growing stronger. I glanced to Andrei, tapping my temple, then cutting my eyes toward Hya. He understood immediately.
“You have to stop blaming yourself, man. What you were dealing with wasn’t st any chick,” Andrei said after a quick snoop in Ilya’s head. “The more you keep blaming yourself, the more you think about how bad you got, the easier it will be for all that to come back to you. You’ll end up like Viktor You’ll carry that pain around for so long that you don’t know how to live witjut it,” he said.
“I can’t say we’ve all been there, but we all do things we regret at some poin Learn from it. Never let it happen again. And count yourself lucky you got away from this one. I didn’t see everything Sephie saw, but I saw what you looked like before Viktor fixed you. You got a second chance, man, Don’t waste it,” Misha said.
Ilya was chewing on his thumb nail as we talked, looking at the floor. He was geniet for a few minutes, then he looked up at all of us. A small smile crept across his face. “I can see why Vitya is so fond of all of you. I think he jaks about you guys more than he talks about me and Sasha. You’ve all been very good for him.”
On the elevator back to Adrik’s office, I asked Ivan if he felt anything before put his bubble up.
“You didn’t?” he asked me..
“No. I assume there was more darkness, but he said quite possibly the sadd est sentence ever spoken and I immediately felt your bubble, but nothing else. I’m either assuming that he’s got nerves of steel now or neither of our es went black during that conversation, too. He never reacted if they did,” I said.
“Ivan cuts you off from us, too,” Misha said. “I could feel you when we first go there, but then nothing until we left. I didn’t realize it was him until just now.”
“Same for me,” Andrei said.
I looked to Ivan. “I wonder if you can adjust it next time?”
He thought for a minute. “I’m sure there’s a way. I just have to figure it out.”
“But we do know it worked. I didn’t feel anything overwhelming from Ilya this time. I could tell he was still struggling when he’d think about it, but I felt nothing. Overall, I think he’s much better than the last time I saw him,” aid.
Before the doors to the elevator opened, Andrei stood in front of me as Misha picked me up so I could hitch a ride. “I did notice you had to put your hands in your pockets, gazelle. I was ready to smack your hand away, just in case,” he said, laughing.
“You have no idea how difficult that was for me,” I said, dramatically.
Sephie
Stephen walked out of Adrik’s office with his last meeting of the day just as we were walking up. He said quietly, in Russian, “I’ll be right back. Don’t
start without me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I answered, giving him a wink while still on Andrei’s back.
Adrik was smiling when he saw me still hitching a ride on Andrei. “How did it go?” he asked. He visibly relaxed when he saw me smile at him.
“I almost had to karate chop her hands away to keep her from touching Ilya, but she managed to control herself,” Misha said, pretending to slice through the air. Adrik looked at me, his eyebrow raised, like he was deciding whether to be angry or amused. I hopped down from Andrei’s back and
went to him.
“What? He’s still struggling when he has to talk about everything. I got the urge to comfort him,” I said. Adrik decided on angry, as his eyes switched to black. “I didn’t do it,” I said emphatically, as I wrapped my arms around his waist, unable to keep from laughing at his overprotective side.
Stephen walked back in a few moments later. He stopped briefly when he saw drik’s eyes, looking back to the office that was still full of people. He didn’t say a word, he just closed the door behind him. When he turned back to face us, he said, “villagers. I’m still a little jumpy about villagers.”
“We’ve confiscated the pitchforks. This is a pitchfork free zone. We should be fine, Yoden,” I said, smiling at him. My eyes switched to green, which made Adrik’s eyes go back to normal. Ivan’s too. He didn’t even know why his were changing, they were just there for support.
“I take it Viktor is still sleeping?” Adrik asked.
“Yeah, he’s been out this whole time. Ilya thought he might need longer than he did even,” Andrei said.
“And you said Ilya is still struggling?” Adrik asked, pulling me with him to one of the couches.
“Only when he talks about it, I think. He looks much better overall,” I said.
“Sephie was right, though, when she said it would’ve killed him if Viktor had fixed him. He told us he came here to say goodbye to Viktor,” Misha said. We heard Stephen curse under his breath.
This time, I felt the darkness creeping back in before I felt Adrik and Ivan send me their anger. It still surprised the Wonder Twins and Stephen, who all three looked at me when they felt it. I did get some enjoyment out of the looks on their faces as they tried to understand how I could operate with those levels of anger.
“See? Now I’m glad I closed the door. Could you imagine needing a signature for your expense report and walking in on that?” Stephen said pointing. to me, Adrik, and Ivan. I giggled as I pulled Adrik’s arms around me tighter.
Adrik looked to Ivan, “did that happen when you were with Ilya?”
“It started, but my idea worked. She didn’t feel anything from him. I cut her a from the Wonder Twins too, though. And apparently, I also cut her hearing off, but now she can listen through my head, which seemed perfectly formal to me at the time, but now sounds weird to say out loud.” Ivan said.
“Normal is relative anyway, Squish,” I said, grinning at him.
“It happened when Ilya told Sephie she was right and that he came to say goodbye, Same as just now,” Andrei said.
“That must be how the demons are getting in. It wears you down so much that you feel completely hopeless,” Stephen said.
“I think you might be right, Yoden. I do think he’s much better now, but I also think he’s still at risk of having it come back. Can you see if he shakes it off for good, Misha?” I asked.
He got his faraway look in his eye as he was checking possible outcomes. He looked back to me, saying, “he looks fine eventually. I think it’ll just take
time.”
“I think he needs to hear what you and Bubba said to him about a million more times, too,” I said. I looked between the two of them, grinning. “It must be such a burden to be so incredibly handsome and so wise at the same time.”
“I mean, some days, yes. Most days, no,” Andrei said, cutting his eyes over at ne.
I could feel Adrik’s chest vibrate as he laughed quietly. He looked back at Ivan, asking, “did you mean to cut her off from those two or it just happened that way?”
“It’s always been that way. You’re the only one he’s never cut me off from,” I said. “But I think he might be able to adjust it next time. We should go check on him again tomorrow. We can experiment.” Ivan’s devious grin spread across his face as he agreed.
The next day was a weekend day, so all of us went to check on Ilya and Viktor Adrik wanted to see for himself how well Ivan’s bubble worked. “I guess I’ll see if that poor kid really does have nerves of steel now or if our eyes just didn’t change yesterday,” I said as we walked to Viktor’s door.
Ilya was happy to see us all again. He was even happier to see the food I brought him. “Vitya won’t shut up about your cooking. It’s a good thing our mother isn’t here. She’d be jealous,” he said, his warm smile on his face.
“He does look better than the last time we saw him,” Adrik thought as he watchel Ilya.
“I’m assuming Viktor is still dead to the world?” I asked.
“He woke up for a few minutes last night. He looked better, but he went right back to sleep and hasn’t woken up since,” he said.
I felt Adrik’s arm around my waist, pulling me gently, but firmly, against him saw Ivan catch his eye, too. “And how are you, Ilya? You look better than the last time I saw you,” he said.
Ilya smiled, but we could all see the struggle still behind his eyes. I felt Adrik grip on me get tighter and felt Ivan’s bubble go up immediately before Ilya even had a chance to answer.
“I’ll be your interpreter for the duration of this visit,” Ivan said to both me and drik. We could hear him laughing in his head, but his face was completely serious and he kept his focus on Ilya.
Ilya looked at Adrik, surprise was evident on his face. He took a step back, which let me know that our eyes had likely changed.
Andrei glanced at us, noticing it too. “Don’t be worried, Ilya. You still have sonjething hanging around you. They can feel it. That’s going to keep happening until you finally get rid of it. It’s not directed at you. It’s directed at whatever is trying to break you down,” he said.
“It’s still alarming,” Ilya said, fear evident in his voice.
“Alarming is a nice way to put it, yes,” Stephen said, stepping closer to Ilya. But if you consider that they’re trying to help you by figuring out what the hell it is that’s hanging around you, then it’s much easier to stomach. The just have unique methods.” We all laughed at Stephen’s explanation, but it was Andrei who looked between Stephen and Ilya, with wide eyes.
“Is this the first time you’ve spoken in front of Ilya?” he asked Stephen..
“I think so, yes,” Stephen said, looking very confused.
Andrei looked back to me and Adrik, then to Ivan. “Boss, I think Stephen just literally made whatever it was leave. Ivan,” he said, indicating for Ivan to lower his bubble. “You both are really quick at catching it, so she’ll be fine if it comes back, but I want to see if she can feel the difference now.”
I felt Ivan’s bubble slowly retracting. Adrik kept a firm hold on my waist. I could feel both of them smoldering, just in case. I looked at Andrei, nodding once to let him know Ivan had removed his bubble. He then looked at Ilya and said, “Ilya, tell us again how you are since the last time Boss has seen
you.”
This time, it was still evident that he was carrying things he was going to have to continue to work on, but the darkness was gone. Ilya hadn’t even
2/3
spoken yet, but I could tell he felt it too. “You can tell too, can’t you? That heavy darkness that has been following you is gone now?” I asked him.
His eyes were as wide as they could possibly be as he looked at all of us. He stood up a little straighter, like he felt lighter. “I feel…better,” he said, like he still wasn’t quite sure. We watched as he took internal inventory of his body, then a wide smile stretched across his face. “Yeah. Definitely better.”
*Your mind didn’t immediately jump to your breakup this time. You thought about you for the first time since anyone has asked you that question,”
Andrei said.
*Keep it that way, man. Whatever it was that was on you can still come back, but you have to let it. You’re in charge again. Which means you’re in charge of your own thoughts, too. Thinking about what just happened to you in any other context than trying to learn from it and heal from it will roll out the red carpet for it to come back,” Misha said.
Ilya’s wide smile spread across his face as he thanked all of us. We all watched as his light grew even brighter in front of us.
Adrik
As we walked back into the penthouse, Vitaliy and Aleksei greeted us. With ich day that passed, I grew more surprised that my father was still in the city. He’d never stayed more than three days since handing everything over to me. It was close to two months that he’d been here this time.
“You all look like something just happened,” Vitaliy said as we walked in.
Sephie glanced at him, then at me. “I see where your observation skills come from,” she said, her sweet smile across her face. “We just went to check on Viktor again. As it turns out, Stephen’s mere presence was enough to make whatever has been on him leave.”
“Not his presence, spider monkey. He was here the other night. It was when he spoke,” Andrei corrected her.
“I know. But it sounds way more dramatic my way, so I’m sticking with that, she said, grinning at him.
“You had the same thing happen again that happened the other night, sladkay?” Vitaliy asked.
She shook her head no. “Nope, Ivan puts up a bubble around me. It couldn’t in again. Both he and Adrik also feel it faster than I do now, so they burn it off right away.”
“But Stephen made it leave?” he asked.
“Yeah, apparently I’m not warm and fuzzy enough for whatever was on him.was just trying to be helpful, but it was not appreciated,” Stephen said, trying to come across as offended. We could all see his sly smile turning up one corner of his mouth though.
Vitaliy chuckled. I said, “we have been told that now that Stephen has his gift, the fear is going to increase from any demons we encounter. I’m still not convinced it was actually a demon that was on him, because Ivan couldn’t see anything, but whatever it clearly knew who Stephen was. As soon as he spoke to Ilya, it left.”
“How do you know?” Vitaliy asked.
“I could feel it,” Andrei said. “I can’t feel it the same way Sephie does, but I Enew it was there. As soon as Stephen started talking, it changed. It was like it got scared and then it was suddenly not there anymore.”
I caught Sephie smiling at Andrei as he talked. It was obvious that she was proud of him and was enjoying watching him evolve and get better with his gift. He was quickly becoming much more confident. He stepped in right away the first night Ilya was here to help diffuse what could’ve been a very volatile situation. He also stood up to Viktor when his anger got the best of him. I’d never seen Andrei stand up to any of the other guys that way before. It was nice to see. He was stepping into his own.
“What about when Ivan put his bubble up this time? Did he cut her off from you two this time too?” I asked.
“It wasn’t the same as last time,” Misha said. “Last time, he cut her completely off. Like I couldn’t feel anything. This time, I could feel her, it just wasn’t as strong as it usually is.”
“Same for me,” Andrei said.
“Since I didn’t experience the complete cutoff, I’m just going to agree here. Honestly, I didn’t notice either way. I’m still trying to figure out the pancake paradox,” Stephen said.
“What did you do differently, Squish?” Sephie asked, grinning at Stephen.
“Mostly just tried to include them in the bubble this time. I don’t think they were all the way in, since they could hear everything going on like normal. Or else it doesn’t affect their hearing the way it does yours,” Ivan said.
“Does it affect your hearing as well?” Vitaliy asked me.
430
I nodded. “It’s harder to hear anything outside the bubble. I can still hear Ivan I can still hear Sephie. Everything else is very m uff led. We can both hear through Ivan now though, so it doesn’t matter,” I said.
Stephen suddenly inhaled. “Because that’s how Sephie prefers to read people. She has other ways, but her preferred method is to hear them speak. Ivan hides that, making her look like a normal human once again. Did your eyes change the first time you went to see Ilya?” Stephen asked Sephie.
“I don’t think so. He didn’t react to them that time, if they did,” Sephie said.
“I don’t think they did. The darkness from Ilya wasn’t as strong the first time. She didn’t even feel it that time. I’m still trying to figure out how I felt it before she did, to be honest,” Ivan said.
“It was a threat to her. Makes sense you’d pick up on it quickly after that very first time when she couldn’t handle it,” Stephen said. “Andrei, if you could feel it, did you notice anything different once Ivan put his bubble around Sephie? Either time?”
“It backed off the first time. The second time, you made it leave soon after,” Andrei said.
“And then a red panda on the other side of the universe got its pancake,” Misha said, somehow managing to keep a straight face.
We all laughed, but Vitaliy just looked at Misha like he was quite possibly the dumbest person he’d ever met. Vitaliy looked back at me, a questioning look on his face. “Your men should not be sampling the product, son,” he said seriously, which only served to make us laugh harder.
“Vitaliy, if you haven’t figured out by now, most of the dumb s hit we all say orginated with me. It’s my fault. Misha’s still clean as a whistle,” Sephie said, trying to gain control, but still having fits of laughter.
Vitaliy still didn’t look as amused as the rest of us, instead choosing to steer the conversation to more serious matters. “And what of Armando? What are you doing with him?”
We all straightened up at the mention of Armando, the mood now as serious as Vitaliy. “He’s still alive. Stephen is going to break him eventually.” I
said.
“Why not kill him?” Vitaliy asked. He hadn’t been present for the conversations about Stephen’s gift and the ultimate outcome for the souls he would save by using it.
Sephie inhaled deeply. She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at Vitaliy, now without a trace of the humor and joy that were visible just a moment ago. “Because if Adrik kills him, that soul never learns the lesson it was trying to avoid by taking in the demon in the first place. It comes back, makes the same mistakes all over and more innocent people die in the next go around. If Stephen breaks him, that soul is locked in his body, with the demon, neither of them having control and both of them being tortured in ways we couldn’t fathom until Armando’s body dies. Armando is young. He’s healthy. His body is going to live a very long life, meaning that so will endure a lifetime of torture and will never forget that lesson.”
Vitaliy was looking down at his hands as she explained the reason to him. When he looked up at her, he looked surprised. Misha, who was standing in between them, could see her eyes and understood the meaning behind his look. “Purple means universal truth. That’s the latest color to appear. No one wants to argue with the Universe, so Armando is up to Stephen to take care of,” he said.
“When does this happen?” Vitaliy asked, still staring at Sephie’s eyes.
She looked at Stephen, who looked back at her wide-eyed for a moment before regaining his expert control of his facial expressions. “You’re absolutely right. I am feeling haughty after seeing Ilya. Vlad is making progress with customs. He’ll be here soon. I’m going to need to show him my portfolio. I’m ready when you are.”
Sephie laughed, then looked at me. “You’re okay with Stephen breaking him she asked silently.
“Not really, but I won’t stop it. Like Misha said, I’ll argue with you. I’m not arguing with the Universe.” I responded.
“Yoden, what do you think you need from me to make it happen?” Sephie asked Stephen.
“Bold of you to assume I’d know that answer,” he said.
King of the Underworld
Adrik
Sephie could feel my anger starting to rise over talk of Armando. I still didn’t want her to ever have to see him again. Everyone noticed my eyes go black, which then triggered Ivan and Sephie’s eyes as well.
“We can find a way to make it all happen without Sephie being there. Maybe can be his battery instead of her,” Andrei said, trying to keep me calm.
“That might work, actually,” Ivan said. “We send everything to her, she sends it to Andrei, then Stephen uses him instead of her.”
Sephie had walked to my side when she felt my anger coming on, trying to help me remain calm. “That could work,” she said, chewing on her lip.
“What are you thinking, princess?” Ivan asked, silently. “You’re not convinced.”
“I don’t know yet. Something doesn’t feel right about that. It doesn’t feel right about me helping Stephen either, for the record, so don’t yell at me for trying to find a way to make that happen. I’m not,” she responded. Ivan couldn’t keep the laugh in. Everyone knew he was having another conversation with Sephie that they weren’t privy to.
“She’s trying to figure it out. She said something feels off about Andrei helping, but she said it also feels off if she helps. She told us not to yell at her,” I said, kissing her temple.
Misha got his faraway look in his eye for a moment. He looked right at me when he came back to the present. “It needs to be you, Boss. I don’t think Sephie needs to help at all, either. You’ve got enough “f u ck you” power when it comes to Armando that Stephen won’t need anyone else.” Sephie -looked at Misha as he was talking. His wide smile stretched across his face. “Sephie agrees,” he said, pointing to her.
I turned her around so I could look at her. Her purple eyes were the first thing saw. “That settles that then,” I said.
Stephen, who had been quiet for most of this conversation stood up and walked over to Sephie. “When you helped me with my sisters, I gave you all of my memories of them so you could give it back to them. Only I didn’t know it was me, but whatever. I’m going to need you to do that with your memories of Armando. I don’t have enough on my own to break him. I need your memories too.” He looked at her seriously. “I need everything, Seph, which means you’re going to have to uncover it one last time.”
I could feel her starting to worry, but she was so far keeping it under control. “How did you package it up for me? And whenever I give it to you is when you’re breaking Armando. You’re not walking around with all of that for any longer than you have to,” she said.
Stephen looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “We can do it now, if you want to. One less thing for me to worry about,” I said.
He looked back to Sephie. “Think about taking everything, the memories, the Belings, even the way your body shakes in response to being alone now, and putting all of that into a container to give to me. I especially want you to concentrate on the fear you still struggle with containing. He needs to feel that. He needs to know that feeling intimately for the rest of his days.” He was watching her as he was talking. I was fairly sure her eyes were swirling, as her emotions were all over the place and Stephen couldn’t look away.
