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.
I/3
“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.
I 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.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’l 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.
I 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”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.