“Just concentrate on Sal,” I said. “Misha does the rest.”
“Like think of his face?” Andrei asked. I nodded my head.
“If it works the same for you as it does for me, you’ll be able to see what Misha sees like it’s in front of you,” I said.
Andrei nodded his head, then extended his hand to Misha. It took a few minutes, but we could see Misha squeeze Andrei’s hand tighter, which always meant he was seeing something. Andrei’s eyes went wide, but he wasn’t looking at anything we could see. We knew they’d found him. We were just waiting to see where they found him.
They watched the movie that only they could see for several minutes before it stopped. “That was weird,” Andrei said once they joined us back in our reality.
“Was it like a movie?” I asked.
“It was just like when you help me, gazelle,” Misha said.
“That’s because Bubba is like me,” I said, grinning at Andrei.
“Like you how? Like his rapidly improving observation skills?” Viktor asked.
“Those, yes. But he’ll be able to know things before they happen like me soon too. That’s why Adrik asked him about me staying behind when you guys went to meet the journalist with Chen,” I said.
“That’s how he knew you felt like shit still,” Stephen said. “I was wondering if that was a lucky guess or not.”
“It just popped in my head and I said it before I really thought about it, but she said that’s how she reads our minds all the time, Andrei said.
Stephen laughed loudly, which was somewhat out of character for him. We all looked to him, somewhat puzzled. “I’m just glad I already told you guys I was g ay because I would’ve never slept another minute knowing that both Andrei and Sephie can do this. I would’ve had to find another job. 1 would’ve been a wreck.”
“I love that the vampire among us is worried about mind reading. Isn’t that how you get your victims to willingly comply?” I asked, laughing.
“Oh, I’m totally fine with it when I’m the one doing the reading. I prefer not to be read. 900 years, Seph. There’s plenty I’m not proud of in here,” he said, tapping his temple.
*900 years of making you awesomely hilarious and smart as f**k. I fail to see the issue here,” I said. It was hard to catch Stephen off guard, but I managed to do it. His mouth fell open. He didn’t know how to respond. He just walked to me, putting his arm around my shoulders, and kissing my cheek.
“You’re just the best, Seph,” he said, quietly.
“So, where is Sal?” Adrik asked Misha..
“He’s in Italy. I can’t be completely sure, but it looked like he was not too far from Armando’s place in Naples. But I haven’t been to Italy very much, so everything might look the same to me, I don’t know,” Misha said.
“It farrows it down slightly,” Viktor said.
“You guys can try again later and see if you can narrow it down further,” I said, winking at Andrei who still looked surprised it had worked.
“What if Misha uses both of us?” Andrei asked. “You seem to give him the most clarity, spider monkey. Maybe you can still give him that, but it won’t zap your energy if he uses me too.” “Maybe,” Adrik said, firmly. “Let’s see how she gets through the day. I don’t want her to go right back to sleeping the entire day.”
“The bigger question is how are we going to tell Trino that we know where he is?” Ivan asked. “I mean, Trino’s been cool with the very little glimpses he’s gotten into Sephie’s weirdness, but I’m not sure I like the idea of him knowing everything.”
Andrei once again got a look like he was thinking about something else and not at all paying attention to our conversation. “He already knows. It’s partly why he’s so enamored with Sephie.”
“He does?” Ivan asked.
I laughed. “I suspected he did, too, but never thought much about it and never tried to clarify,” I said.
“Santeria is common in Colombia. It wouldn’t be a stretch for him to believe Sephie has special powers,” Andrei said.
I couldn’t help but giggle. “I want to make him think I’m a voodoo priestess now. Does anybody have a snake I can borrow? I’ll give it back once he leaves.”
They all laughed at me; the relief clear on their faces that I was starting to feel better. Ivan looked at Andrei, saying, “you really are a genius. She feels much better.”
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.