I turned her to face me, pulling her completely in front of me. Her hands immediately began to fidget with the buttons on my shirt. “We can do it whenever you’re ready, love. It doesn’t have to be now,” I said softly. “Ivan and the Wonder Twins can stay with you up here and then I’ll be right back. Somehow I don’t think it’s going to take long.”
Her brow furrowed. I could feel her body literally disagreeing with me. “No, give him everything outside the room. I’m telling you, he doesn’t need to hold on to this very long. They can stay with me outside the room, but I at least need to go that far. Ivan can put his bubble up and cut me off from hearing anything.” I glanced to Misha, who confirmed what she’d just said.
She glanced back at Stephen. “Do you want to do it now?”
“No time like the present to go fumbling through the dark,” Stephen said, grinning at her. She looked at everyone else, who were all in agreement to make it happen now.
“Do you want my hatred for Giana too? I mean, I want to make sure you have enough material,” Misha asked, grinning at Stephen.
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Outside the room where we kept Armando, Ivan told the guards to take a very long break, then cut the cameras off once they were gone. Sephie still felt nervous, but also determines). On the elevator down, I caught her silently talking to Andrei. They had a signal they gave each other to indicate the other should fish in their head. Once we were outside the room, she glanced at him, then looked at Stephen.
“Yoden, I’m really sorry for what I’m about to give you,” she said. She looked at falters
me, then to Ivan. “If he there, do what you did with me the other night with Ilya. He might not, because he can handle cold much easier than I can, but just in case, you need to send him everything right away.”
She looked at Stephen, saying, “if you do falter, it’s going to come after you as last-ditch effort. Let them protect you the same way they would me. It’s going to feel like you get hit with a wall of fire, but just remember to breathe.”
She stepped away from me, taking Stephen’s hand and puling him with her. She dropped his hand and took in a deep breath. “Give me a second,” she said, closing her eyes.
I could feel everything she was going through as she relived everything with mando. It was brief, but it was intense. All the fear, the betrayal, the heartbreak both for her and for Giana, the anger, she went through all of it trying to contain it to give it to Stephen. “I’m sorry,” she said as she grabbed his hand.
let
Stephen doubled over like someone had just suc ker punched him in the stomach, letting out something between a loud exhale and a groan. She didn’t
go of his hand, trying to help him stay upright. I could see tears streaming down her face as she watched him feel everything she had felt. He sucked in a sharp breath, standing up. His face was red and his eyes were somewhat wild. It almost looked like his bloodlust was coming to the surface. It took him a moment of holding onto Sephie before he finally gained some of his composure back. He looked to Misha, saying, “I’ve got plenty, dude. We’ll figure out what to do with your hatred for Giana later.”
Sephie tried to smile, but it only made more tears fall. He looked back at her putting his hand on her cheek. “Don’t worry, Seph. I can handle it. You shouldn’t have to anymore,” he said, kissing her forehead. He glanced at me and motioned toward the room where Armando was being kept.
Ivan walked to Sephie, wrapping his massive arms around her. I watched her hide her face in his chest as we closed the door behind us. Once she was out of sight, I let my anger take over. Stephen needed it to break Armando and I wanted Armando’s last conscious moments to be nothing but terror as he looked at my black eyes.
Adrik
Armando’s eyes got wider as he took in the sight before him. Stephen was intimidating in his own right when his bloodlust took over. Then you add in me and I’m surprised Armando didn’t p iss himself. I had been keeping him restrained, mostly just because I still had moments where I couldn’t get the image of Sephie with her wrists tied behind her out of my head and I wanted him to know that discomfort as long as possible.
I would give him periodic breaks from it. Just when he got used to not being restrained, that’s when I’d have him tied to the chair again for days on end. His memory had never been the best. I wanted to make sure he could easily remember the feeling.
Now, however, he was on a break. He was free to move away from us, but his fisir kept him firmly in place. He was frozen in the chair, his eyes shifting nervously from me to Stephen and back again. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.
Stephen was staying remarkably calm, despite struggling with everything Seph had just given him. He walked closer to Armando, “Do you want to know what’s about to happen?” he asked. Anytime Stephen would use psychology as a weapon, his voice got a certain tone to it. Almost like he was mocking the person, but in the most sinister way possible.
Armando kept looking between me and Stephen, which caused Stephen to glance back at me. “Oh, I know what you want to know first. You want to know why his eyes are black. Allow me to explain. You see, you made a deal with a demon. There’s a very slight chance you might not have known you did, as intelligence was never your strongest attribute, but it was ultimately because you’re so weak that you couldn’t fight off the evil. Either way, you have a demon that’s been riding you for years.” Armando kept looking at me while Stephen was talking. His eyes were pleading with me to save him as some part of him realized what was about to happen.
Stephen continued, “now you shouldn’t feel too bad about being such weak stace that a demon got in. Happens to lots of people. Happened to Boss, as a matter of fact. The only difference is, Boss made his demon work for him. Which makes him infinitely more powerful than you’ll ever be.” Stephen paused to let Armando comprehend what he’d just said. “See, your soul tried to take the easy way out of life. It tried to s kip ahead quite a few levels, but it did so in the most evil way possible. It meant that innocent people had to die, which can’t go unpunished. That’s where I come in. My job is to make sure your soul spends the rest of your very long life learning to never, ever do that again. I’m going to make sure neither one of you leave that body until that body dies from very, very old age.”
As Stephen was talking, I was watching Armando watching me. I couldn’t see his demon, but I knew it was there. I could feel it. I could feel when it took over and stepped forward. Armando’s eyes went black as well. If it caught Stephen off-guard, he didn’t show it. Armando laughed. He looked at Stephen, his expression dripping with hatred. “You’re not strong enough to do that,” he said. “You don’t have enough power to do that to me. You
have no idea who I am.”
Stephen was quiet for a minute, like he was having second thoughts. He crossed his arms across his chest, looking at Armando. He walked right in front of him, bending down so he was eye-level to him, saying, “why do you think I brought him too, dum bass?”
When Armando realized the full meaning of what Stephen had just said, he tried to quickly get away from Stephen. Stephen anticipated it and caught Armando by the throat, throwing him back down in the chair. “Did I say you uld leave?” he asked, his anger now clearly visible. Armando coughed a few times, trying to weigh his options.
Stephen stepped back from Armando. He glanced quickly at me, then looked back at Armando. “Just as a courtesy, I’m going to give you something to keep you in your seat before we get started,” he said. I knew he was asking for my anger. I was more than happy to provide it.
Sephie had explained how she pushed her anger to Andrei and Misha when they fought Vitaliy’s guys. She was right. It was more difficult to send to anyone other than her. My anger was a complete raging inferno but I saw Stephen’s sly grin turn up one side of his mouth when he felt it.
I watched as Armando’s eyes changed back to normal and a look of horror cane over his face. He was seeing something I couldn’t see. I wasn’t sure if Stephen could see it or not, but much like Stephen’s sisters, Armando was frozen in place. His hands gripped the arms of the chair he was in, like he was on the edge of a cliff trying to save himself. His knuckles turned white. Every muscle in his body tensed as he was trying to not see what was being shown to him.
Stephen took a deep breath, looking back to me once more. “That was just the warm-up. Keep it coming. It’s clearly working,” he said.
I cranked up the inferno as high as it would go and concentrated on pushing it all to Stephen. I always wondered if there was a limit to my anger. Would I ever hit the end of it? Would it run out? Judging by what I was feeling at the moment, that answer was very clearly no. The more I concentrated on keeping my anger as high as possible, the more it responded and the hotter it burned.
1/2
Stephen turned back to Armando. One last time, we saw his eyes go black as his demon tried to think of a way out, but his body wasn’t responding to its demands. There was already a clear disconnect between Armando’s soul and his body. The demon was powerless. Stephen hit him with more memories from Sephie and Armando let out a blood-curdling scream. It was the last sound he made.
As Stephen gave everything back to Armando that he’d done to Sephie, I could clearly see the light behind his eyes go out. There was nobody home any longer.
Stephen turned back to me after a few moments. “It’s done,” he said, almost like he was surprised it had worked.
Surprisingly, my anger dissipated easily. Almost instantly, even. Stephen caught my look of surprise and laughed. “I’m as surprised as you that all that went away so quickly,” he said. “You’ve never been so angry before. I could’ve broken ten Armando’s and you still would’ve had plenty leftover.”
“Yeah, that was different,” I said. “What about you? You good? You gave it all to him? Nothing leftover?”
He looked at me, with wide eyes. He stepped closer so he could talk quietly. Before he spoke he tapped his temple, like he was asking if anyone else was listening in. “Just us,” I said.
“Boss, I don’t know how she’s been walking around with all of that. She gave nie everything from the attack on her and Misha, to the ball, to the first kidnapping attempt, and then everything from the second. Just the pain alone from when she was hurt was enough to break him, not to mention everything she felt on top of that. Much like your anger, I could’ve broken ten Armando’s and still had leftover. He’s never getting away from all of that for the rest of his days,” he said, somewhat satisfied,
I put my hand on his shoulder, pushing him toward the door. “You did good, kid. I’m proud of you.”
As he opened the door, he said, “you know, I’m proud of me too. I can finally use my hatred for people to do some good in this world.”
Sephie, who still had her face hidden in Ivan’s chest heard him and giggled. $he didn’t turn around immediately and now that my anger had dissipated, I could feel her emotional turmoil. Ivan kept his arms around her, lightly rubbing her back with his thumbs/
“How did it go?” Andrei asked.
“Not as violently as I was expecting. His demon underestimated me, so there wasn’t as much fighting back as I was hoping for, which is slightly disappointing,” Stephen said.
Sephie sighed and went to turn around, which made Ivan loosen his grip on her. She still looked troubled, but she was curious. “It worked to use Adrik?” she asked..
“Yeah, he’s all the battery I would ever need. Dude’s got fire for days,” he said. As he answered her, I was hit with her warmth. Her smile stretched across her face and she walked quickly to me.
“It was harder to send it to him versus you at first, but it worked. It got easier the longer I did it,” I said, kissing her temple.
“He also turned it off immediately when we were done. Not gonna lie, I was worried about that in the moment. I’ve never seen him so angry and be able to turn it off like that,” Stephen said.
Sephie wrapped her arms around my waist. “You’re finally learning how useful of a tool it is,” she said as she hid her face in my shoulder.
I looked at Ivan, asking. “she didn’t hear anything?” He shook his head no at the same time that she did. “Come. Let us be gone from this place,” I said, pulling Sephie with me.
Adrik
Sephie stayed quiet the rest of the evening, but she felt happy. I caught Stepbe away from everyone else while Misha was distracting Sephie. “When you gave everything to your sisters, what did it do to you?” I asked.
“I was crazy tired that next day, but otherwise felt much better. She’ll feel better soon. I’ve known that she feels things intensely for a long time, but knowing it and feeling just how intensely she feels things are two very different things. She’s probably going to need to sleep most of the day tomorrow,” he said.
“What about you? Are you extra tired after doing that again?”
He thought for a moment. “No, actually I feel really good. I think it’s leftover from your f uck you boost,” he said, laughing quietly.
“Good. That also means you’re getting better at handling the extra. It’s a good sign. Likely means you’re going to level up soon.”
He thought for a moment. “I have no idea how my gift would level up. Do I to choose? Can I literally rip the demon out of the person and crush it next time? I’d sign up for that.”
I looked at him, trying not to laugh at where his mind went. “This break from time with him. It’s really increased your creativity. I have contacts at customs
lad has been good for you. I think you were spending a little too much might delay him a little longer.”
Stephen was normally very understated. He would laugh, but he was always gulet about it. It was a rare occasion when we could get him to laugh foudly, especially in a group setting. He laughed so loudly that everyone else stopped talking and looked at him, completely surprised that he’d done
50.
Sephie’s wide smile stretched across her face. I knew she’d fished in my head to find out what made him laugh. For a moment, she looked brighter. I was hopeful after some extra rest she could continue to look brighter.
That night, once we were alone, I asked her about her and Andrei’s method of talking to each other. “Me and Ivan aren’t the only ones you can talk to without actually speaking,” I said, grinning at her.
She cut her eyes over at me. “How did you know?”
“I saw your signal to each other. You’re very discreet. I don’t think anyone else has caught on,” I said. “What did you need to tell him?”
“I asked him to keep an eye on Stephen. I was worried about his confidence. I wasn’t sure how strong Armando’s demon would be and I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to feel if he started to hesitate about his abilities. I was trying to cover all the bases,” she said, climbing into bed while she waited for
me.
I turned off the light and grabbed the remote for the blinds, closing them part way before climbing in beside her. “I don’t know if it will always remain so, but his confidence was definitely not an issue this time. We saw the demon step forward. It grossly underestimated Stephen,” I said. I opened my arms for her to lie across my chest. She sighed and snuggled in as close to me as possible. I knew it wouldn’t take her long to fall asleep. “How are you, solnishko? You’ve been quieter than usual.”
“I’m really tired, but I think I’m okay. Kinda feels like what I would imagine hangover feels like,” she said.
I laughed. “You’ve never had a hangover?” I asked, surprised.
“I’ve never had alcohol,” she said quietly. “I saw the worst of it and the supposed good side of it didn’t seem worth it to me.”
I held her a little tighter. “You’re not missing anything at all. I love you a little more because of it.”
Her soft laugh was the last thing I heard before she quickly fell asleep.
I woke quite late the next morning. Sephie was still in her favorite spot across my chest, sound asleep. She was mumbling quietly, but her fingers were
playing lightly on my chest. She felt like she was still happily steeping. I ran my hands through her hair, which still cwierd her to make bey DANAY cooing noises and snuggle in to me closer.
I watched her sleep for a little longer, then finally decided to get up. It was close to noon, which never happened for me. Maybe I used a little more energy than I thought last night.
“Boss, you two okay? Did you get capped again?” I heard Ivan asking after I had been up for a few minutes.
“Apparently so. She’s still sleeping. Stephen said it made him really tired after he broke his sisters, so he expected Sephte to sleep later today,” I told him. I walked back to the bed to check to see if she was shaking yet and she wasn’t for the first time since her and Ivan were taken, she was sleeping on bet own without shaking. “I think he fixed her shaking problem. I got out of bed a few minutes ago and it hasn’t started yet.”
“That’s impressive. That hasn’t happened since she and I were grobbed. Although Andrel’s going to be really disappointed. I think he looked forward to extra naps.”
“We’ll see if it sticks before we tell him, “I said, laughing. “Has anyone seen Vikrur yet?”
“Yeah, he’s awake now. He and Ilya came upstairs not too long ago. When you tap didn’t wake up, we moved back downstairs. Let us know when the princess wakes up. Viktor wants to see her,” he said.
“Will do. I half expect her to wake up soon just because she can tell he’s awake now.”
I climbed back in bed with her, pulling her back on my chest. She moaned softly and I felt her start to stir. I ran my hand over her scarred back, letting my fingers trace along her scars. She’d told me that her scars were mostly numb because of the extensive damage, but when I traced my fingers along them, she could feel it. She said she liked it when I did it, as it made her back feel more like normal because she could actually feel something
“Good morning,” she said, her voice hoase from sleep. She didn’t pick her head up to look at me. I could feel she was still tired.
“How do you feel? You’re still tired,” I asked. I felt her nod her head against iny chest.
“You’re the one that did everything and I’m the one that’s exhausted. It doesn’t make sense,” she said, pressing her body, closer to mine.
“You still had to unpack everything for Stephen, which meant you had to go through it again. Even if it was brief, you still had to do it. But I do think it might’ve fixed you not being able to sleep by yourself. I was out of bed for several minutes and you never started shaking,” I told her.
“Really?” she asked. She finally picked her head up to look at me. She was definitely still tired.
“Yeah, I was just as surprised as you,” I said, grinning at her still sleepy eyes. I moved her hair out of her face as she rested her chin on my chest. My fingers traced lightly over her face, which caused her to close her eyes. She had a small smile on her face as she enjoyed my touch.
She was quiet for long enough that I was beginning to wonder if she fell back sleep again, but she asked, “has anybody seen Viktor yet?”
“Yeah, Ivan said he’s awake now. He and Ilya showed up a little while ago, but they moved back downstairs when we didn’t wake up.”
She sighed. “Guess I should get up then.” I could feel her reluctance to move and couldn’t keep from laughing at her. “You don’t have to, solnishko. You’re clearly still tired.”
“I am still tired. But I want to check on Yoden. And I would like to not feel awkward about Viktor again, so I need to get that out of the way, even though I’m happy to just keep avoiding it for a while longer,” she said. She sounded almost irritated when she brought up Viktor, which had never happened before.
“You can avoid him for as long as you like. You’ve never once been irritated with any of them, but you’re clearly irritated with him.”
She sighed again. “I know. I shouldn’t be though. I think being irritated with hon is easier than admitting I’m hurt he spent so much energy avoiding me,” she said. She’d closed her eyes again, but it didn’t stop the tears from escaping down her cheeks.
My breath caught as I felt her sadness. It was at least her sadness this time and it wasn’t nearly as oppressive as what she’d felt from him, but I found it made me angry that she was feeling it. She felt the shift in my mood and opened her eyes. They switched from amber to black as soon as she looked
433
at me. She searched my eyes, a small smile on her face. “I know it’s not Viktor’s fault, but I do love that you’re even willing to kick his a ss for me.”
“Not just me. They’re all willing to kick his a ss over losing his temper with you. I don’t envy the position he’s in right now. It’s going to take some time for him to make it up to everyone.”
Sephie
“Where are you guys? I asked Ivan once Adrik and I were amongst the living once more.
“We’re all in my apartment, princess. How are you? Still tired. I can feel you’re still tired,” he responded.
“Yeah, I told Adrik last night I knew what a hangover was like, this was probably it. How’s Viktor?”
“He’s a lot better. He wants to see you. He knows he has making up to do. Are you guys up now? Want us to come up?”
“No, I want a change of scenery for once. At least until it’s time for dinner. How’s Stephen? He’s okay to you? He feels f ucking fantastic to me, if I’m being
honest.”
I heard Ivan laughing. “He is f ucking fantastic, princess. I don’t know if he’s still ugh off Boss’s anger or what, but he’s the happiest I’ve ever seen him. It’s really good to see. That kid deserves it.”
“Yeah, he does. Okay, be down in a minute. Now that I’m assured Stephen will be able to make me laugh, in only the way that he can, I’m more willing to face Viktor.”
“Don’t worry, princess. He knows he hurt you. He’ll try to make it right, but I cant say I would be disappointed if you ripped him a new one in front of everyone for being an as shole.”
I giggled. “You’ve been spending too much time with Stephen. Stop enabling me.
