“Li ar. Are you okay to walk back?” He nodded his head. “Okay, when we get back, you’re taking a nap. No arguing. You didn’t sleep this morning when we got to the house, did you?”.
He shook his head no. I saw the fear flash on his face briefly and knew why he didn’t want to sleep. I grabbed his good arm, putting it around my shoulders, and wrapping my arm around his waist. I looked at him, smiled, but said as seriously as I could, “If you start to feel yourself slipping, tell me. When we get back, you can nap on the couch.” He started to protest. “With me, Squishy,” I said quietly, so the other two wouldn’t hear. He looked down at me, a look of relief on his face.
We walked slowly back to the house. I was once again proud of Ivan for making it back, mostly on his own. He went to his bedroom to change into more comfortable pants.
“Bubba, how’s your shoulder feel now? When do you take your next pain pill?” I asked when we got back to the house.
He looked at the clock. “Not for a few hours. My shoulder is sore, but it’s fine. I think I’m doing better than Ivan, honestly.”
“You’re not wrong. He lost so much blood yesterday.” My eyes went wide, lost in the memory of the puddle of blood under us while we waited for Adrik and Viktor to find us. I looked back to Andrei. “I literally don’t know how he’s still alive.”
“You’re both very difficult to ki II,” Andrei said, smiling.
We waited for Ivan to come back from his room, but after ten minutes, we still didn’t see him. I started to worry, so I went to find him. I knocked on his door but heard no response. I opened it slowly, hoping that he was decent. The scene before me was not one I thought I would ever see.
Ivan was sitting on the end of his bed, his head in his hand, sobbing. I quietly walked in the room, closing the door behind me. I sat down next to him, wrapping my arms around him. I rested my chin on his good shoulder. I knew I didn’t have the words to make his pain go away, but I could at least give him the one thing he’d never had since he left home. Comfort.
We had been sitting in silence, while Ivan quietly sobbed when I heard the door open. Misha stuck his head in just enough to make sure we were okay. I smiled at him but made it clear that he should leave. He nodded, understanding. The door closed and I rested my chin on Ivan’s shoulder once again. I just sat with him, rubbing his back while he let out what was probably years of pent-up emotion from everything he’d been through.
He finally got enough control that he could speak. “I’m sorry, princess. I shouldn’t do that.”
I chuckled. “Says who?”
He sat up straighter, so he could look at me. His eyes still showing nothing but pain. “Says me.”
I thought for a moment, trying to find the perfect words. “Ivan, do you know how special you are?”
He looked at me questioningly. He wasn’t sure how to take my question, as being special had gotten him experimented on, so that wasn’t necessarily a good thing. I smiled at him, understanding his confusion. “Okay, bad phrasing. What do you remember from the moment of the crash?”
He thought for a moment. “I heard the metal crunching and I turned toward you.” He su cked in a breath, clearly remembering what he saw. He turned to me. “I… I don’t know how to say it without you thinking I’m crazy.”
“You saw wings around me, didn’t you?”
His eyes went wide in shock, as he nodded his head.
“But that’s not all you saw, is it?” He looked at me, like he wasn’t sure he trusted his memory. My hand was rubbing his back gently. I laughed quietly at him. “Ivan, I already know what you saw, so you can tell me.”
“You saw it too??” He was clearly shocked at this point. head no, bringing back confusion to his face. “No, I didn’t see what you saw. What you saw. everyone to see. Just you.” I reached and grabbed his hand. “Ivan, those were your wings you saw. Well, not at first. They changed color on you, didn’t they?” He nodded his head. “The first pair of wings were my dad. He’s been watching over me for my entire life, but after yesterday, I have a new protector.” I squeezed his hand. “Those were your wings, Ivan,” I said, quietly. Trying to get him to realize exactly what I was saying.
“But, how? I’m not dead,” he asked, clearly still confused.
Sephie
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Don’t worry, that one was hard for me to grasp too. I’m still not entirely sure about how it works. We’ve been tied together since we were born. We were always supposed to meet, and you were always meant to be my protector. You proved that you’re ready for the role yesterday when you used your body to shield mine from the impact. At least, that’s what my dad told me.” He stayed silent, still thoughtful, but he had a tight grip on my hand. I smiled at him. This is a lot. I’m impressed he’s not fre aking out.
“But they…my…they were black. Does that mean I’m evil?”
“No, Ivan. You’re not evil. And they’re not entirely black. According to my dad, who is jealous of your wings, for the record, they’re white and then they fade to black and because you’re extra special, they’re crimson on the tips. He called you the big guns.” I grabbed his bicep, trying to wrap my hands around it. “I can see where they would get that idea.”
He laughed but was still shocked. He was quiet for a moment longer, then looked at me. “Sephie, I still don’t understand. How do you know all this? How do you know what I saw?” “When we first got to Italy, at the ranch house, when I was asleep for like ever. I was still stuck in that same nightmare loop that I was in on the plane.” He closed his eyes, flinching at the memory. I hated to bring it up, because I knew it affected him almost as badly as it did Adrik. “Adrik could pull me out of that loop. When he finally pulled me out for the last time, I was able to talk to my dad. He told me he’s been watching over me my whole life and that everything that’s happened to this point was for a reason. Like the way the kidnap plan at the ball went so horribly wrong? It was meant to happen that way so that you guys would take Misha’s gut feelings seriously. He’s the only one that was adamant about that being a bad plan, but nobody listened to him. Now, you all listen to him.” He stayed quiet, still mulling over everything I was telling him. “Everything that has happened to me, everything that has happened to you, it’s all for a larger purpose. I don’t know what yet, but my dad told me that you’ve spent so much time walking among the demons that you can now walk freely between Heaven and He II.” I thought for a moment, remembering the last thing he told me before I woke up. “He also told me I could do the same. I don’t know what that means yet. But he said you’re my protector and that you’ve always felt compelled to protect me.”
He laughed. “How do you know that…” he said, almost to himself.
“He explained it to me like this: there are different kinds of soulmates. Adrik and I were always meant to meet and fall in love, probably over and over again through lifetimes. You and I have apparently been together in a different capacity over lifetimes too. I don’t know if you’re always my protector, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you were. You’re so darn good at it.”
He smiled, squeezing my hand. “I have always felt compelled to protect you. Even when I wasn’t convinced you were different from the other girls, despite Boss putting us on you to make sure you stayed safe, which he’d never, ever done before. When you stitched me up in your kitchen? I tried to make you angry to see if you would turn into a different person. You just put me in my place in front of everyone and went about helping me, completely unaffected. Anytime I would be grumpy or angry around his other girlfriends, it was almost like it would pi ss them off and they’d turn into another person. People act differently when they’re afraid or angry. Especially those people that are being fake or pretending to be someone they’re not. It’s like they can’t keep the act up when they’re angry too, so they show who they really are. But you? You turned into my emotional support sloth,” he said laughing at the memory. I couldn’t help but laugh, too. That was definitely one of my finer moments. “Even calling you a princess didn’t phase you. He II, you adopted it right then and now you’re the go ddamn princess.”
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.