“I don’t think they did. The darkness from Ilya wasn’t as strong the first time. She didn’t even feel it that time. I’m still trying to figure out how I felt it before she did, to be honest,” Ivan said.
“It was a threat to her. Makes sense you’d pick up on it quickly after that very first time when she couldn’t handle it,” Stephen said. “Andrei, if you could feel it, did you notice anything different once Ivan put his bubble around Sephie? Either time?”
“It backed off the first time. The second time, you made it leave soon after,” Andrei said.
“And then a red panda on the other side of the universe got its pancake,” Misha said, somehow managing to keep a straight face.
We all laughed, but Vitaliy just looked at Misha like he was quite possibly the dumbest person he’d ever met. Vitaliy looked back at me, a questioning look on his face. “Your men should not be sampling the product, son,” he said seriously, which only served to make us laugh harder.
“Vitaliy, if you haven’t figured out by now, most of the dumb s hit we all say orginated with me. It’s my fault. Misha’s still clean as a whistle,” Sephie said, trying to gain control, but still having fits of laughter. Vitaliy still didn’t look as amused as the rest of us, instead choosing to steer the conversation to more serious matters. “And what of Armando? What are you doing with him?”
We all straightened up at the mention of Armando, the mood now as serious as Vitaliy. “He’s still alive. Stephen is going to break him eventually.” I said.
“Why not kill him?” Vitaliy asked. He hadn’t been present for the conversations about Stephen’s gift and the ultimate outcome for the souls he would save by using it.
Sephie inhaled deeply. She crossed her arms across her chest and looked at Vitaliy, now without a trace of the humor and joy that were visible just a moment ago. “Because if Adrik kills him, that soul never learns the lesson it was trying to avoid by taking in the demon in the first place. It comes back, makes the same mistakes all over and more innocent people die in the next go around. If Stephen breaks him, that soul is locked in his body, with the demon, neither of them having control and both of them being tortured in ways we couldn’t fathom until Armando’s body dies. Armando is young. He’s healthy. His body is going to live a very long life, meaning that so will endure a lifetime of torture and will never forget that lesson.”
Vitaliy was looking down at his hands as she explained the reason to him. When he looked up at her, he looked surprised. Misha, who was standing in between them, could see her eyes and understood the meaning behind his look. “Purple means universal truth. That’s the latest color to appear. No one wants to argue with the Universe, so Armando is up to Stephen to take care of,” he said. “When does this happen?” Vitaliy asked, still staring at Sephie’s eyes.
She looked at Stephen, who looked back at her wide-eyed for a moment before regaining his expert control of his facial expressions. “You’re absolutely right. I am feeling haughty after seeing Ilya. Vlad is making progress with customs. He’ll be here soon. I’m going to need to show him my portfolio. I’m ready when you are.”
Sephie laughed, then looked at me. “You’re okay with Stephen breaking him she asked silently.
“Not really, but I won’t stop it. Like Misha said, I’ll argue with you. I’m not arguing with the Universe.” I responded.
“Yoden, what do you think you need from me to make it happen?” Sephie asked Stephen.
“Bold of you to assume I’d know that answer,” he said.
King of the Underworld
Adrik
Sephie could feel my anger starting to rise over talk of Armando. I still didn’t want her to ever have to see him again. Everyone noticed my eyes go black, which then triggered Ivan and Sephie’s eyes as well.
“We can find a way to make it all happen without Sephie being there. Maybe can be his battery instead of her,” Andrei said, trying to keep me calm.
“That might work, actually,” Ivan said. “We send everything to her, she sends it to Andrei, then Stephen uses him instead of her.”
Sephie had walked to my side when she felt my anger coming on, trying to help me remain calm. “That could work,” she said, chewing on her lip. “What are you thinking, princess?” Ivan asked, silently. “You’re not convinced.”
“I don’t know yet. Something doesn’t feel right about that. It doesn’t feel right about me helping Stephen either, for the record, so don’t yell at me for trying to find a way to make that happen. I’m not,” she responded. Ivan couldn’t keep the laugh in. Everyone knew he was having another conversation with Sephie that they weren’t privy to.
“She’s trying to figure it out. She said something feels off about Andrei helping, but she said it also feels off if she helps. She told us not to yell at her,” I said, kissing her temple.
Misha got his faraway look in his eye for a moment. He looked right at me when he came back to the present. “It needs to be you, Boss. I don’t think Sephie needs to help at all, either. You’ve got enough “f u ck you” power when it comes to Armando that Stephen won’t need anyone else.” Sephie -looked at Misha as he was talking. His wide smile stretched across his face. “Sephie agrees,” he said, pointing to her. I turned her around so I could look at her. Her purple eyes were the first thing saw. “That settles that then,” I said.
Stephen, who had been quiet for most of this conversation stood up and walked over to Sephie. “When you helped me with my sisters, I gave you all of my memories of them so you could give it back to them. Only I didn’t know it was me, but whatever. I’m going to need you to do that with your memories of Armando. I don’t have enough on my own to break him. I need your memories too.” He looked at her seriously “I need everything, Seph, which means you’re going to have to uncover it one last time.”
I could feel her starting to worry, but she was so far keeping it under control. “How did you package it up for me? And whenever I give it to you is when you’re breaking Armando. You’re not walking around with all of that for any longer than you have to,” she said.
Stephen looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “We can do it now, if you want to. One less thing for me to worry about,” I said.
He looked back to Sephie. “Think about taking everything, the memories, the Belings, even the way your body shakes in response to being alone now, and putting all of that into a container to give to me. I especially want you to concentrate on the fear you still struggle with containing. He needs to feel that. He needs to know that feeling intimately for the rest of his days.” He was watching her as he was talking. I was fairly sure her eyes were swirling, as her emotions were all over the place and Stephen couldn’t look away.
I turned her to face me, pulling her completely in front of me. Her hands immediately began to fidget with the buttons on my shirt. “We can do it whenever you’re ready, love. It doesn’t have to be now,” I said softly. “Ivan and the Wonder Twins can stay with you up here and then I’ll be right back. Somehow I don’t think it’s going to take long.”
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.