We didn’t have to knock on Ivan’s door. Just as I was about to, Misha opened the door, his handsome wide smile across his face. His smile grew larger when he saw the surprise on my face.
“Something happened. We’re still trying to figure out what happened, but we could feel both of you when you got off the elevator. We all knew you were coming,” he said as he closed the door behind us.
“You can feel him too?” I asked, glancing back at Adrik.
“Yeah, much like we can feel you now, but he’s quieter. For me at least,” Misha said.
I glanced at Andrei to see if the same was true for him. He agreed with Misha. I think because I’m like you, I’ve always picked up on everyone a little more than the rest of us. It’s stronger for me now, just because I think I’ve been noticing it longer. But it’s stronger for everyone, not just Boss.”
Stephen said, “since I’m still in my pancake paradox infancy, I still can’t detect the subtle nuance, but I do feel like I might’ve gotten high off the supply, if you will. Like, I was seriously considering asking Misha if he wanted to go for a run this morning because I feel f ucking fantastic. Boss, if you feel like this every day, I’m going to need some of your secrets. Do you juice Keto? Are you doing yoga and not telling anyone else? Meditation in the mornings? Are you the real vampire among us and we just never noticed? Blood bags or live donors? I’m gonna need specifics.”
I looked at Ivan, who very clearly had a “told you” look on his face. Adrik laughed quietly as he pulled me back against him.
I grinned at Stephen, saying, “can we just all agree to always refer to everything weird that’s happening to us as the pancake paradox from now on? There will be legends created about us as a result. In the future, children will to longer be forced to learn calculus in school. Instead, they’ll learn about the pancake paradox and what happens when souls get ejected from bodies. The red panda population will thrive. Earth will be at peace.”
“What if that’s the key to peace all along? Red pandas,” Misha said, thoughtfully.
“Right now, red pandas are pancake-less and look at the state of the world,” foldrei said,
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan for mass production. We’re going to be just fine Stephen said, chuckling-
Once the laughter mostly died down from our ridiculous conversation, I finally looked at Viktor. “How are you, Papa Bear? You look better. Do you feel better?”
Adrik held me tighter against him. I could also feel the pull in my chest that meant he was thinking about how much he loved me. I knew he was trying to help me deal with the situation.
“I do, sestrichka. I feel much better. I actually didn’t realize how heavy everything that I was carrying around was becoming until it was gone. I feel bad that you had to carry it around with you,” he said, looking apologetic.
“Like everything. I think it was for a reason. It helped us figure out how to get whatever was following Ilya off him for good,” I said. I glanced at Ilya, asking. “you’re still good? It hasn’t come back?”
He smiled warmly at me. He really did seem like a very sweet boy. He was handsome, like Viktor, but with a splash of boyish charm and innocence. While Viktor had very dark hair and darker features, Ilya’s hair was more of arty blonde. His eyes were a lighter brown than Viktor’s normally dark brown. He was Viktor-lite. “It hasn’t come back. I have an idea of what it was, though,” he said.
“You do?” I asked. All the guys looked at him, now curious as well.
“Yeah. Since Vitya was sleeping, I had nothing to do so I started researching spent a little time in Japan when I was in the military. They have demons that are specific to suicide – Shinigami. These demons follow you around and keep whispering to you until you finally lose hope and commit suicide,” Ilya said. He glanced at Viktor, almost like he was nervous, but he continued. “It’s common for them to affect entire family lines. Once they’re on one member of the family, they hop to other members of the same family
“I could believe that. Viktor’s oppressive sadness was probably the warm-up. They might’ve tried to get to him already, but he was too strong, so they jumped to you,” I said, chewing on my lip. “Or do you think the chick you were with is what gave it to you?” I asked Ilya.
“No idea. This is all very new to me,” he said.
“It doesn’t explain why Ivan couldn’t see it, either,” Stephen said.
Ivan had gotten up and grabbed his computer when Ilya first started talking. He was quietly reading through whatever he’d found. He looked up at me first, then to Stephen. “Actually, it does.”
“Explain please,” I said. “But don’t worry about the flavor of syrup for the pancakes. We’ll decide that later.”
He looked at me, trying not to smile, and just shook his head. “From the extensive two-minute search I just completed and what Ilya just said, these demons whisper to people, meaning they’re not fully attached to the people. not sure they’re trying to take over, even. It just seems like they’re very specific to suicide. So far, I’m only able to see demons when they’re actively trying to get in or when they already have gotten in. That’s why I couldn’t see this one.” He looked at Andrei, asking, “what did it feel like to you? Is it the first one you’ve felt like that?”
“It was cold, mostly, but quiet. Until Stephen spoke and then it got scared,” Andrei said. “It’s one of the first times that I’ve noticed a demon, so I don’t have a ton to compare it to. The lady that Battista brought with him she felt different. More similar to you three.”
I knew my eyes had turned black, because I could see Ivan’s switch immediately. I didn’t need to look to know that Adrik’s had done the same. My anger made an unexpected appearance at Andrei comparing me, in any way, that woman.
He looked at me, realizing what had happened. “I don’t mean you’re like her, spider monkey,” he said, trying not to laugh. “She felt hot. Same as you three. Anytime your demons come forward, it’s always associated with anger. There’s heat and fire there. What was on Ilya was the opposite. Quiet, but very cold. Now put your demon eyes away before Ilya has to change his puts.”
Ilya cursed under his breath. “How does that not scare the s hit out of you,” He said quietly, to no one in particular.
“Oh, don’t worry. As long as it wasn’t you that p issed them off, you have nothing to worry about,” Stephen said. “Although, now that I think about it, I might retract my request for red to be the next color your eyes come up with m not entirely convinced I’d be able to handle that. It’s disturbing enough on Vlad.”
Ilya cursed a little louder this time, looking at Viktor with wide eyes, which used all of us to laugh. Viktor said quietly, “it’s a joke. Sephie said. Stephen was a vampire because he’s so much colder than the rest of us. They both ran with it. Vitaliy still hasn’t figured out we’re talking about Vlad Tepes, so don’t ruin it.” Ilya was visibly relieved.
“I love how we just had a serious conversation about Japanese suicide demons like it was a normal brunch discussion, but the possibility of red eyes was a step too far,” Stephen said, laughing.
“Ilva’s only seen the black. He hasn’t seen them change otherwise. It’s a little difficult to fathom,” I said, trying to stick up for Ilya who really had no clue of the high strangeness that was our little family.
“They do other things?” Ilya asked, now curious.
Sephte
“Yeah, dude. Go over there. She’ll show you,” Misha said.
Ilya looked at him like he was sure it was a trap. He looked at Viktor, who laughed his deep belly laugh. “He’s not trying to trap you. Her eyes change 1 colors depending on the emotion she’s feeling. Go look. It’s pretty fascinating, he said.
Ilya still looked uncertain, but he got up and walked closer to me. Adrik was still behind me, but I could see Ivan. His eyes were still black, which meant mine were too. I closed my eyes, thinking of how much I loved Adrik. When I opened my eyes, Ilya was standing in front of me. I looked at him with my blue eyes. He looked relieved that they weren’t black again.
“Blue means she’s thinking about how much she loves me,” Adrik said.
“You didn’t even look at her. How do you know her eyes are blue right now?” ya asked.
“I can feel everything she feels,” Adrik said.
“That’s why he was so quick to react when I first touched you. He felt what it did to me right away. He doesn’t usually try to make people’s lives flash before their eyes so quickly,” I said.
“Green means she’s being a sarcastic s hit,” Adrik said, lovingly, I grinned at ya’s surprised expression.
“You don’t have to show him the other ones, gazelle,” Misha said. He looked at Ilya, saying, “they turn amber when she’s sad and white when she’s scared. All of us feel what she feels and those two are very strong and I’d just rather not right now.”
“They turn white?” Ilya asked.
“Yeah, if you think her demon eyes are scary, then you’re not ready to see that Stephen said.
Ilya looked between Adrik and Ivan. “Can your eyes also do the same, then?”
“Yeah, that reminds me. How can yours turn black but not change like hers de Viktor asked.
“Are you ready for this, Viktor? Because I’m not sure you’re ready for this. But at least you’re already sitting down,” Stephen said. He looked very seriously at Viktor. “They control their demons.”
Viktor’s brow furrowed as he tried to understand what Stephen had just told him. “Your black eyes are your demons?” he asked.
I nodded. “I told Ivan not very long after I met you all that the best way to defeat your demons was to make friends with them. They have no power over you that way. At the time, I was just trying to help him cope. I didn’t know I was being serious. I would’ve told you the same thing if you hadn’t spent so much time avoiding me,” I said, crossing my arms across my chest. ould feel Viktor flinch from the blow. It came out a little harsher than 1 was intending, but I was still very irritated with him.
“I know, sestrichka. I knew you were going to make me deal with everything and I didn’t think I was ready,” Viktor said.
“If it makes you feel any better, me and Sasha have been trying to get him to deal with it for years as well. He wouldn’t listen to us either,” Ilya said.
“He wasn’t actively avoiding you, though. He’s been actively avoiding me for weeks, if not months,” I said.
Viktor stood up, walking to me. “I was actively avoiding you and I am very sony, Sephie,” he said, opening his arms to me. I glared at him for a moment, not moving, but finally gave in and went to him. He wrapped his arres around me, picking me up off the floor. He whispered so only I could hear, “I know you’re not mad. I know you’re hurt. I can feel you’re hurt. It will never happen again.” He held me for a few minutes. I could feel his turmoil. I knew he was sorry.
I finally sighed. “I know why you did it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it, but understand.”
Sephie
“Yeah, dude. Go over there. She’ll show you,” Misha said.
Ilya looked at him like he was sure it was a trap. He looked at Viktor, who laughed his deep belly laugh. “He’s not trying to trap you. Her eyes change colors depending on the emotion she’s feeling. Go look. It’s pretty fascinating, he said.
Ilya still looked uncertain, but he got up and walked closer to me. Adrik was 11 behind me, but I could see Ivan. His eyes were still black, which meant mine were too. I closed my eyes, thinking of how much I loved Adrik. lyhen I opened my eyes, lla was standing in front of me. I looked at him with my blue eyes. He looked relieved that they weren’t black again.
“Blue means she’s thinking about how much she loves me,” Adrik said.
“You didn’t even look at her. How do you know her eyes are blue right now?” Ika asked.
“I can feel everything she feels,” Adrik said
“That’s why he was so quick to react when I first touched you. He felt what it did to me right away. He doesn’t usually try to make people’s lives flash before their eyes so quickly,” I said.
“Green ‘means she’s being a sarcastic s hit,” Adrik said, lovingly. I grinned at Ilya’s surprised expression.
“You don’t have to show him the other ones, gazelle,” Misha said. He looked flya, saying, “they turn amber when she’s sad and white when she’s scared. All of us feel what she feels and those two are very strong and I’d just either not right now.”
“They turn white?” Ilya asked.
“Yeah, if you think her demon eyes are scary, then you’re not ready to see that. Stephen said.
Ilya looked between Adrik and Ivan. “Can your eyes also do the same, then?”
“Yeah, that reminds me, How can yours turn black but not change like bets di Viktor asked.
“Are you ready for this, Viktor? Because I’m not sure you’re ready for this. But at least you’re already sitting down,” Stephen said. He looked very seriously at Viktor. “They control their demons.”
Viktor’s brow furrowed as he tried to understand what Stephen had just told him. “Your black eyes are your demons?” he asked.
I nodded. “I told Ivan not very long after I met you all that the best way to defeat your demons was to make friends with them. They have no power over you that way. At the time, I was just trying to help him cope. I didn’t know I was being serious. I would’ve told you the same thing if you hadn’t spent so much time avoiding me,” I said, crossing my arms across my chest. I could feel Viktor flinch from the blow. It came out a little harsher than I was intending, but I was still very irritated with him.
“I know, sestrichka. I knew you were going to make me deal with everything and I didn’t think I was ready,” Viktor said.
“If it makes you feel any better, me and Sasha have been trying to get him to deal with it for years as well. He wouldn’t listen to us either,” Ilya said.
“He wasn’t actively avoiding you, though. He’s been actively avoiding me for weeks, if not months,” I said,
Viktor stood up, walking to me. “I was actively avoiding you and I am very sony, Sephie,” he said, opening his arms to me. I glared at him for a moment, not moving, but finally gave in and went to him. He wrapped his arms around me, picking me up off the floor. He whispered so only I could heat, “I know you’re not mad. I know you’re hurt. I can feel you’re hurt. It will never happen again.” He held me for a few minutes. I could feel his turmoil. I knew he was sorry.
1 finally sighed. “I know why you did it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it, but understand.”
He laughed softly as he put me down again. I felt Adrik’s arm around my waist, pulling me back against him. I could tell he was looking at Viktor over the top of my head. “Have you decided, Viktor? In or out?” he asked.
“All in, Boss. Sephie was right. I needed to fix myself first. I couldn’t have handled everything otherwise. They told me what happened with Armando last night. The guards that are on him said he just sits there, completely zoned out. If they make him move, he can move on his own, but only if they guide him. I think we should find somewhere to send him. Then none of us ever have to see him again,” he said,
“Give him a fake identity. No one will ever find him or know what happened to him,” I said to Adrik,
I felt him squeeze me just a little tighter. “Work on getting him set up with a new identity. I want his name, all of his names, erased from history.”
Adrik said.
“Can I pretend to be his brother when we take him? Not gonna lie, that would give me so much satisfaction to drop his a ss off at a nursing home, knowing he’ll never leave,” Stephen said.
Adrik and I both laughed. “I think that should definitely happen,” I said.
Does anyone know if there’s anything he particularly hates?” Ivan asked.
“Women who don’t know when to keep their mouths shut. He was not a fan of that,” I said, cringing at the memory. Adrik wrapped both arms around me, leaning down to press his cheek to mine.
Stephen’s face lit up. “YES! We’ll have him put in a room with the chattiest woman there.”
“Do we still have his safes?” I asked Ivan.
“We do still have his safes. We should open those before we send him away,” an said.
“You should do that now because I suddenly really want to know what’s in them,” I said. “I’ll start dinner. You guys go find that answer.”
Adrik chose to come upstairs with me instead of finding the answer to what was in Armando’s safes. Once we were alone; he pulled me in front of him, looking thoughtfully at me. “Some better now?” he asked.
“Better. I’m still slightly irritated, but better,” I said.
He chuckled. “You’re extra cute when you’re irritated.” His sex y smirk on his face, he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine..
“I shouldn’t be irritated still. There’s a very big discrepancy in how connected am with the other guys versus Viktor now. It’s like a constant reminder that I can’t get away from,” I said.
“I can order him to spend time with you,” Adrik said, playing with the curls amund my face.
“I don’t know if that will make it better though. It should fix itself, but in the meantime, I’m going to be irritated about it,” I said, pursing my lips. together.
Adrik laughed. “Extra cute.”
Vitaliy walked in the penthouse, without Aleksei. He was just as surprised that it was only me and Adrik as we were that it was only him.
“Where’s Alyosha?” I asked.
He had a sly grin on his face. “At his favorite restaurant. Turns out his favorite waitress still works there,” he said.
“That dog,” I said, laughing.
“Where are your men?” he asked Adrik.
“We have two safes from Armando’s house that require his retinal scan and fingerprint to get into. They’ve gone to open them before we send him a home,” he said.
“Where is Armando’s house?” Vitaliy asked. I could already see the wheels thing in his head. I was fairly certain I could see what he was going to ask next. Adrik told him where the house was. Vitaliy asked, “and it’s just empty now? No one is there?”
“It’s completely empty. Martin cleaned him out. Why? Do you want it?” Adrik isked
Vitaliy nodded. “You two need your house back. You’ve been very gracious to let me stay here this long. I’ve decided to stay in the city a little longer 1
don’t want to be a trouble.”
“You’re no trouble, old man,” I said. “You’re only allowed to take Armando’s house if you promise that you and Alyosha will come for dinner regularly.”
He smiled widely at me. “I could never refuse such an offer.”
Sephie
Armando had kept one safe completely filled with cash. The other also had cash in it, but had even more files. He kept detailed files on everyone. Disturbingly detailed files.
Ivan put down one file in front of Adrik when they came back upstairs. “There’s hundreds more files just like that one in that safe,” he said.
Adrik flipped through the file, his jaw clenching as he turned each page. I could feel him trying to keep his anger in check with each page he turned. My curiosity got the best of me. I walked to his side, looking at the information. It was a file on me. There were pictures of me outside the restaurant I used to work at, outside my apartment, taking Ms. Jackson to the grocery store He had all the details of my life before I met Adrik.
It didn’t make sense. Adrik got frustrated and closed the file. I stepped to the side and looked at it once more. “It looks like he hired a private investigator to find out what he could on me. No idea why he would need to know anything about me, but here we are.” I kept flipping through the information. “There’s nothing in here about me before I started working at the restaurant. If they were trying to find something they could blackmail me or control me with, they didn’t look hard enough. I can’t think of another reason why they would need that information.” We all stood in silence for a few moments, trying to come up with reasons.
It was Vitaliy that broke the silence. “You said he wanted to sell you when they took you?” I nodded. “He was seeing how easy it would be to make you disappear. It’s what they commonly do, especially for girls they think they can get substantial money for. They take the girls with no families. No one comes looking. He must’ve been planning to sell you for a lot longer than anste realized.”
“Yep, I’m gonna need a minute,” I said, walking quickly to the nearest bathroom. I could feel the bile rising in my throat as my need to vomit grew stronger. I emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet, groaning after several minutes of retching.
Adrik’s warm hand was on my back. “You’re okay, solnishko,” he said, handing me a towel after I washed my mouth out and splashed water on my face. He kept his arms around me, standing behind me. My emotions were completely out of control.
“That means that if you hadn’t come to the meeting that night, I would’ve been kidnapped and sold,” I said, realizing the full gravity of the situation. I thought my stomach was empty. It was not. I leaned over the toilet, once again ridding my stomach of all of its contents. This time, when I stood up and looked at Adrik, I could see the look of surprise that meant my eyes had done something unexpected.
“You don’t feel scared right now,” he said, looking at my eyes. He looked closer, inhaling sharply. He said, “they’re not the normal white anymore. This one is different.” He pointed to the mirror to get me to look. “What were you thinking about? Only that they could’ve gotten to you if I hadn’t been at that meeting?” he asked as I looked at my eyes in the mirror.
He was right. It was different. Before, anytime they went white, there was still a hint of blue around my pupils and the outside of my iris. This time, the areas that were blue were now closer to black, making the white stand out even more.
I looked at Adrik, who was behind me, in the mirror. “It wasn’t just what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come to that meeting. It was also about how much I wanted to make Sal pay for even considering he could do that to me.”
