“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.
I/3
“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.
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.