He looked at me, “I can’t see anything on either of those scenarios. Like literally nothing. It’s all fuzzy. I think I might need Sephie on that one. Maybe Andrei too.”
“Has that ever happened before?” Stephen asked.
Misha shook his head no. “No, even before Sephie started helping me, I could always fond an answer. It might’ve just been a snapshot, but it was always something. This time, I can’t see anything. It’s all blurry.”
“You’re thinking that means something?” I asked Stephen.
“Yeah. I just don’t know what,” he said.
I sighed. It was never easy. I looked to Viktor. “When can Battista meet again?”
“He’s got time tomorrow. So do you,” he said. “He even said he’d come here, to make it easier.”
“That’s new, but I’ll take it,” I said.
As we finished our conversation, ivan looked to Stephen with his sly grin on his face. “How many times did you make your eyes go black after we all left the penthouse last night?”
Stephen laughed. “At least 20. I stood in front of the mirror and watched it for like half an hour. I couldn’t help myself. It’s so disturbing and fascinating at the same time.” Stephen looked at me, adding, “I understand completely why you wanted to keep Sephie’s eyes changing from us initially. It’s such a unique phenomenon. I would’ve wanted to keep a lid on that as long as possible, too.”
“I put in an order for contacts for you three. Andrei’s going to need them soon, too, lan said, chuckling
“That’s partly why he’s upstairs with Sephie. She thinks she can get him to connect with his demon if it’s just the two of them,” I said.
“Anybody felt his anger yet?” Misha asked. We all shook our heads no. I’d felt nothing from either of them so far.
“He’s worried about losing complete control,” I said. “He’s probably going to fight getting angry enough for it to work.”
“Or she surprises all of us with a new ingenious way to get him to connect without bi getting angry. That wouldn’t surprise me, either,” Ivan said.
Viktor stood up. While he was definitely more comfortable around all of us, the demores still made him a little nervous from time to time. It didn’t surprise me that he used work to get out of this conversation. “I’m going to start looking for all the loss progeny,” he said, smirking as he left the office.
Once he had left, Stephen said, “he’s better than he’s ever been, but the demons still make him a little nervous. He still needs time to get completely comfortable. He’s also basically surrounded by them now. Especially if Andrei figures it out this afternoon.”
“It’s understandable. He’s handling it better than I thought he would,” I said.
As we were talking, we all felt a wave of anger from Sephie. It was very strong and very clear. We all looked at each other, smiling, knowing what was happening upstairs.
“This is almost the same level she had to get to when yours first changed,” Ivan said Apparently, Andrei had reason to be worried he’d be able to contain it.” “Our little Andrei is growing up,” Misha said, laughing.
“You can easily tell the difference between our demons now, can’t you?” Stephen asked me.
“Yeah. I would think you’ll be able to do the same soon, too. If you can sense other demons, it would make sense you’d be able to differentiate between ours,” I said. “But don’t hold me to that. I think at this point, nobody is quite sure of just what we’re capable of. Your latest level-up was never mentioned before. You might’ve surprised everyone with it.”
“I’m still working toward crushing demons at some point, not gonna lie,” he said, completely straight-faced.
“I think it’s time we have a conversation about just why you’re looking forward to seeing Vlad again. Feels like you have ulterior motives sometimes, Stephen,” Ivan said, running his hand over his goatee thoughtfully.
It caught Stephen off-guard, making him laugh loudly. “We buried that hatchet hundreds of years ago. Don’t worry,” he said, still laughing.
Sephie
I knew Adrik wanted to keep me busy. I knew he was trying to decide what to do with the families of all the bosses and I loved him for trying to protect me from that. It did, however, give me a chance to have Andrei to myself. I’d been thinking about how to help him connect with his demon and I was pretty sure I’d come up with a solution for it..
He was nervous that he’d be able to control his anger once he finally let it take over. Andrei was so calm and controlled all the time that he’d only rarely seen the extent of his anger himself. He was so in contro of his anger that he always knew the exact amount to let out to get the job done. No more, no less. The idea of having to let it all out at once worried him.
“Bubba, I’ve been thinking.” I said as I was making him help me in the kitchen. I’d told him I was going to make him shortbread that afternoon. At least he had something to look forward to after he discovered my secret plan. Poor kid was a pawn from all directions today.
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.