Adrik smirked at me, taking my hand. “Keep thinking about that for a minute h ore,” he said, leading me back to the kitchen. The guys were confused at Adrik’s expression when we came back out. “New color. Look,” he said, pulling me in front of him so the guys could see.
“Whoa. That’s slightly easier to take than the normal white though,” Misha said.
“What were you thinking about to make this one happen, spider monkey?” Andrei asked.
Adrik chuckled. “Revenge.”
The guys couldn’t hide their smiles when Adrik told them. Misha looked at me, his wide smile across his face. “Gazelle, I keep thinking I couldn’t possibly love you any more and you prove me wrong each time. I love you so much right now,” he said, wrapping his arms around me and picking me up in a bear hug. I couldn’t help but laugh.
As he set me down, I said, “if you guys hadn’t shown up to that meeting, I would’ve been kidnapped and sold. I’m gonna make Sal pay for thinking he
could do that to me.”
1/3
Vitaliy laughed. “You were made for my son, sladkaya. You couldn’t be any more perfect. Truly.”
“Who else does Armando have files on? Who wants to bet that Sal has the same thing in his house? Has anybody checked that place since be left?” I asked.
“Nobody went to his house. He still has his security there. We all know Armarido never took his security seriously,” Viktor said.
“How could he? He was too busy spending money on private investigators to follow me around,” I said, my anger clearly coming out, causing everyone to laugh.
“See, Ilya? The black eyes aren’t always intimidating. Sometimes they make her extra funny, Stephen said. Ilya laughed quietly, still not completely convinced there was nothing to worry about.
“We didn’t take the time to look through all the files. Yours was near the top Ivan said.
“At least I won’t have to fund his time in the home. He can fund himself. The cash that’s in those safes should be plenty to cover the expenses. We can find him a very chatty roommate to keep him company,” Adrik said.
“I think Vitaliy should take pictures at his house and send them to him. Give him something to look at,” I said. “Do you like Naples, Vitaliy? He has another house there. Lots of artwork in that one, too. Unless a certain someor has taken it all by now, in which case, good for her.”
“You’re taking Armando’s house, Vitaliy?” Ivan asked.
“Da. I’ve decided to stay in the city a little longer. I need a place. You guys mate it too easy for my men. They’re all getting soft staying here,” he said.
“If you need someone to help you furnish it, take Sephie. She LOVES shopping Misha said, laughing.
“Do not listen to him, Vitaliy. He for some reason hates me right now,” I said, glaring at Misha.
Vitaliy laughed. “Don’t worry, sladkaya. I know you better than you might think,” he said, winking at me.
The following morning, we were all in the gym. Stephen still felt insanely good. He walked up to both me and Misha as everyone was finishing up. asking. “I know you guys haven’t run in the city since you two were attacked, but what if we both go with her?”
Misha looked at me. “Do you think your lung is up to trying that now? We can go really short the first time.”
“Yes, please go really short. I know I’m going to regret bringing this up.” Stephen said.
I thought for a minute. Ivan and Adrik had both been listening to the conversation. I wasn’t going if they weren’t okay with it. “If I take both of them, do you two feel okay with me going?” I asked both Adrik and Ivan.
They were both quiet for a moment, contemplating. Viktor had also been watching and listening. He walked up with Ilya, after having a quick conversation with him. “Take Ilya, too. He likes to run. He can keep up.”
1 looked back at Adrik and Ivan. They both conceded. “Keep it short and stay diese to the building. I’m more worried about your lung than I am anything else,” Adrik told me.
“I know. Me too,*1 responded.
I looked at Stephen and Ilya. “I feel like you guys are going to grow to hate me if this becomes a regular thing, but let’s go.”
Adrik caught Misha before we left, quietly telling him to keep an eye on my breathing. “She hasn’t done it in a while, but she starts to panic if she can’t catch her breath. Get her back here immediately if that happens,” he said,
“Don’t worry, Boss. I’m only letting her go around the block this time,” Misha said. He jogged toward the elevator to catch up to the rest of us.
“You’re very bossy. But I love you for it,” I told Adrik before we left. I could feel him trying not to worry about me as the doors to the elevator closed.
Aepthle
Misha Inobed at me as steenk ne var formandy-
dealing with Roies, ham, and Ander If anmuthing
auto piting sinnend the Ninek the time
I laughed. “I’m not dealing with them elfter I don’t want in fark this up tik gang te sedie when call me giselle short we’re dies. Threext Gazelle Ever I said printing to myself.
We set off around the binck, with Miche nn nne eldest me, Stephon on the chin, and Bya behind at Miña war still dightly paranoid afisat commarma being able to get to us. He mustard in like un report, but I could feel his week, the war albeavis mess of kle zoomoonidings, her aven jogged around the block
Both Bys and Stephen were quiet at se ran. Stephen kept pin
worried about dialing on. The were back at the bolding it undere
twenty minutes. Once we slowed to a walk, Micho put his arm around my shaq iders, cheeking on
day.” ↑ said, in Rizorians.
Tiva was surprised. “You can speal Russian, too? You’re American?” he asked, al most like he had gotten it wrong.
I glanced behind me, laughing at his surprised expression. “You’re Russian and yet you speak English * 1 said, grinning at him.
He laughed “Fair enough,” he said.
They escorted me to the penthouse, before going back to their own apartments. Adrik was visibly relieved when I walked in smiling. “How did The asked.
“It was good. I think my lùng might be finally back to normal. I didn’t strupde to catch my breath at all,” I said, I could see where his mind immediately went when he learned I didn’t struggle to catch my breath. “You shouldn’t be too surprised. It’s been getting better with you,” 1 salil, pushing my warmth to him.
He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me with him toward the bedréien. “Would you like to test that, solnishko?”he asked, as he closed the: door behind us.
“Don’t ask stu pid questions,” I said, pulling my shirt off and throwing it further into the bedroom.
He laughed, his excitement clearly on his face. He grabbed my hips, picking te up and wrapping my legs around his waist. His wide unile dretched across his face as he walked us toward the shower. “If I haven’t told you lately I love you. More than I ever thought possible,” he said. He set ma denen on the sink as he turned the water in the shower on.
He pulled his shirt off as he walked back to me, smirking at the obvious last he could see in my eyes as I watchest him take his shurt aff. It didn’t seem to matter how many times I saw him without his shirt on, it was still the sex iest sight i’d ever seen.
He ran his hands up my thighs, grabbing my hips. He picked me up off the cutter, standing me in front of him. “Stephen could keep up with okay?” he asked as he pushed my leggings down my thighs
“Yeah, he didn’t have any problems. Iya either. We took it easy. Neither happened.” Laaid, holding on to his shoulder as I stepped out of my clothes.
He smiled as he stood up. “It wouldn’t have been pretty” he said, packing me sịa and the shower, unable to take his eyes away from milte
“Are they doing something different again?” I askor
anted to deal with you, Thani, and Saudia: 1. sinisilung
may lings abourad His waist coux max the walked as ala
“No, I just really love it when they turn blue,” he said, pressing his lips to mgh. I tell the gold me they showed that meant hat was thinking about Tam
much he loved me
I smiled against his lips. “I think they tam blue more than anything ehe. Praha, mali waweytining you do mukça me less you a little more. Even when
you obsess over me jogging around the block with only Misha and Stephen.”
He sighed heavily, not realizing I was just teasing him. “Sephie, once everything…” I cut him off, my lips preventing him from saying anything else. I knew he was worried about me because he didn’t want anything to happen to me again. I loved him for it. I also knew that once the other bosses were taken care of, it wouldn’t be an issue any longer. I needed him to know that loved him for it. I wrapped myself around him even tighter and deepened the kiss.
He pushed me against the wall of the shower, his kiss just as desperate as mine. With the wall and his body pressed against mine supporting most of me, his hands were free. He pulled back to look at me, putting both hands on my face. “I love you, Sephie. I can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you ever again.” I could feel his fear over the thought of something happening to me. I saw the look of confusion as he looked at me.
“White?” I asked. He nodded. “It’s your fear, love. I can feel it strongly. Almost as strong as your anger, which is why you can change them.”
He just stared at my eyes for a moment, then I felt the familiar pull in my chest that meant he was thinking about how much he loved me. I adored his look of satisfaction that appeared when my eyes changed to blue. “I know I said that black to purple might be my favorite transition, but that one is a very close second,” he said. His hands were still on either side of my face, his thumbs lightly rubbing my cheeks. He pressed his lips to mine, softly kissing me.
I moaned softly. His gentle kisses always managed to make me melt. I ran my hands through his hair, pressing my hips into his. It was all the encouragement he needed. I felt him slowly slide inside me, loving the feeling of fullness that came with it every single time. I leaned my head back against the shower wall, exhaling loudly as I reveled in the feeling. He laughed softly as his lips found my neck. “I will never get tired of your reaction to me. It’s almost more than I can handle every single time,” he said, his lips and tongue moving down my neck.
“Me too,” I said breathlessly. I grinned at him as he pushed himself into me harder, eliciting a moan from me. His handsome smile stretched across his face as he pushed himself into me even harder, causing me to moan even louder. I knew how much he loved teasing me.
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, my lips finding his. My body was nothing but pleasure as he kept his rhythm slow, his kiss gentle. With each. thrust, with each touch, with each kiss, the fire in my body was building. My breaths were heavy as he kept slowly pushing me toward the edge. Just as I started to get close, he backed off, making me wait. I made a noise halfway between a whimper and a moan when he backed off, causing him to laugh softly as he kissed my neck. “Trust me, solnishko,” he said, his lips against my neck.
He pushed into me harder, pushing me closer to the edge once more. This time was even more intense. I squeezed my legs around his waist, grabbing his shoulders. I could feel my pu ssy throbbing around his co ck. I moaned, pushing my hips into him harder. He backed off once more, but this time, he grabbed a fistful of hair and kissed me deeply, which helped me with some of my extreme frustration that was also building.
He chuckled, as he could feel it too. “I promise it’s worth it,” he said against my lips. I groaned into his mouth. Once again, he pushed into me, even harder this time. I was so close. “Please,” 1 pleaded with him, breathlessly, trying to get him not to back off this time. His lips found mine once more.” He increased his rhythm, pushing into me hard and fast. My or gasm was almost immediate. It was so intense that my entire body felt like it was on fire. I loved the feeling and pushed it to him. As soon as it felt like I was coming down, he pushed me back over the edge.
I could do nothing but try and hang on to him as he pushed my body to even greater limits of pleasure. Finally, he found his own release. He pressed his body against mine as he caught his breath. He stepped back enough that I could unwrap my legs from his waist, standing in front of him as I worked to catch my breath. He watched me closely, still worried that I would panic. It was easier this time.
“No white,” he said, pulling us both under the water.
I smiled up at him. “Told you it was getting easier. I think there was something to seeing your eyes go black last time it happened. I think it helped me more than I realized.”
He looked at me thoughtfully, his finger lightly tracing the details of my face. He placed his hand on the back of my neck, kissing me gently. “I will never send you away for any reason again. I’ll always be there to protect you. Always,” he said.
My breath hitched at his words. I saw the look that meant something was happening with my eyes. I didn’t even care. I just needed him to know that I loved him. I pressed my body to his, my lips to his, pushing my warmth to him. “I love you, Adrik. More than anything,” I said, resting my head on his chest as he held me tightly.
Stubic
Since either Ihya or Viktor slept for the majority of Ilya’s first week here, Stephen took over master of schedule duties to give Viktor a break. Stephen said he needed a way to burn off his extra energy he was still enjoying since he’d broken Armando anyway. Ivan and the Wonder Twins had things they needed to take care of that afternoon, which meant I was stuck with Viktor.
O more like he was stuck with me.
Iva, to his credit, was very curious about everything and asked questions most of the afternoon. He wanted to know how long I’d been able to do the things I could do, how it happened, if I’d told anyone else before, he wanted to know everything. I didn’t mind. It helped me feel more comfortable with Viktor and eased my irritation with him.
Orsor Ilya had satisfied his curiosity about me, it was my turn. “Okay, Ilya, nows your chance to dish on your older brother. How was he when you were kids? Was he a jerk? Bossy? Who’s the perfect brother? Who’s the troublemaker?” I asked, grinning at Viktor.
Viktor looked at Iva. They both had smiles as they looked to me. “Sasha,” they said, laughing.
“You’re only saying that because that poor guy isn’t here to defend himself,” said, laughing with them.
“No, it’s true, sestrichka. Sasha was always the hellion,” Viktor said.
“It’s because he’s short,” Ilya said, still laughing.
“He’s short? No way. You’re both giants. It clearly runs in your family,” I said
“It sk ipped him. He’s still not over it.” Viktor said, his deep laugh filling the room. I had to admit that I’d missed hearing his laugh. He caught me looking at him thoughtfully.
“You’re lighter when you laugh now. You both are, actually. It’s good to see,” I said. I got up and went to the kitchen. I didn’t say anything to either of them, I just started pulling out things I would need to make Stephen his favorite cookies.
They both eventually followed me to the kitchen. “What are your plans now, ya? You’re done with your service, no?” I asked, mostly to keep them from asking me what I was doing.
“I haven’t decided. I’m done, so now it’s time to figure out what I want to be when I grow up,” he said, his warm smile across his face.
“What would be the dream setup?” I asked.
He glanced at Viktor, then back to me. “Something similar to what Viktor has, think. My training isn’t up to his standards, but it’s similar. I can catch up quickly.”
I looked at Viktor. “Let him replace one of the little flowers. Hell, he could replace both of them and it would still be better. Vitaliy is planning on staying in the city now for a bit, especially since he’s taking Armando’s house. ya will still be close. Alyosha can catch his training up, too.”
Viktor looked to Ilya to gauge his interest in the idea. “That’s a good idea, sestrichka.”
“You have to make it Vitaliy’s idea though. He’s already looking for replacements for the little flowers, but they’ve left a sour taste in his mouth, so to speak. Let him see Ilya training with us. It will start the relationship off better if Vitaliy feels like he’s choosing you versus you asking him for a job,” I said. “He didn’t work out this morning, so he will in the morning. Best to let him see Ilya before he moves.” I studied Ilya for a minute, then looked back at Viktor. “He’s faster than you are, so either let him spar with Misha or me. It’ll make him look even better,” I said, winking at Ilya.
“How did you know he was faster?” Viktor asked.
“He’s leaner like Misha. Misha is faster than you, Stephen, and Andrei. Ivan is deceptively fast for as big as he is, but he’s also a special circumstance so he doesn’t necessarily count,” ! said.
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Sephie
I fell asleep quickly that night, across Adol’s chest. I found myself in my dadiless I fully expected saw my dad appear before me, but it never did Instead, it just continued to get brighter. I glanced around, trying to first
“Holy sh it. Creepier than anything else I’ve ever seen here,” I said He giggled Sh it. Da mmit! Apparently, I’m incapable of not cursing in front of you Tell si
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to was a small boy in front of me.
chich made me realize that Ed post cursed in front of a child “Cap
parent I’m very sorry?” I said.
He giggled again, walking closer to me. “Do you know who I am
he asked.
I studied him for a few moments. There was a familiarity to him, but I knew hit me. “Kastva? Lasked.
never seen him before. I chewed on my bottom lip, then it suddenly
His boyish grin spread across his face. He nodded. “This is the form that Viklikes best, so I use it the most. I wasn’t sure how much you’d looked in his head. I didn’t want to confuse you.”
“I haven’t looked in his head at all, Kostya. I don’t do that. Why does nobody elieve me about that?”
He giggled again. “Because we would all take advantage of being able to read people’s thoughts, so we can’t possibly fathom that you wouldn’t want
to.”
“It’s not all burritos and sunshine, kid. There’s lots of things I wish I’d never en,” I said. I looked at him, curious. “Why are you here?”
“You feel a difference with Viktor that you don’t with the rest of them,” he sa. He waited for me to agree with his statement before he continued. “The others are like you, Adrik, and Ivan now. They’ll eventually be able to wk between Heaven and Hell. They’ll learn how to make their demons
work for them.”
He didn’t need to finish and I knew. “Viktor wants no part of that,” I said.
Kostya smiled. “Your dad said you were smart. You’re right. He had a choice and he chose to stay away from Hell. As such, his connection to you will never be as strong as the others. Same for them. They’ll never be as connected to him as they are to each other.”
“Does it mean he really wants to leave?” I asked.
“No, he told you he was all in and he is. But the demons scare him. Viktor’s sol isn’t as old as yours, you have to remember. It doesn’t have as much experience.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “It’s also why you’re irritated sand can’t figure out why. It’s not you, it’s your demon that’s irritated.”
1 laughed. “My demon’s feelings are hurt? Why do I find that endearing?”
“Your demon hasn’t always been a demon, Sephie. It started out as a soul, just like you. Because you’ve made friends with it and you’re using it for good, you’re helping it repair the damage done by the evil it gave in to. You’re giving it a better existence than it could ever have if it continued to give in to evil. It’s hurt. It feels like Viktor is rejecting it. Your connection is onger with Adrik and Ivan because of your demons. Your connection with Misha, Andrei, and Stephen is becoming stronger because they want to p their own demons. Viktor asked for his demon to be taken away. Your demons all know this, without you knowing this.”
“Is he still scared of me?”
“He can separate the two. He’s not scared of you, but the demons still unnerve him. They always have, it you remember. He’s always had the hardest time with your eyes changing, even before you knew it was your demon stepping forward,” he said.
“How do I help him not be scared?”
“It will take time. I’ve been helping him as much as I can. You were right. I he been coming to him every night, trying to help him accept everything. There’s a small part of him that doesn’t trust your demons still.”
I thought for a minute. “Does it have to do with his time in the Syrian prison?
He giggled again. “He said you were smart. He didn’t say you were this smart
does. The man who would torture Viktor was completely consumed by a demon. Viktor saw glimpses. When your eyes change, he can’t help but remember that time. He knows it’s not the same, but he still struggles to
remember that,” he said.
“How do I help him get over that?”
“You can’t,” he said and I immediately felt my hopes come crashing down. “Bet Stephen can. Adrik told him that he was going to level up soon. That’s true. Stephen will be able to take Misha’s hatred for Giana and get rid of it. Hell also be able to take everything Viktor still carries from his time in prison and get rid of it.”
“How? Doesn’t he need to give it back to the people that gave it to Misha and Viktor?”
“Not once he levels up. He spent so much time trying to find ways to transmite the pain from his childhood that he’s going to be able to do it for other people. He knows the struggle of not being able to get rid of something that feels like it’s killing you slowly. He’s going to be able to help others with that. That’s partly why he’s so happy now. He knows, without knowing, that he helped you to feel better and it’s made him ecstatic.”
I felt the tears welling up in my eyes as I thought about everything Stephen had gone through. For him to still want to help people after all that said everything anyone would need to know about what kind of person he is. I loved him a little more for it.
“How do we get over feeling irritated around Viktor?” I asked.
Once again, his boyish giggle filled the space. “You need to love your demon n little extra until they’re convinced Viktor isn’t rejecting thein.”
“Okay, I understand why you laughed at that. This is not a conversation I ever thought I’d be having. Will Viktor feel left out, though? Because his connection isn’t as strong as the others?”
“I don’t think so. I think he prefers it. It’s less he has to think about or feel. He has so much on his mind already that even just the little bit he’s gotten from you feels very overwhelming to him.”
“Can I make it less for just him? I don’t want to overwhelm him. He doesn’t hood another reason to avoid me,” I said.
Kostya surprised me by walking to me, grabbing my hand. “He still loves you, Sephie. He loves you very much. It’s going to take his soul longer to get to the point the rest of you are at. That’s all it is. You can stop worrying about him leaving.” I tried to blink back the tears, but I couldn’t keep them in. Kostya grabbed my other hand. As he did, everything got brighter for a moment and suddenly I felt better. Lighter.
“You just fixed me, didn’t you?”
He nodded, smiling sweetly up at me. “You had to endure abandonment to get you here, but you don’t ever have to worry about that again.” He raised my left hand, looking at my ring. “You still don’t know the significance of this, but they will always be with you and they will always protect you.”
“Let me guess, you’re not allowed to tell me either, are you?”
“Not that one, Sephie. You have to figure it out for yourself. But I’m sure you can connect the dots. You always do,” he said, winking at me.
I knelt down, so I was eye-level with him. “In another life, Viktor is very proud of the man you’re going to grow up to be,” I said.
His face lit up as his smile beamed at me. It was the last thing I saw as everything faded back to black and I could once again only see my body. I could feel Adrik’s hand lightly running up and down my back as he talked softly to me, trying to wake me up. He felt me stir and pulled me closer.
“Good morning, solnishko. Were you dreaming? You were all over the place for a few minutes there,” he said as I picked my head up to test my chin
on his chest.
I smiled at him. “Kostya,” I said, laughing at his shocked expression.
“What? How?”
“Same as my dad and your mom. Just a different location. Not gonna lie, it was creepy as f uck to turn around and see a little kid in front of me. Was not expecting that,” I said.
Adrik’s eyes went wide. “Kids are scary. I completely agree. What did he need to tell you?
“I know why Viktor feels different to us now.”
Adrik
“Why?” I asked Sephie, completely captivated by her out of control hair that was everywhere all at once,
“When Misha said we unlocked a new life goal for him and both Andrei and Stephen agreed, they strengthened the connection. They’ll eventually be like us. They’ll be able to walk between Heaven and Hell,” she said.
I inhaled. “Viktor wants no part of that,” I said.
She nodded her head, saying, “our demons still freak him the f uck out.” She grimmed at me, as she got up, straddling me. “Are you ready for this next part, because it might actually be my favorite,” she said, giggling.
I sat up a little more, my hands running over her thighs. “I can’t wait,” I said,niling at her amusement.
“The irritation we all feel around Viktor now isn’t us. It’s our demons. They’re hurt because they feel like he rejected them when he asked for his demon to be taken away,” she said. “I can’t help it. I might love my demon a little more for that. Poor thing. That’s a hard pill to swallow.”
I had to admit to feeling a pang of sympathy for my demon as well. “He asked or his to be taken away? How does that work?” I asked.
“I assume Kostya did it, but I didn’t think to ask for specifics. I had too many her questions for him,” she said, as she placed her hands on my chest. She looked down at her ring, which she never took off. I might’ve loved that about her. She looked back up at me, saying, “both my dad and Kostya have said this ring has more significance than I realize and I can’t figure out what they mean by that.”
“Did they say anything else about it? Or just that it’s significant?”
“My dad said it was significant. Kostya said I didn’t understand yet, but that
and the guys would always be with me and would always protect me
as he was looking at it. I asked him if he could tell me and he said no, but he said I would connect the dots.”
I laughed. “He meant that literally, solnishko. Connect the five rubies.”
She looked at her ring, trying to still figure out what I meant. She looked at me, still completely confused. I took her hand and drew the outline of a pentagram on the back of her hand. “Five points equal a pentagram, solnishk It’s an ancient symbol of protection. That’s why the big diamond is square. It was the only way to arrange the rubies so they would form the pertagram the way I wanted it. I wanted one ruby to always be on top of the others. For Ivan. The big diamond is both of us, because you are my heart. The rubies are always protecting you,” I said, as I pointed it out on her ring. When I looked at her, her mouth was open in shock.
“You…how…” She closed her mouth, trying to formulate a complete thought ried not to, but I laughed at her. She was so adorable when she was confused. By the looks of her, she should’ve felt like she was all over the place, but all I felt from her was her warmth. Her eyes were the deepest depth of the ocean blue as well.
I smiled at her. “Ivan gave me the color scheme. I sketched out a few options. One day during a meeting, I found myself doodling with the sketch of this design and happened on the pentagram. Like many symbols, it’s been thought of as good and bad, but that’s kind of perfect. We’re both, too. I didn’t expect that you would never take it off, but it makes me happy that you always have it on. It’s one more small way I can feel like you’re protected.”
“I can’t believe you put this much thought into it,” she said. She had tears falling down her cheeks, but her eyes were still blue. I looked at her, confused at the tears. “Nobody has ever put this much thought into something for me before,” she said. She wrapped her arms around my neck, holding onto me for dear life and pushing all her warmth to me. I held her just as tightly. I would never want to let her go.
We were all in the gym that morning. Vitaliy and all of his men were there as well. He was still trying to find a replacement for the two guys he hated. It was proving more difficult than he would’ve liked. I think it made him hate Dose guys a little more with each passing day
Sephie had talked Andrei into letting her train harder now that her lung was better. She’d been slowly increasing the intensity. She was probably back to 90% now, which I was sure was 100% more than Vitaliy’s little flowers.
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I was setically counting down in my head for how long it took Vitality’s men totala notiex. I was rigin. Jeni aveonds of fun and leghia beginning
and they quickly saw they’d been wrong. Pe was not noining hed the way they thought he was going do
The seemingly endless monks of diete, andurve training had made her technique next to pedieet, but it had made her as much mringer. She stil as fast as the normally was, but nobody for outside our group would’w knows that..
Two minutes in and I saw hat grit at her. He had underestimated her when they first started. She was going him more of a run for his money than he thought she would. He was actually having to work a little. I felt my heart wall watching her hold her own with him
was so adept at anticipating your ned move that the managed to land a few kicks on fram. If he could feel pain, he might teen some mom Because she knew that he wouldn’t feel it, she didn’t hold back one bit. I was bery happy to see it.
Vitally walked up beside me. “I said it before, but that wonta was made for you. She is perfect
y possible way,” he said, completely ave studi
“I think that at least 100 times each day,” I said, not taking my eyes off ban and Sephie.
“She’s back to normal now?” be sled
isn’t everything she’s got. She’s maybe 905% now.”
Vitally cursed quietly. “Does she want a job? Can I hire her?” he asked, a mischievous grin sliding across his face.
I laughert. “No chance, old man.”
Sephie was starting to reach the end of her endurance. Her face was red and her breathing was heavy. I could feel her getting tired. This was the she’d done in months. She still looked strong. It was her cardio that couldn’t keep up. Her lung was going to remain the weak link for a little longer
han saw it too. He ended the match by surprising her. He rushed her and the her over his shoulder. “No fair!” she yelled, smacking his back.
He laughed, setting her down. “You’re breathing heavier than I’d like, princess. That’s enough for today,” he said. I expected her to argue with him, but she just grinned at him and threw her arms around his neck. He caught my eye. “She’s happy she made me sweet he told me. I just laughed.
They climbed out of the ring while Misha and Ilya climbed in. I raised my eyebrow watching those two cũn surprise. She glanced at Vitally, saying, “you should watch this one, too. Misha is almost as fast as han”
“You’re planning something, aren’t you?” I asked her as I watched Misha and liga’s match start.
“Yep.”
the ring together. Sephie saw my
“Are you gonna tel
“Nope,” she said. I could hear her laughing, but she looked like the was watching Misha and Ilya. I laughed quietly, moving her in front of me, pulling
her back against
Adrik
“You caught your breath right away. That’s definite progress,” I said.
“It’s getting easier each time. I was starting to have issues with catching my breath at the end, but I didn’t panic about it this time.”
1 wrapped my arms around her tighter. She held her arms on top of mine, leaning her head against my shoulder. She looked happy. Lighter. Everything that had happened lately seemed to be leaving and her light was brighter again.
I had expected Vitaliy to get tired of watching Misha and Ilya, but he stayed the entire time. They were well-matched. Ilya was fast, like Misha. They were similar in height and build. It made for a good match. As it ended, Vitaly looked at me. “Viktor’s brother. What are his plans? Is he done with his
service?”
I understood what Sephie had been planning at that moment. I nodded my hal. “Yeah, he’s out. I’m not sure what his plans are though. I don’t think he has any yet. I think he’s trying to figure that out. Viktor was talking about giving him a job.”
“He knows everything about all of you?” he asked.
I nodded. “Most everything, I think.”
“He’s okay with it?”
“Yeah, he even did some research to find out what it was that was hanging on to him when he first got here that jumped to Sephie that first night,”
said.
Vitaliy looked impressed. He glanced back across the gym toward Ilya, then to his little flowers. He walked away, calling Aleksei to him. They walked away from everyone, deep in discussion.
I turned Sephie to face me, her wide smile across her face. “You set that up, didn’t you?”
“Ilya wants a job, much like what Viktor has. Vitaliy needs replacements for his little flowers. Ilya could replace both of them for the moment and they’d still be fine. But we both know it’ll go better if it’s Vitaliy’s idea versus Ilya asking him for a job. So I might’ve suggested this happen,” she said, grinning at me. Her eyes were sparkling in the bright lights of the gym.
“Your idea to put him in with Misha too?” I asked. She nodded. “How did you know they’d make a good match?”
“They’re built the same. Misha is the fastest, next to Ivan who shouldn’t count because he’s superhuman.”
I just looked at her in wonderment. “Perfect in every way,” I said quietly, leaning down to kiss her.
That night at dinner, Vitaliy looked at Ilya during a lull in the conversation. a, what are your plans now that you’re done with your service?” he
asked.
I looked to Sephie, who was smiling at me.
“I’m looking for a job, sir. Something similar to what Viktor has, if I can find it Ilya said.
Vitaliy said, “I can give you a job. I need another guy who has actual training. You clearly have training.”
“Really?” he said, excited. He quickly cleared his throat, then said, “that would be great, sir.”
“We’ll talk more,” Vitaliy said, waving his hand in front of him. “But you’ll come work for me. You can stay close to Viktor for a while. I’ve decided to
stay for a bit longer now that I have a house here again.”
“Thank you, sir.” Ilya said. He looked to Sephie, smiling widely at her. She winked at him.
“How’s it going furnishing your house, Vitaliy?” she asked.
“I might hate shopping as much as you do, sladkaya. I hired someone to do it for me,” he said, his sly grin evident.
“Smart man,” she said.
While everyone else was talking, I made sure Ivan would stay in the penthouse after everyone else left. “Sephie had a conversation with Kostya last night. She knows why Viktor feels different to all of us now. If you can, stay when everyone else leaves. Or else come back. She wants to tell the other three too, but not when Viktor is around. She’s worried about singling him out.”
“Yeah, I would really like to know why I feel irritated around him now.”
“You’re going to love it,” I said, laughing.
Ivan came up with an excuse to pull me aside while everyone else was leaving to make it look like he’d forgotten to tell me something important. Vitaliy and Aleksei both went to their rooms for the night, so it was just the bree of us in the penthouse.
Ivan looked at Sephie expectantly. “Kostya came to you?” he asked.
“Yeah. Kind of creepy, not gonna lie. I mean, he’s adorable, but I was not expecting to turn around and have a little boy standing in front of me. Also? Hét like four curse words fly out of my mouth, then promptly felt like a heathen for cursing in front of a child. I apologized to his parents before- figured out who he was,” she said.
Ivan and I both laughed. “That tracks,” we both said.
“What did he tell you about why Viktor is different?” Ivan asked.
“When the Wonder Twins found out that you and Adrik could also control you demons, Misha said you guys just unlocked a new life goal for him. Andrei and Stephen both readily agreed. They essentially strengthened our corection because they made the choice to learn how to do what we do. They’re going to be able to walk between Heaven and Hell eventually.”
Ivan took a deep breath. “Let me guess. Viktor wants no part of that,” he said.
“Exactly. He asked to have his demon removed because he wants no part of Hell. He’s still unnerved by our demons. When he was in that Syrian prison, the guy that would torture him was completely consumed by his demot. Viktor caught glimpses. Now, he’s essentially having PTSD when he sees ours. He wants nothing to do with it,” she said.”
“He never told anyone,” Ivan said.
“Yeah. Are you surprised?” she said. We could both feel her irritation growing. She noticed it too. She grinned at Ivan. “That irritation we all feel? Yeah, that’s not really us. It’s our demons. They all feel like they’re being rejected by Viktor and it makes them itchy.”
“Shut up.”
“No, it’s true. You feel sympathy for yours, too. Don’t even try to lie about it said.
Ivan laughed. “Yeah, 100%. Poor thing. That’s actually kind of sweet.”
“Right? It’s very endearing. They knew what happened before any of us did and they’ve all been restless because of it. He’s over there terrified of them and they’re p issy because he doesn’t want to come over and play,” she said, laughing.
“But it’s this way for the Wonder Twins and Stephen too. How?” he asked.
“The only thing I can think of is that their connection to their demons is already growing stronger since they made the choice. The connection that the three of us have is made stronger because of our demons. None of us will ever have the same connection with Viktor as a result, but Kostya thinks that Viktor prefers it that way, I have to agree. He said Viktor has so much on his mind on a normal day anyway that the extra baggage from me would be too much. He said the little bit he’s already gotten from me is somewhat overwhelming for him.”
“Can you make it less for him?” Ivan asked.
“Have you met me?” she said.
“Fair, totally fair. How can we help him cope with feeling you then?” he asked.
“That’s going to take time, Kostya said. But,” she saill, grinning at him. “Stephen gets to help him get over the time in prison.”
“How? Are we going to get the guy that tortured Viktor?” he asked.
“Nope. No need. Well, maybe there’s a need. Doesn’t sound like he’s a very no man, now that I think about it. Anyway, back to Yoden. He’s leveling up. He’s going to be able to get rid of Misha’s hatred for Giana and Viktor’s tinje in prison and everything that went with it. If he can feel more comfortable around our demons, I think it will be easier for all of us,” she said
“How is Stephen leveling up? Doesn’t he need to give it back to the person where it originated from?” Ivan asked.
“I asked the same thing. Kostya said that Stephen spent so much time trying to figure out how to transmute his own pain that now he’ll be able to do it for other people. That’s partly why he’s been so freaking happy since he bro Armando. He knows he helped me feel better and it’s made him ecstatic,” she said. I could see the tears welling up in her eyes. “How f ucking adorable is that?” she asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. I glanced at Ivan, who actually looked like he was fighting tears back too.
“This whole time, we thought he was a serial killer. Turns out that kid is a f ucking saint.” Ivan said.
Adrik
Sephie was awake before me for once the next morning. I could feel her fingen lightly tracing circles on my hack as she tried to slowly wake me up. I pulled her even closer, burying my face in her neck. She laughed quietly as she moved her leg over my hips, pressing her body completely against
mine.
“Let’s stay like this the whole day,” I said.
“Are you extra tired? Did you get zapped?” she asked. I could hear the concern in her voice, but I could also feel it.
“No. I just need a break.” I pulled back so I could look at her, finally opening my eyes. Her eyes were swirling, but they landed on blue as she looked at me. “Let’s go to the house this afternoon. I don’t have that many meetings. Inight cancel them all.”
“You’ll hear no arguments from me. I think we could all use some time there What about Ilya though?” she asked.
I thought for a moment. I’d actually forgotten about him. If he was going to rk for Vitaliy, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world for him to know about the house, but I still didn’t like the idea of him knowing just yet. “I’ll give Viktor the weekend off completely. He can spend more time with Ilya before he starts working for Vitaliy. Viktor will protest, since he hates taking time off and I’ll suggest we go to the house so he won’t worry about us all weekend.”
“I learned how to plan things out from watching you,” she said, grinning at me
“And I learned how to love you more than humanly possible from watching you.” I said, kissing her. I could feel her warmth spreading through my body as I buried my face in her neck again.
“Time away will be good for all of us, I think. It’ll give me a chance to catch the other three up on my conversation with Kostya. Maybe Stephen can experiment with helping Misha this weekend, too. He’s been trying to let go of his hatred for Giana, but it’s still there. It still comes back now and then when he least expects it,” she said.
I laughed. “I still find it surprising that he got so angry with her. I didn’t know that kid had it in him, but he clearly loves you. There’s no doubt about that. They all do.”
I felt her mood shift and pulled back from her so I could see her once more. Her eyes were swirling, but they were mostly amber and white, surprisingly. She saw the look on my face and explained. “I sometimes worry at their connection with me is keeping them cut off from living their lives. We all joked about it in Italy, but I can clearly see now that I’ve made ixceptionally difficult for them to find a girlfriend. Stephen might have an easier time, but only slightly. I don’t want to keep them from making their own lives.”
“I don’t think you are, solnishko. They know that once I’m done for the day, they’re free to go. It’s always been that way. It will always be that way. If they wanted to find girlfriends right now, they could. They’re choosing to spend more time with you because you give them what they need right now. They wouldn’t be able to have the same conversations with a girlfriend that they have with you. At least not right away. What’s happening to all of us is strange and not everyone is going to be able to handle it. They need to be more secure in themselves and what they can do before they’re going to have a chance at finding a relationship that lasts. None of them are interested in just finding a woman to sleep with. They see what we have and they all want the same. They know it’s going to be worth the wait.”
She sighed, her eyes once again landing on the deepest depth of the ocean blu. Her fingers ran lightly through my facial hair as she smiled sweetly at me, “Sometimes I wonder what the hell I did to deserve you,” she said.
“I wonder the same thing every single day,” I said, burying my face in her neck once more. She wrapped her arms around me, holding onto me tightly as she let me have a few more minutes in bed with her before starting the day
The guys were waiting on us when we came out of the bedroom. Viktor was diere with Ilya, as well as Vitaliy and Aleksei I wasted no time setting my plan in motion. “Viktor, why don’t you take the weekend and spend it with fyd before he starts work. You guys slept through his first week here. At least you’ll have a couple more days to catch up,” I said.
Adrik
Sephie was awake before me for once the next morning. I could feel her fingers lightly tracing circles on my back as she tried to slowly wake me up. I pulled her even closer, burying my face in her neck. She laughed quietly as she moved her leg over my hips, pressing her body completely against
mine.
“Let’s stay like this the whole day,” I said.
“Are you extra tired? Did you get zapped?” she asked. I could hear the concern in her voice, but I could also feel it.
“No. I just need a break.” I pulled back so I could look at her, finally opening my eyes. Her eyes were swirling, but they landed on blue as she looked at me. “Let’s go to the house this afternoon. I don’t have that many meetings. might cancel them all.”
“You’ll hear no arguments from me. I think we could all use some time there. What about Ilya though?” she asked.
I thought for a moment. I’d actually forgotten about him. If he was going to work for Vitaliy, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world for him to know. about the house, but I still didn’t like the idea of him knowing just yet. “I’ll give Viktor the weekend off completely. He can spend more time with Ilya before he starts working for Vitaliy. Viktor will protest, since he hates taking time off and I’ll suggest we go to the house so he won’t worry about us all weekend.”
“I learned how to plan things out from watching you,” she said, grinning at m
“And I learned how to love you more than humanly possible from watching you,” I said, kissing her. I could feel her warmth spreading through my body as I buried my face in her neck again.
“Time away will be good for all of us, I think. It’ll give me a chance to catch the other three up on my conversation with Kostya. Maybe Stephen can experiment with helping Misha this weekend, too. He’s been trying to let go of his hatred for Giana, but it’s still there. It still comes back now and then when he least expects it,” she said.
I laughed. “I still find it surprising that he got so angry with her. I didn’t know that kid had it in him, but he clearly loves you. There’s no doubt about that. They all do.”
I felt her mood shift and pulled back from her so I could see her once more. r eyes were swirling, but they were mostly amber and white, surprisingly. She saw the look on my face and explained. “I sometimes worry that their connection with me is keeping them cut off from living their lives. We all joked about it in Italy, but I can clearly see now that I’ve made it exceptionally difficult for them to find a girlfriend. Stephen might have an easier time, but only slightly. I don’t want to keep them from making the own lives.”
“I don’t think you are, solnishko. They know that once I’m done for the day, they’re free to go. It’s always been that way. It will always be that way. If they wanted to find girlfriends right now, they could. They’re choosing to spend more time with you because you give them what they need right now. They wouldn’t be able to have the same conversations with a girlfriend that they have with you. At least not right away. What’s happening to all of us is strange and not everyone is going to be able to handle it. They need to be more secure in themselves and what they can do before they’re going to have a chance at finding a relationship that lasts. None of them are interesten just finding a woman to sleep with. They see what we have and they all want the same. They know it’s going to be worth the wait.”
She sighed, her eyes once again landing on the deepest depth of the ocean blu. Her fingers ran lightly through my facial hair as she smiled sweetly at me. “Sometimes I wonder what the hell I did to deserve you,” she said.
“I wonder the same thing every single day,” I said, burying my face in her neck once more. She wrapped her arms around me, holding onto me tightly as she Jet me have a few more minutes in bed with her before starting the day
The guys were waiting on us when we came out of the bedroom. Viktor was there with Ilya, as well as Vitally and Aleksei. I wasted no time setting my plan in motion. “Viktor, why don’t you take the weekend and spend it with before he starts work. You guys slept through his first week here. At
least you’ll have a couple more days to catch up,” I said.
Viktor started to protest, but Vitaly surprised me by interjecting. “You can help me find more security for my house, if you really want to work. But after that, you should spend time with your brother.”
Viktor still looked unsure. He asked me, “you guys will be okay?”
Sephie smiled sweetly at him. “We can go away for the weekend. We’ll be fine and you won’t have to worry about us, Papa Bear.”
His entire demeanor melted as she smiled at him. He wasn’t going to argue any further.
“It’s settled then,” Vitaliy said, matter-of-factly.
“Were you trying to keep Viktor away or you just don’t want Ilya at the house?” yan asked me as everyone started conversing.
“Iya. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for him to know about it, but not yet. I really need a break. Sephie does too, even though she’s pushing through like the boss she is. She needs time to tell the other three about Kostya, too.”
“We could all use the break. Except Stephen. He’s still on cloud 9.” Ivan said, laughing.
“You were right last night. That kid is a saint. I’m happy to see it. Nobody deserves it more than he does.”
Ivan nodded his head discreetly in agreement and we both returned to the normal conversation going on around us. Stephen was asking Sephie to come up with a new name for Armando for when we took him to a nursing home.
“Richard. That way you can call him d ick the entire time and no one will know you’re saying it with a lowercase ‘d,” she said flatly. The guys all laughed.
Dic kie had a drug problem that caused him to have a massive stroke and now he’s catatonic,” Stephen said, his smile that was showing itself more frequently lately across his face.
“That’s perfect,” Sephie said, grinning at him.
I decided to keep my meetings that day, rather than reschedule them. I asked Sephie if she could come to the last one, which always surprised her. “Who is it?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” I said. I enjoyed tormenting her maybe a little too much sometimes.
She walked into my office with the Wonder Twins just before the meeting started. Stephen walked in right behind them. She turned to see who it was and her face immediately lit up. “Vinny!” she said as she walked quickly to him. He brought his wife, Anna, with him as well. “And A nna!” she said, hugging both of them. Neal walked in shortly after, a look of amusement on face. “I’m so happy to see both of you!” Sephie said, as they walked in, each taking a seat.
“Bella, it’s always good to see you,” Vinny said. He shook my hand before sitting down. “You too, sir,” he said, taking a seat.
Sephie walked around my desk, stopping to kiss me quickly, then hopped on the cabinet behind my desk. Anna’s salon had been repaired and was reopened, as were all the other businesses in that part of town. Since Niko and Vito were still in Italy with Sal, all of the underbosses had backed off of enforcing the increased taxes. They had all heard what happened to Anthony, Lorenzo, and Massimo. They all knew that no one had seen Armando or Dario in months. They were scared..
I looked to Neal, asking if he’d brought the paperwork. We had one restaurant owner in the new building project back out for personal reasons, so we had one space empty. I decided to offer it to Vinny at a discounted price so he could expand and open a second location, should he choose to. Neal got up and set down everything in front of Vinny.
Vinny started to look at everything, curious as to why I’d asked him here. Ne explained the building project to him. As he did, Sephie silently asked, “you’re offering the vacant spot to Vinny so he can open a second location, arent you? I just turned slightly so I could see her, but didn’t respond, “Just when I think I can’t love you anymore than I already do…”
Neal explained about the empty space and then offered it to Vinny, should he want to expand to a second location, Vinny looked shocked, as did
Anna.
“There’s no pressure, Vinny. It’s only if you want to expand to a second location. I’m offering the space to you first before I make it known there’s a space available,” I said.
Vinny looked at Anna, then back to me. “We’ve been talking about a second location for years, sir. We just could never find the right spot. This spot is perfect. I can keep that place afloat just on the people in that build
he sail.
“Smart man, Vinny. You’d be surprised how not obvious that is to some people” Sephie said sarcastically. Neal looked at her, unable to keep his laughter in.
Adrik
Vinny looked through the paperwork. Anna leaned over, also glancing at the paperwork in front of them. They talked quietly to each other, discussing options.
“You can take it home and think about it, Vinny. I don’t need an answer today. I said, trying to take some of the perceived pressure off of them. “Everything you need is there. Feel free to call Neal or myself if you have questions.”
Vinny still looked too stunned to speak, but they both stood up. “i would appriciate just a little time to make sure this works for us,” he said. “But you’ll have your answer by Monday, at the latest.”
“That’s fine, Vinny, I know you have a lot going on. Take all the time you need It’s yours until you decide you don’t want it,” I said, standing with them. Sephie jumped off the cabinet and came to stand next to me.
Vinny looked at her, smiling at her. “Somehow I think you had something to do with this, bella.”
“Nope. This was all him. He might’ve thought about it because my stomach is a long-term relationship with you, but really that’s on you. You did this to yourself, Vinny,” she said. She’d put her contacts in before coming to the meeting, but I knew her eyes were green.
Vinny and Anna both laughed at her statement. They both thanked me and hugged Sephie once again before Stephen escorted them back downstairs. Neal stayed for a few more minutes, catching me up on other business. I noticed Sephie walk to Misha and Andrei, asking them both their thoughts on what Vinny would do. They quietly discussed everything while Neal and I talked about other matters.
I caught myself thinking back to the conversation we’d had that morning, where she was concerned she was keeping them from living their own lives. I watched as they readily discussed things with her that I knew for a fact they wouldn’t be able to discuss with anyone else. She gave them a space to be completely authentic. She just didn’t realize how important that was yet. She didn’t know they’d do whatever it took to keep it.
We got to the house early enough that Sephie wanted to take a walk first thing. She loved being able to go outside without fear of anything. It made me feel somewhat guilty that we hadn’t been to the house in a while..
“Don’t feel guilty,” she said, lacing her fingers through mine as we walked toward the woods. “We’re here now. That’s what matters.”
We walked in silence, enjoying the last bit of daylight. I could feel the stress melting away as we walked. I smiled to myself, thinking about how Sephie really was magic in her own way. She always knew just what I needed.
She felt the pull in my chest and glanced up at me. She smiled her sweet smile that spark in her eyes that was reserved only for me. “I can say the same for you, you know,” she said as we headed back toward the house.
I stopped her before we got all the way out of the woods, pulling her against me. I loved the way the fading daylight made her hair look. There were at least ten different shades of red and orange in the last rays of sunlight. It made her hair look like it really was on fire. Fier eyes were normal, which was becoming a rarity, but I found myself loving it just as much as when they changed. Those were the eyes that I fell in love with. Those were the eyes that first looked at my soul and loved every piece of me.
I smiled at her, turning away from her. “Get on. We both know you don’t walk back to the house,” I said. I heard her giggle as she jumped on my back. She wrapped her arms around my neck and shoulders as I bounced her higher and walked us back to the house. I could feel her happiness the entire
way.
The guys were all in the back room when we got back. She ditched her coat and went to the kitchen to start dinner. We all happily followed her. Viktor still felt somewhat guilty about taking the weekend off, even though it was my idea, so he made sure there were plenty of gitceries at the house when
we arrived.
She started pulling things out of the refrigerator as the guys all moved to the chairs around the kitchen island. I caught her glancing at all of them.
She had come up with a new signal for Andrei, since I caught their last one. wasn’t going to tell her I’d caught this one as well. She found the answer to her silent question, a small smile on her face.
She stopped what she was doing, looking at all of them. “You’re all wondering hy Viktor irritates you now, aren’t you?”
There was an audible exhale from all of them. “YES,” they all groaned.
“We’ve been trying to figure it out. We also think Ivan knows something he’s not telling us,” Misha said. He was clearly frustrated with not being able to solve the puzzle.
Sephie giggled. “Ivan does know something. He found out last night, but he’s being nice to me and letting me tell you,” she said, winking at Ivan.
“Why didn’t we find out last night?” Misha asked. He was somewhat indignant about the matter, which made it even funnier.
“Because I didn’t want Viktor to be around when I told you. It’s easier to ask one of you to stay behind than it is for me to ask Viktor to go away so we can obviously talk about him,” she said.
“That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” Stephen asked.
I nodded. “Well, not the only reason. I needed a break. She needed a way to tell you guys what happened without Viktor around. She’s worried about singling him out. She doesn’t want him to feel left out of anything,” I said.
“What happened, spider monkey? What do you know?” Andrei asked..
“Kostya came to me. Same way my dad and his mom come to me. Just slightly creepier because I wasn’t expecting a kid,” she said as they all laughed at her still obvious discomfort. She explained why they all felt different around Viktor now.
“But we don’t control our demons the same way you three do,” Andrei said.
“Not yet, you don’t. But you made the choice to learn how to. By doing so, I think your connection is already stronger. Your connections to me are stronger, as well as Adrik now. If it’s not already, it will be to Ivan soon, too. The connections between the three of us are stronger because of our demons. It should be that way with you three soon. As such, we’ll never have the same kind of connection with Viktor,” she said. “But that’s okay, too. He has good reason to be afraid of our demons. It’s just going to take his soul little longer to get to the point that we’re at. He’s still very much all in with what’s going on. He’s not going anywhere.” She looked at Stephen, her wide smile stretching across her face, as she added, “and Yoden gets to help him deal with his trauma so that he’s more comfortable around us.”
Sephie
“What? How?” Stephen asked when I told him
I laughed. han said, “I asked the same
get to help Viktor with hi
“Are we going to get the guy that tortured him?”
“No. Adrik told you that you were going to level up. He wasn’t lying.” I said. arm across his shoulders. “You spent so much of your life trying to figure out other people do it. You can break a person, but you can also help people
miled at his olivious confusion. I walked to Stephen’s side, sliding my
Transmute your pain that now you’re going to be able to help things that are slowly killing them.”
Stephen was quiet for a few moments. He looked at Adrik and very seriouslyd, “this was not the level up I was expecting, but I’ll take it. Demon crushing is still on the table. Just putting that out there.”
“That’s the reason you’ve been so happy after breaking Armando, Stephen. Well thought it was because you got high off Boss’s supply, if you will. But you’ve been happy because you know you helped Sephie feel better,” Ivanaid.
“Ivan’s right. He also said last night that this whole time we’ve all thought you were a serial killer, but it turns out you’re a saint. Honestly, I could not agree more,” Adrik said.
I had tears in my eyes. I wasn’t expecting them to tell him what they said, but was happy they did. I could see the emotions flash across his face as he took in everything they’d just said. He looked up at me, still somewhat beddered. “It’s true?” he asked quietly.
“It’s true. You took all the bad and turned it into something good. You should be able to do it on a smaller scale soon, too. You have arguably the most ba da ss gift out of all of us and somehow you keep making it better. I don’t know if the world can handle demon crushing,” I said.
I watched as his smile stretched across his face, making his entire demeanor bghter. We could all see how much stronger his light was. His entire childhood, he’d had to endure his sisters telling him he was anything but good and having to endure their horrific torture regularly. Now, we were telling him that not only was he ultimately saving souls, but also helping others deal with their trauma in ways that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. He stood up, pulling me into his vampiric vice-grip of a hug.
As his grip on me loosened, he turned toward Misha. “Guess we’re going to have that conversation about what to do with your hatred toward Giana after all,” he said.
I laughed. Adrik looked at Misha, smiling. “I still can’t believe you got so angry with her. I didn’t know you had it in you,” he said.
“Honestly? I didn’t either. I don’t quite understand why what she did made me so angry, but it did,” Misha said. He thought for a moment, then looked back up at all of us. “Yeah, still does.”
“Usually when you have that strong of a reaction toward someone, it’s because they’re showing you something you don’t like about yourself. It’s the same reason Viktor is uncomfortable around our demons. He’s not comfortable around his own and ours serve as a reminder of that. It’s why he asked for his to be removed. Same thing for you, my adorable Russian guardian. There’s some part of the way Giana acted that you see in yourself and you don’t like it,” I said. “Let Stephen help you with it, but don’t stop trying to figure out why it made you angry to begin with so you can learn from it.. Stephen is not here to be your trash compactor,” I said, trying to look at him sternly.
Misha flashed his handsome smile at me. “I would never take advantage of such an opportunity,” he said, innocently. He managed to get the entire sentence out before he laughed, then added, “yeah, that’s a total lie. You’re going to have to set firm boundaries with me, Stephen.”
“Noted,” Stephen said, laughing with him.
Adrik looked between Andrei and Misha. He asked, “are you two able to communicate with each other now?” They both looked at each other, like they’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. It made drik laugh. “You’re not in trouble for it. I’ve just noticed a few silent conversations where you seem like you make a decision without saying anything. I’m curious,” he said.
“I don’t think it works the same as you and Sephie or you and Ivan. It’s more like snapshots we can send each other. It just started,” Andrei said. He looked at me, silently asking if he could tell everyone that he and I figured out a way to communicate with each other. I smiled at him, nodding my head. “It’s similar to how Sephie and I communicate. We show each other what we want the other one to see when we look in each other’s heads. It’s
kind of the same with Misha, but since he doesn’t really look in my head, I have to send it to him differently.”
“I know you and Sephie figured out a way to communicate. I caught your signals to each other,” Adrik said, winking at me. “But since you two are the same, it makes sense. I’m impressed that you figured out a way to communicate with Misha.”
Andrei looked slightly relieved, his handsome smile stretching across his face. Misha added, “it’s getting easier the more we practice at it. I haven’t figured out yet how it would work with Stephen, but there’s gotta be a way with him, too. Everything got stronger when Stephen broke Armando.”
“Have you started to feel Ivan the same way you felt Adrik after that happened?” I asked.
“Not as much. Boss is stronger. Not as strong as you, but he’s a close second now. Maybe it has to do with anger. Maybe Ivan needs to go nuclear and then it’ll be stronger for him, too,” Misha said.
“Or maybe we feel Boss more strongly because your connection to him is strenger and it comes through from you, spider monkey,” Andrei said.
“Both theories make sense, honestly. I have no idea what it actually is. I like it though,” I said, grinning at all of them.
“Do you think Viktor is going to feel left out that he doesn’t have as strong of connection to the rest of us?” Misha asked.
I sighed. “Kostya told me he prefers it that way and I have to agree with him Viktor has so much on his mind at any given point that having to deal with the hot mess that is me feels very overwhelming to him. Kostya even said that the little bit he has felt from me has almost been too much for him.” I stopped what I was doing, looking at Adrik first, then at the other four. I think it’s harder to take because everything is so strong between us and we all enjoy it. We just want Viktor to be a part of that.”
Adrik walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Viktor is a big boy. He made his choice and we need to respect that. Kostya told Sephie that he’s still all in, so until he does something to make me question that, I’m operating as if he’s all in. He has a very specific gift. If he doesn’t want to be a part of the rest of it, then he doesn’t need to be. I think between the rest of us, we can make any situation work.”
“If his connection to Sephie isn’t as strong, he might not be of any help in other situations anyway,” Ivan said. “That might be by design, now that I think about it.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to find more answers when I didn’t really know the questions. “I feel like I want to protect Viktor from everything weird happening now. Like now I’m not sure he can handle it,” I said.
“I think that will get better once I figure out how to help him with his trauma. When you have unresolved trauma, any little thing suddenly becomes a very big thing. If he’s still struggling that much with his time in prison, then he’s not able to handle anything else. He got rid of the grief, which clouded everything, but it also uncovered other stuff he hasn’t dealt with,” Stephen said.
I smiled at Stephen. “You’re so wise, Stephen. I’m glad you finally decided to show everyone.”
Sephie
Stephen surprised both Misha and I by asking if he could go with us for a run the next morning. “I figure I need to take advantage of it now while you’re still keeping it short and slower so I can ease myself into it. I know Boss doesn’t like the idea of just Misha running with you when we’re at the penthouse, but he might eventually warm up to the idea of both of us going with you. I just need to get better at it.”
“That, my favorite enabler, might be one of the more thoughtful things anyone has done for me lately,” I said.
The three of us set out for a short run. Misha, who used to dread going the long route at the house, was now slightly disappointed that we were taking the short route. I could feel his sullen mood before we left the house. “Don’t worry, my adorable Russian guardian. My lung is getting better really quickly. We’ll be able to go the long route again soon,” I said, h ooking my arm through his as we walked around the pool and past the gardens.
“I never thought I would be disappointed with the short route, but here we are” he said, laughing at himself.
Stephen was able to keep up without much trouble the entire time. It wasn’t as easy for him as it was for Misha, but Misha had also started out much in the same spot as Stephen was in now too. As we slowed to a walk, Stephen said, “I’m probably going to regret that tomorrow.”
I was still working to catch my breath, but managed to say, “you’ll be fine, Stephen. You kept up the whole way.” Misha looked down at me, suddenly alarmed that I hadn’t caught my breath yet. I smiled at him, but stopped walking to try to make it easier. “I’m okay. I’m not panicking,” I assured them. I just needed a minute of not moving.
Misha glanced at Stephen, clearly worried. Misha hadn’t seen me not be able to catch my breath before. He was used to me running for hours and barely breaking a sweat. I could feel his worry turning to panic with each second that I struggled to control my breathing. “You’re not helping,” I said, in between breaths.
“I can’t help it, gazelle. I’ve never seen you like this. I don’t know what to do and I don’t like it,” Misha said. “I think I should carry you back to the house,” he said. “Boss is going to kill me if you come back broken.”
“He makes a solid argument there, Seph. It’s easier for you to catch your breath if you’re not moving. It’ll also help him feel less panicked, which will help you feel less panicked. I can see the white swirling in your eyes, but I think it’s from Misha, not you,” Stephen said.
“How?” I asked, as Misha squatted down in front of me so I could hop on his back.
“Everything from you always has heat behind it. Your fear and panic slightly less than other emotions, but it’s still warm. Much warmer than I am. This isn’t warm enough to be from you. You said he runs cooler like I do, so it must be from him,” Stephen said as we continued walking to the house.
“You’re getting better, Yoden,” I said.
He flashed me a grin. “I’ve been thinking about what you told me last night, po. I have ideas,” he said.
I squeezed Misha’s neck a little tighter, asking if he was ready to be a g uinea pig. He turned his head so he could see me out of the corner of his eye. “I just have one question. Do I get pancakes later if I say yes?”
We were still laughing when we got to the house. Adrik was concerned when he saw Misha carrying me back. I knew it wasn’t worth me trying to keep it from him. “I did struggle to catch my breath. I think we might’ve went a little too far this time. Misha helped me out by carrying me back,” I said as Misha deposited me on the kitchen counter. Ivan had walked in right after us, mirroring Adrik’s concern when he saw Misha carrying me.
“I think you’ve done too much this week, princess. You might be overdoing i Ivan said.
“I agree. You’re still at risk for pneumonia again,” Adrik said, handing me a glass of water.
Misha was still somewhat worried and mostly shocked. “I haven’t seen her not be able to catch her breath before. That was alarming.”
“Did you panic?” Adrik asked. “I didn’t feel anything.”
“She didn’t, but Misha did.” Stephen said. “She stayed calm while she worked to catch her breath, but he made her eyes swirl with white because she could feel his panic.”
Adrik looked at me, surprised. “That’s three times now that your eyes have changed in response to someone else and not you.”
“You’re looking at me like I have an answer as to why that is,” I said, trying not to laugh at him.
*Sephie feels everything so much more intensely than the rest of us, it makes sense that her eyes would be more responsive to everything around her as she becomes more responsive to everything around her,” Stephen said.
“Yeah, what he said,” I said, grinning at Adrik. He clicked his tongue as he stepped in front of me, standing between my legs, his hands on my thighs.
“What happened when you felt his panic?” Adrik asked.
“I told him he wasn’t helping.”
“It didn’t make yours worse?” he asked.
“My panic didn’t make an appearance at all. I think it might have if Misha had continued to panic. I could feel that coming on, but once he started carrying me, he calmed down,” I said.
Adrik looked at me thoughtfully. “Good. You’re learning to control it,” he said as he pulled me to the edge of the counter quickly. It made me wrap my legs around him to keep from feeling like I was going to fall. He wrapped one arm around my waist, picking me up off the counter, and walked out of the kitchen with me..
“Okay, bye!” I called out to the guys as we left. We could hear them laughing as we went up the stairs.
It took until Sunday afternoon before Stephen felt ready to try to help Misha with his anger toward Giana. “I might’ve been overanalyzing everything. Try not to be surprised,” Stephen said after they came back.
“And?” I asked, looking between him and Misha. Misha looked even happier than normal.
“I think it worked. I don’t feel anything when I think about Giana now and I couldn’t be happier about that,” Misha said, laughing.
“Was it easy?” I asked Stephen. He had said he felt like he didn’t need anyone help this time for this one. He really had been thinking about it since finding out he’d be able to do it. I was sure he had a complete standard operating procedure written out in his head on what needed to happen.
“Yeah, much easier than breaking a person. I don’t know how much Viktor is carrying around, but I might be able to do it on my own with him too. Misha was easy. It really was just his anger for Giana and nothing else,” Steplan said.
“That’s because he’s too adorable to be bothered by anything else,” I said, grinning at Misha.
I sighed, hopeful that Viktor would get even more relief from the trauma of his past and that it would help him to feel more comfortable around all of us. I wanted all of us to feel comfortable around him as well. I didn’t want to constantly feel irritated when I was around him and I knew the guys didn’t either. One more step in whatever this was that was happening to all of u
Stephen
We’d found a nursing home several hours away from the city to take Armando in. It was nice. It had all the amenities that he was never going to use, but we felt like his money would be put to good use there. I left the penthouse early one morning to deliver him to his new forever home
It was a strange drive to the nursing home. Armando was in the backseat, completely awake, but he never uttered a sound. Since I had broken him, he hadn’t slept. I guess he hadn’t needed to. He just sits in the same position all day, staring blankly in front of him. The guards that were on him would make him he down at night, but they said he’d just lie there, staring at the ceiling all night long.
He would eat, but he needed help to do so. He’d lost weight already since we had him. Most of his muscle was gone by the time I broke him. He looked like a shell of his former self. I would catch myself delighting in that fact often.
Should I feel guilty about being happy that this is how his life turned out?
Maybe.
Did I feel guilty about being happy that this is how his life turned out?
Not one bit.
That’s the beauty of Karma. He brought this on himself. He got a much better end to his life than his buddies Anthony and Lorenzo. I was slightly disappointed and somewhat worried that their souls were going to be returning at some point. I thought about that often.
I wondered how long it took souls to come back in a new body. Would I still be around when Anthony and Lorenzo came back? Would I get a second chance to break them in their next life? Chances are, they were going to make the same mistakes over again. They’d be just as evil in the next life as they were in this one. Maybe I’d be able to find them and break the cycle.
On those days where I caught myself contemplating whether I should feel guilty about Armando’s fate, I tried to remind myself that I really was breaking the cycle. Evil spread. Like a network. One less individual in the network. Get rid of enough individuals in the network and it weakens the entire thing. Anthony, Lorenzo, and Massimo were the beginning of weakening the network. Armando was a bigger blow to the network. The remaining four didn’t stand a chance.
I kept glancing at Armando in the backseat as we got closer to the nursing home. His expression never changed. He never gave any indication that he was aware of anything going on around him. I wondered if this was how my sisters were now. I hadn’t spoken to my parents since my mother called me after my sisters returned home.
I was sure my youngest sister would have been moved back to live with my parents. I was willing to bet good money that my middle sister’s husband would divorce her. I’d never met this one, but I’m sure he wouldn’t want to take care of a catatonic wife for the rest of her life. My oldest sister could talk, but my mother said she barely did. I would often wonder if her condition worsened after she got home. Maybe they were all three with my
parents.
Maybe I felt slightly guilty about burdening my parents with that. But at the same time, I’d tried to tell my mother what was happening. She never listened. She never believed me. They loved my sisters more than me. Even my father. My sisters could get anything they wanted. It was the opposite
for me.
That’s partly why I left home as early as I did. I’d lied about my age so I could join the military early. I just wanted to be away from that house, from my sisters. The military is where I discovered my accuracy in marksmanship. I was always the best shot. It didn’t matter who was at the gun range with me, I hit the mark every single time. I got fast tracked to sn*per school before I even finished my basic training.
For a kid who rarely spoke, becoming a sn*per was like a dream come true. I was already observant, so studying my targets was second nature. I could be patient and wait however long it took until I found the right opportunity. And not a single person ever saw me. It was ideal.
Boss had heard about me and came to me to see if I was looking for a job after I got out of the military. Viktor still had contacts in the military, one of whom was my commanding officer. He knew Viktor had a sweet deal with Boss, even without knowing the details. There were lots of military guys that wanted to get into private security after they got out. Boss explained his situation, gave me his card, and told me to call him when I got out.
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I didn’t want to go back home, so the day after I got out of the military, I gave him a call. He flew me to the city, told me to give him a month to see if it would work out on both sides, and I haven’t been home since.
The other guys were welcoming from the start. They didn’t care that I was quiet. They let me keep to myself as much as I wanted. I showed up to work each day. That’s what they cared about. I was more comfortable with them by the time Sephie came into our lives, but it’s really because of her that I’m as close to them as I am now.)
Everything changed when she came into the picture. In the best way possible.
I tried to keep her at arm’s length for as long as possible. She recognized that I was the loner type. She didn’t care either. I kept waiting for her to turn mean and sa*istic, like my sisters, but it never happened. Instead, she would hype me up anytime I said anything around her. She wanted to hear my opinion. She laughed at my jokes. She made me feel like I was part of the group, for the first time in my life.
I wasn’t sure if she knew how much she meant to me, but she brought me back from the brink of destruction. It was a daily battle to keep the anger and the pure rage from taking over. I was so close to giving in and just becoming the monster that my sisters tried to create. But then we all met Sephie and we learned about what she’d had to endure in her short life. I saw how bright her light still shined, despite everything that had happened to her.
If she could do it, why couldn’t I?
I’m not sure she would ever know the role she played in my life, but I knew I would do everything in my power to make sure she was always safe and she was always protected. No matter what.
I glanced back at Armando, who was still blankly staring ahead, as we pulled into the driveway of the nursing home. “We’re here, di**k.”
I was going to have to watch myself and make sure I didn’t say his new name with that tone in front of anyone inside…..
I was greeted by an administrator, as well as a nurse when we pulled up. They were expecting di*k. We had called and given his fake back story already. It was tragic, really. His dear wife, whom he loved with all his heart, died tragically in a freak accident while on vacation a few years ago. She was such a bubbly personality and he just adored listening to her tell stories and talk endlessly about every little detail of her life. After she passed, he couldn’t stand the silence. He turned to drugs to try and fill the void and it caused him to have a massive stroke. The doctors said the damage was extensive and he would never recover. He’d remain in a waking coma for the rest of his life.
They had his room all set up for him, with his new roomie just dying to meet him. She’d been so lonely without anyone to talk to that she’d been telling the nurses all week how excited she was to get someone to talk to. I met her. She was a dear woman. Talked my ear off for twenty minutes. while they got paperwork for me to sign. It was going to be the absolute best end to Armando’s life that any of us could’ve conceived.
Before I left, I leaned down to Armando’s ear whispering, “next time, if someone tells you to jump off the roof, you should do so.”
I can’t be sure, but I think he flinched.
Sephle
Vitaliy had finally fumished his new house, which was Armando’s old house, and had been there for a week. He invited all of us over for dinner the day that Stephen took Armando to the mursing home, as a hit of a celebration, Like we were going to say no to that…
Battista had come back to the city the day before, so he joined us for dinner. He had information on Ricardo and the other three bosses for us, as well as more information on the police commissioner. He was proving to be quite the asset for us.
I’d never been to Vitaliy’s house when it was still Armando’s house, so this was a bit of an adventure for me. I did make sure to tell him to check all the windows on the first floor before he moved in, just in case. You can never be too careful.
Vitaliy greeted us warmly when we arrived, his smile that showed up quite often now spreading across his face when we walked in. “Sladkaya, I’m happy to see you,” he said, opening his arms for me.
“I’ve missed you, old man,” I said, hugging him. I turned to Battista, who had been standing next to Vitaliy. “Battista, it’s good to see you again, as well.” He took my hand, flipping it over to kiss the back of it, like normal.
“Sephie, it’s always a pleasure,” he said. He had a devious glint to his eye that made me think he wanted something.
“Out with it, Battista. Who do you need help with?” I asked.
He looked at Vitaliy, who was laughing. He didn’t say anything, but he reached into his pocket, pulling out a money clip that was holding a w*d of hundred dollar bills. He counted off five and handed them to Vitaliy, folding the rest back up and putting them back in his pocket. He turned back to me, smiling. “Another business associate I’m unsure about. They’ll be here in five days,” he said.
“Another woman?” I asked. Adrik was behind me as I greeted Vitaliy and Battista both, but he had pulled me against him when he heard Battista needed me for something.
Battista shook his head no. “Not a woman this time. This guy has been influential in Europe for years, but there’s something about him that many people don’t like. Only, no one knows why. Vitaliy has met him before, but it’s been years. He didn’t feel anything off about him then, but the feeling has persisted. You,” he said, then paused to look at Adrik and the guys before continuing, “all of you, offer a much more detailed picture. When Ricardo goes down, I have a feeling he’s only the first domino. I would like to have those who are connected to me completely vetted before that happens.”
“She doesn’t go anywhere without all of us,” Adrik said, pulling me tighter against him.
“Nor would I want her to. I value all of your insights. I still don’t know the specifics of how you’re all connected, but I know you are. If this associate can pass this test, then I won’t need to worry about them,” Battista said.
“Let us know when and where, then,” Adrik said.
The conversation turned to small talk. I asked Vitaliy for a tour of the house, since I’d never been there. He gladly obliged, taking my hand and sliding it through his arm as he walked me around the house. I could tell it made the guys slightly itchy to let me go with him alone, but they did.
“How’s Ilya working out?” I asked once we were alone.
He exhaled loudly. “Much better than the little flowers. I didn’t realize how much I’d come to despise them until they were gone. He told me his training was not where it should be, but he’s quite good already. It won’t take any time to catch him up. Most importantly, he wishes to be caught up.” He looked down at me, a sly grin on his face. “You inspired him, sladkaya,” he said.
“Shut up. When?”
“He saw you with Ivan. He remembers Ivan from when he was younger. He said he wished to be able to hold his own against Ivan as well as you did the other day.”
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I laughed. “Ivan still takes it very easy on me, Vitaliy. He shouldn’t be that impressed.”
He clicked his tongue. “I’ve seen Ivan fight plenty of times. You made him work. You’re very fast.”
“Not as fast as I was. I’m still trying to get it back, but it’s coming.”
“Keep training like you did the other day and Ivan won’t have to hold back at all with you,” he said, patting my hand as we continued our house tour.
Once we were back with everyone else, Battista filled us in on what he’d found out about Ricardo and the other three bosses.
“We don’t know exactly when yet, but Niko and Vito, are planning on returning to the city. We don’t even know exactly why they’re returning to the city, but we think it’s because the underbosses have stopped collecting the taxes in their absence. They’re running short of cash,” Battista said.
“The underbosses have been keeping very low profiles,” Ivan said. “They heard what happened to Anthony, Lorenzo, and Massimo. They’re scared.”
“They also know no one has seen Armando or Dario in months. The rumors abound about what happened to those two,” Stephen said.
“You have them both, no?” Battista asked. Adrik simply nodded his head, which kept the rest of us from saying anything further.
“We have eyes on all of them, so when Niko and Vito leave, we’ll be able to notify you. I’m not sure if you want to pick them up at the airport or let them come back to the city,” Battista said.
Adrik was quiet for a moment, which meant he was weighing his options. “If we let them come back to the city, it might lull them into a false sense of security. We can also see just how loyal those underbosses are going to be. My guess is not that loyal, given that they’ve all taken a vacation while the bosses have been away. Might be fun to crush them a little bit before we grab them,” Ivan said.
“What are your plans for them? Same as Armando?” Vitaliy asked.
I could feel Adrik’s anger, just under the surface, as he thought about what to do with Niko and Vito. Battista didn’t know about his eyes changing or Ivan’s eyes changing yet. Tonight might be the night he found out.
He looked to me, asking for my thoughts. Instead of saying anything, I just thought about Stephen breaking Niko and Vito the same way he did. Armando. I saw the look on Adrik’s face that meant my eyes had changed to purple. It was half enchantment, half disappointment. He looked back at his father, nodding his head once.
“Where are you at with the mayor? That could help determine your plan for Niko and Vito,” Battista asked.
“He’s currently looking through most of what we have on Ricardo. We kept back some of it until we know for sure he’s willing to move on it. We told him we have Dr. Moretti. He was going to meet with his DA to see what they could actually charge him with. Since no one but Sephie can remember him, it’s difficult to charge him there. There’s also no evidence that he’s the one that created brawn, past what Sal’s security guy told us. I’m not turning him over if he’s going to walk free,” Adrik said.
“We checked out the DA. He’s also good. At least for now. If there’s a way to charge him, he’d be willing to do so.” Battista thought for a minute more, adding, “perhaps we can help them find evidence that will hold up in court. Has anyone been to Sal’s house since he left
“No. He’s still got security there, the last time we checked. But I can’t say I wouldn’t like to go take a look to see what we could find,” Viktor said.
“How much security? Can you guys get past it?” Battista asked. “I only ask because I know Ricardo likes to keep records. If Sal has been working with him, then he will also like to keep records. What we’re looking for could very well be in his house.”
“I’ll have a team check it out in the morning.” Viktor said. “Depending on how many guys he has on the house, we might be able to get in and get out without anyone knowing.”
Misha clapped his hands together. “I love breaking and entering.”
Sephle
Three days after we met with Battista, we were all on our way to break into Sal’s house in the middle of the night. He did have security on his house, but it was minimal. Our guys watching the house said the night shift would usually fall asleep, if they showed up at all, so it should be an easy endeavor to slip into the house undetected. We were only interested in his files and his office happened to be all the way at the end of the house, which made it easy for us.
We decided everyone should go, to make it easier to look through all the files in a shorter amount of time. We weren’t exactly sure how many files we were going to be looking at. Because Adrik had promised me that he was never sending me away from him again, it meant I was going to break the law with the rest of them.
I couldn’t say I was disappointed about being included in this little adventure. Any chance I could get to stick it to Sal would make me very happy.
I had strict orders to stay with Adrik or Ivan at all times. Like I would argue with that.
We left the vehicles down the block from his house and went the rest of the way on foot. The team that had scouted the house ahead of time told us where the security was supposed to be. We found them inside the house, watching TV. They clearly took their jobs very seriously.
Adrik was the one that snuck in the house, silently walking right by the security team on the couch, and unlocked the window to the office for the rest of us to come in. The security team never suspected a thing. We ran to the end of the house, two at a time, until we were all in the office. Stephen kept an eye on the hallway, Viktor kept an eye on the window, the rest of us quickly looked through files for anything we could find that would tie Dr. Moretti to the creation of brawn and/or Sal.
As I was looking through files, I felt Stephen get tense. Before he could say anything, I told Ivan and Adrik silently, “Stephen noticed something in the hallway.” Ivan was next to him immediately. Stephen signaled what he’d heard, then the two of them disappeared. We heard the faintest sounds of a quick commotion, then nothing. Then Stephen and Ivan appeared in the office once more.
“We need to hurry. They’ll eventually wonder where their buddy is and come looking for him. There’s a bedroom down the hall. We put him in the bed, hoping to buy us some time. He’s going to be sleeping for a while anyway.” Ivan said to me and Adrik. I looked at Andrei, tapping my temple. I relayed the message to him, so he could relay the message to Misha. We all continued looking without a word spoken.
“Got it,” Adrik said. He kept flipping through the file in his hands. “Battista was right. Sal kept detailed records. This is everything on Dr. Moretti. This should be enough to put him away.”
I caught Andrei’s eye, telling him we found what we needed. We quickly exited out the window, two at a time, and left Adrik to close and lock the window behind us and once again walk right past the security team on the couch. We waited for Adrik to join us and we were back at the vehicles. The entire process took just over an hour.
On the way back to the penthouse, Adrik said silently, “having you as the go-between for Andrei, Misha, and Stephen was very helpful. We’ve never not had to talk to each other before.” He put his arm around me, pulling me to him. “And you caught on that Stephen knew something right away. That could’ve been much uglier.” He looked at me, his s*xy smirk on his face. “You’re quite handy to have around. I think I’ll keep you.”
Viktor let Chen know that we had new information for the mayor once we were back at the penthouse. He knew to stop by in the morning to get it before going to the mayor’s house to get his crew started for the day.
“I think we should find a way to meet with the DA. Or at least get Andrei and Ivan to watch him and see if they can see anything on him,” Stephen
said.
I agree. I was thinking about that on the way back,” Viktor said. “I don’t know how easy it would be to meet with the DA though.”
“Maybe he needs his house renovated too,” I said, grinning.
“I think it would be a good idea to meet with the mayor in person, as well, before we give him everything. What we have so far is promising, but I would feel better seeing him in person and having Sephie be able to see him speak,” Adrik said.
“We just need to be careful on who sees that happening. We don’t want Henry to catch on that we’re working with the mayor,” Ivan said.
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“Well, apparently he’s not that quick since he didn’t notice that two of his police chiefs were meeting with the mayor in the same place where they met with him not two days prior,” I said. “We could meet with the mayor at the hotel and apparently no one but Mr. Turner would notice:
Adrik chuckled. “You’re not wrong, solnishko. I’ll see if Neal can come up with a reason that we should meet with the mayor.
“There’s that giant fundraiser for the hospital coming up in a few weeks. You usually don’t go, but maybe you should go this time. The mayor will be there, as will the DA. As will Henry,” Viktor said.
Adrik could feel my moment of panic as I thought about going to another black tie affair. I managed to get it mostly under control before he made across the room to me. I sighed. “If any one of you so much as walks too far away from me while we’re there, I swear on all things holy, I will kill you,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose.
The
stayed silent. They could feel my turmoil. They still struggled with guilt from the last time. I felt Adrik’s arms around me as he pulled me gently to him. He ran his hand through my hair, saying, “we don’t have to go, love. I hate those functions anyway. We can find another way to meet with the mayor. I don’t want to put you through that.”
I took a deep breath. “It’s really the easiest option. It might also be the fastest option. No one will think twice about you having a conversation with the mayor if you’re there,” I said, chewing on my lip. “Aren’t you the biggest donor to the hospital anyway? They’ll be happy you’re there. The mayor should thank you for being there, which is all the more reason for you to have a conversation with him.” I looked up at him. “I’ll be okay. You and Ivan need contacts though.”
Misha and Stephen both scoffed. “Why do you always have to ruin all the fun, gazelle?” Misha asked.
Sephie
We arrived at the hotel where Mr. Turner worked to meet with Battista and his associates, once again like modern-day royalty. Vitaliy was with us, as were all his guys, minus the little flowers. I watched Ilya as he was working. He fit in perfectly with Vitaliy’s other guys. He was considerably younger than the rest of them, but he knew exactly what to do, exactly when to do it. They worked together like they’d been a team for years, rather than weeks. I caught his eye as we were walking up to the front door of the hotel, he smiled broadly at me, then went right back to boss mode. It made me happy to see him happy. His light had stayed just as bright as it was since Stephen scared off the darkness hanging around him.
Vitaliy’s other guys were almost happier to be rid of the little flowers than Vitaliy was. It meant they could come to dinner with him again. Apparently the way to all of these men’s hearts was through their stomachs.
As we approached the door to the hotel, we were greeted by Mr. Turner, who was just as happy as always to see us. I stepped away from Adrik, to give Mr. Turner a hug before we continued inside. Battista was waiting on us in the empty restaurant, like usual. He was standing with three men this time. I couldn’t help but feel relief when I saw there was no woman with them. While the guys were usually very serious while they were working. I heard them all laugh quietly when they felt my relief at seeing Battista standing with only men.
“Not gonna lie, princess, I might’ve enjoyed watching you embarrass that woman the last time a little too much,” Ivan said silently.
Before I could answer him, Adrik responded, “Let it play out, Ivan. We both know she’s equal opportunity. If this guy deserves it, it’ll be just as glorious as the woman.” He looked down at me, smirking, as we continued the rest of the way to Battista.
“This is the first time I’ve regretted being able to hear both of your thoughts,” I said. I could hear both of them laughing in my head, but outwardly, they looked as serious as ever. They were really getting good at this.
I caught Andrei’s eye as Battista was making the introductions with Vitaliy. He let me see what he saw when he looked at the men with Battista. I felt Misha’s nausea coming on, but I couldn’t tell which one it was from right away. I just knew it was one of them that was making Misha nauseous.
“Ivan? Anything?” I asked.
“Definitely. Short guy on the end. I saw it as we walked up. It’s stepped back, though,” he said.
“Same guy
Andrei pointed out. Misha confirms it, too.”
Stephen and I had discussed our options before we came to the hotel. If there was a situation like we had with Ilya, where the demon wasn’t necessarily attached, we would signal to him to speak to see if he could scare it away. If the demon was already attached, it was going to be slightly more complicated. We would wait to reveal who he was until a little later. Since we didn’t have much experience, we were hoping to gain some knowledge on how they would react to us.
Battista motioned for Adrik to meet his associates. He didn’t let go of me as he went to greet them. The first two men were fine when he shook their hands. The last man, the one that everyone had pointed out, made Adrik feel nauseous when he shook his hand. Because he was still touching me, I could feel what he felt.
Ivan’s bubble went up around me as I went through the line, shaking everyone’s hands as well. I wasn’t worried about our eyes changing since we now all had contacts in, but this time was different. I knew our eyes were black, even without seeing them. It felt similar to the agitation we felt around Viktor, but stronger. Our demons were itchy.
Battista took my hand, flipping it over to kiss the back of it, as he always did. As he looked up, he raised an eyebrow, silently asking if there was anything to be worried about as everyone else moved toward the table. I nodded once, discreetly. He looked almost excited as we walked to the table.
The business associates of Battista had come to the city under the guise of investing in various projects throughout the city. None of these projects were real, but Adrik, Vitaliy, and Battista discussed them as if they were. I stayed quiet, watching everyone as they talked with each other. I felt nothing bad from two associates, but I could tell the third one was watching us just as carefully as we were watching him.
Andrei caught my eye, telling me that the guy was focused on me, Adrik, and Ivan. “He knows there’s something different about you three, but he can’t figure out what.”
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“Ivan told me his demon stepped back when we first got here. Can you feel it?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s the same as that woman before. Not cold, I mean. But it’s there, whether it’s in control or not. It’s definitely there.”
“I’m so impressed that you can feel that now, Bubba,” I said, winking at him when no one was looking. “How’s Misha? Tell him to stop looking at the guy. I can feel his nausea when he does.”
Andrei coughed once to keep from laughing, then I saw him have a silent conversation with Misha. Misha caught my eye, grinning at me. Stephen was quiet, as was Viktor. Since we hadn’t figured out a way to communicate with Stephen yet, he was mostly on his own, but he could still feel what I felt. I was certain he had felt both Misha’s nausea, as well as Adrik’s when it came to the one business associate we’d singled out. He was staying quiet, for now. Doing what he did best. Watching. Waiting.
The conversation shifted from business to more benign subjects. The three men were from different areas in western Europe. In an effort to keep the conversation going. I asked questions about where they were from, capitalizing on the dumb woman stereotype. They indulged me, happy to answer my questions.
“Are your demons getting itchy?” Ivan asked.
“The whole time we’ve been here,” Adrik answered.
“He’s focused on the three of us. He knows there’s something different about us, but he doesn’t know what yet. What can you see, Ivan?” I asked.
Instead of describing what he saw when he looked at the man, he pushed a snapshot to both me and Adrik. We could see the man, but we could also see the demon, just behind his face. Like a demonic shadow.
“That was impressive,” Adrik said.
“Show off.” I said, trying not to laugh.
“What are we going to do with him?” Ivan asked. It was a good question. Battista had told us he simply wanted to know if there was a reason to be wary of this man. We had plenty of reasons to be wary of him. I ended up asking Vitaliy, in Russian, if any of these men spoke Italian. He shook his head no, then looked at everyone like I had just reminded him of a funny story related to the topic they were all discussing. As he finished up his pretend story, I looked at Battista, asking him in Italian how far he wanted us to take this.
Without s*ipping a beat, he answered me quickly in Italian and then followed Vitaliy’s lead, making up a reason for me to be speaking Italian to him. None of them were any the wiser.
“He said he wants him exposed; however we need to make that happen. He said the other two know enough that they won’t freak out,” I told Ivan and Adrik.
“We need to ditch the contacts, then,” Ivan said.
“Agreed,” Adrik responded.
I leaned over, whispering to Adrik, “would you gentlemen like to escort me to the restroom?” He stood up, extending his hand to me. He looked at Ivan, who stood up with us as well. He excused us, walking toward the back of the restaurant. I gave Andrei a quick update as we were leaving.
They surprised me by coming into the women’s bathroom with me. I couldn’t help but laugh at them. “This is some weird porn fantasy right here,” I said, walking to the sink so I could take my contacts out.
Ivan groaned when he took his out. “I understand why your eyes have been so itchy, princess. I do not want to wear these things any longer than I absolutely have to.”
“You do get used to them,” I said. “But I still don’t like wearing them for extended periods.”
We all looked at each other, our eyes turning black immediately. We couldn’t keep from laughing at each other.
“I think we unlocked a new level. I’ve never noticed my demon get this itchy before when we’ve been around another demon. I don’t know what that means,” Adrik said. “It kind of worries me.”
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I thought for a minute, trying to get a sense of what was going on. “I don’t think we’re the ones that should be worried about it. I think they’re trying
to help us more as each new thing happens. It feels like mine is trying to tell me something.” I said.
“New level for sure,” Ivan said, grinning at me. “So, what’s the plan for this dude?”
Sephie
“From what you’ve seen, he’s pretty much consumed by the demon, right?” I asked Ivan.
“Yeah. When they’re like the face behind the face, that’s when they’re running the show,” Ivan said,
I looked at Adrik. He had the same thought I did. “There’s only one solution, then,” he said.
“Stephen,” we all said at the same time.
“He’s going to be so happy,” I said, laughing as we left the bathroom.
When we got back to the table, the conversation was still flowing. Everyone noticed as we came back, but we didn’t interrupt anything. As we sat down, I told both Ivan and Adrik to either close their eyes or look down. I turned toward Stephen, who was sitting beside me, and flashed him my demon eyes. He knew that meant his services were going to be needed shortly.
We’d discussed Stephen’s gift before coming to the hotel. Before, we had personal experiences to use as fuel for him to break the person. This person was a complete stranger, so we weren’t sure how that would work. It was Misha that came up with the idea for how to make it work.
“Once the decision is made, I can look back through the person’s life and pick out times when they’ve done evil things. You and Andrei can look through their head and do the same. I can send everything I have to Andrei, he can send it to you, you give it to Stephen. Boss can give him “f*ck you” juice like before while Ivan makes sure you’re protected,” Misha had said the night before as we were discussing it.
I gave the green light to both Misha and Andrei to start collecting information. They’d both been working on being more subtle with their gifts. It was harder to tell when they were using them now. The glazed-over look was much less noticeable.
As the three of us looked into this man’s life, none of us were prepared for what we found. Adrik and Ivan both felt my extreme nausea, which was compounded with both Misha and Andrei’s nausea as they saw what I saw.
“What’s happening, love? You feel terrible,” Adrik asked.
“I’m going to need to wash my brain after this. This man is beyond disgusting.”I told them. “You might not need to help Stephen. This one is going to hit very close to home for him. It’s going to send him into a rage.”
The man had a very long history of taking advantage of little boys in the worst way possible. We collected enough of his memories that Stephen would have plenty to use. I told Andrei and Misha to stop, mostly because I couldn’t handle the nausea any longer.
“I need to warn Stephen,” I said. “But we need to find a way to provoke him so everyone can see.”
While they tried to come up with a strategy to provoke the man, I leaned over to Stephen. I was very careful not to touch him yet. I whispered in his ear, in Russian, “Yoden, I need to warn you. This one is going to be difficult for you because of what he’s done. It hits very close to home for you. If you want to sit this one out, we can find another way.”
Before I could stop him, he grabbed my hand. He managed to control himself as he took everything we’d gotten from that guy’s life. It only took a few seconds. He looked at me, saying, “there’s absolutely no way in Hell I would sit this one out.”
Andrei caught my eye, after he’d watched Stephen take everything from me. His face clearly showed concern for Stephen. He pushed his thoughts to me, telling me he’d figured out another piece to the puzzle. He suddenly realized that Viktor was here to help us as much as he was to help others. He could help us fix ourselves after we’d had to witness the evil this man had done over his lifetime. None of us wanted this hanging onto us any longer than absolutely necessary.
I told Andrei he was a f*cking genius.
“Stephen is ready, whenever we are. I’m not sure he’s going to need help, but I think you should be ready, Just in case. I can feel him smoldering beside me right now. He’s usually very cold, but he feels like you do normally right now,” I told Adrik.
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“I can feel him through you. I know that feeling from him. He’ll handle this one on his own,” Adrik said.
Once again, I spoke to Battista in Italian, telling him we needed a way to provoke this man to anger so we could expose him. He nodded, expertly shifting the conversation exactly in the direction we needed. Since Lorenzo had been killed, many of his human trafficking networks throughout Europe had been exposed. There were a few very high profile people that had been caught having connections to Lorenzo, meaning they were partaking in the particular services that Lorenzo was providing. Battista must’ve had his suspicions about this man before today, as I couldn’t see him bringing this subject up otherwise.
The man started to get uncomfortable as we all discussed the matter. He started to sweat when Battista had asked if he’d known one of the people that was currently in police custody for being connected to Lorenzo. Nothing had been outright proven yet, but speculation as to this person’s guilt was running rampant throughout Europe. The man before us decided that coming to the defense of an accused human trafficker and ped*phile was his best option.
It was exactly what we needed.
The conversation got heated on his end, but he wasn’t angry per se. He was scared. Scared of the same fate. Scared of being exposed.
I felt my anger rise to the surface and I finally let it happen, not caring one bit that my eyes were now black. Adrik and Ivan’s eyes were also now black. We watched him squirm in his seat once he saw it. Ivan shared what he could see with me and Adrik. The demon was clearly agitated. I glanced at Stephen, who finally spoke.
“I mean no disrespect, sir, but people are generally only accused of such heinous acts when they’ve actually participated in such heinous acts,” he said. I’d never heard Stephen take that tone with anyone before. It was like he was mocking him. In the most menacing way possible. If I didn’t know Stephen already, it would’ve sent chills down my spine.
Ivan was still sharing what he could see as Stephen revealed himself. We watched this man lose complete control. His demon was now angry and took over, switching his eyes to black as well. The man tried to get up, but Stephen stood up quickly. Stephen was across the table from him, but it looked like Stephen had grabbed him and shoved him back into his seat, without Stephen touching him. He didn’t move after that. His body was completely paralyzed, but Stephen had only barely begun break him. He could still talk; he could still see.
Stephen was s*ipping ahead to advanced levels of control already.
The demon started trying to talk his way out of it, making sick excuses, promising power, promising whatever we wanted. Surprisingly, Stephen let him talk for a few minutes. He glanced at Battista and his associates. Battista didn’t look quite as shocked as his other two associates. He’d definitely had his suspicions before today about this man.
Finally, Stephen had enough. I felt his anger level go through the roof as we watched the man’s light behind his eyes go out. He finally stopped talking as Stephen gave everything back to him that he’d done to his victims. All the pain, all the trauma, all the suffering he’d caused was now given back to him all at once, effectively breaking his psyche.
Adrik’s anger was definitely not needed in this instance. Stephen had plenty of his own this time. Once he was finished, his anger disappeared and he went back to feeling his normal, colder than any human should be self. He sat back down and took a sip of water like this was a normal f*cking
Tuesday.
“Vlad is going to be so impressed with your portfolio, Yoden,” I said quietly to him, in Russian.
He laughed quietly.
I looked at Battista and his associates, who were still somewhat shocked at what they’d just witnessed. “You all heard him tell you everything you needed to know about him in his own words. He was consumed by his demon. He has been for a very long time. He did very bad things to very innocent people and now he’ll be made to suffer for that for the rest of his body’s life.”
“He’s going to stay like that until he dies?” one of Battista’s associates asked. I nodded my head, explaining what we’d done.
Battista turned to the man, saying, “this is why we’re all so willing to help them get Ricardo De Luca. Do you understand now? And more importantly, are you willing to help?”
It became clear in that moment why Battista had set this up today. It wasn’t for his benefit, but for ours.
