Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sephie

“What’s up, my girl?” Chen asked as he walked into Adrik’s office.

“Chen! My favorite French person!” I said, jumping up to give him a hug. Since Chen had been helping us out for so long, the guys no longer got overprotective of me hugging him. Not gonna lie, I missed that. “Are you ready to just straight up lie to someone’s face yet again?” I asked, laughing. Chen had discovered that not only did he love being able to lie to someone’s face, but he was actually quite good at it.

“You know me so well. It’s disturbing how much I enjoy this,” he said, chuckling. “Also, the three amigos say hi. Trino still wants to know if there’s a chance you’ll move to Colombia.”

“One has to admire his tenacity,” I said, rolling my eyes.

All the guys but Ivan got ready to go with Chen to meet the journalist. Ivan was staying behind with us at the building. Adrik and Ivan clearly had a plan, but neither had let me in on it yet, so I was waiting until everyone was gone to see what they’d cooked up.

I caught Andrei before they left. “Have you snooped in the journalist’s head before?” I asked.

He shook his head no, looking at me quizzically. “No, do you think I should?”

“I didn’t before today, no. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I feel like you should snoop today. Just to be sure, if nothing else,” I said.

“If you tell me to snoop, then I’ll snoop. There’s always a reason that something like this comes up for you. Let you know what I find out,” he said, his boyish grin on his face.

“Be careful,” I said, hugging his neck before they left.

“Always.”

Once they left, I turned to Adrik and Ivan. “I know there’s a reason we stayed behind. Are you two going to fill me in on that reason? Or are you enjoying keeping me in the dark?”

“We wanted to have a conversation about Viktor and how best to help him. Without the chance of him finding out. We need your brain, princess,” Ivan said as he walked to one of the couches and sat down. I followed him, sitting next to him, while Adrik finished up what he was working on at his desk.

I thought for a few minutes. “I’m not sure how to help Viktor. I’m not sure how I helped any of you, if I’m being honest. It just sort of happened.”

“I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit on that one. You were the first to call Stephen’s mind-fucking ability, you called my ability to see demons, and you hyped Andrei up enough so he started trusting what he was seeing. The only one you didn’t do much on was Misha. I know you’ve picked up on something with Viktor that hints at what his ability is,” Ivan said.

“We’re all somewhat opposites of each other, with the exception of Misha. You can see and feel when something is off, but I have to touch someone to get the same. Ivan sees evil, Andrei sees good. Now, Stephen can mindfuck someone and trap the demon. Viktor’s ability should complement that somehow, if we’re keeping to the same pattern,” Adrik said.

I was chewing on my lip, trying to think of what it could possibly be with Viktor. They were both quiet, waiting for me to make the connection that I wasn’t convinced was there.

“What about the nicknames you have for him? Or inside jokes with him?” Ivan asked.

“I don’t have as many for him as I do for everyone else. I spend the least amount of time with him. He’s always on master of schedule duty,” I said. “I call him Papa Bear because he silently goes around making sure we all have what we need and he’s kind of like the father figure of the group. He’s arguably the most mature of all of us,” I said, cutting my eyes at Ivan, unable to hide my grin.

Adrik, who had been quietly contemplating everything, got up and moved to the couch. I leaned over on him, stretching one leg across Ivan’s lap as we all struggled to figure out this puzzle.

“So, master of schedule. I think you’ve called him the security master before as well. And he’s like a father figure,” Ivan said, rubbing his goatee.

“He’s also the one who’s most terrified of me, I think. Maybe that’s why it’s so difficult for me to get anything from him. He’s gotten quieter as things have gotten more weird. I used to get little things from him now and then that he needed to talk about, but since you all know I can read your minds, that’s stopped, now that I think about it. Like Stephen, I don’t think he likes the idea of me being in his head,” I said. “Does he have sisters?”

They both chuckled. “No sisters. Brothers. But he gets along well with them,” Adrik said.

“Is he the oldest?” I asked.

“He is. He has two younger brothers. Both of them are much like Viktor. Both are still in the military, last I knew,” Adrik said.

“His youngest brother wants out. He’s trying to come here when his service is up in a few months. Viktor told him we could give him a job,” Ivan said.

“I’m not surprised. He’s such a helper,” I said. I grabbed one of Adrik’s hands so my hands could fidget as I thought about Viktor. “Okay, what if Stephen breaks them, but Viktor somehow fixes them? That’s what he’s really good at. Squish, you said you can see demons riding around on people looking for ways in now, right?”

“Yeah, they’re looking for weaknesses is what it looks like. Or trying to make their own weaknesses,” he said.

“That’s what Viktor’s good at. He puts the systems in place to make sure everything runs smoothly and there are no outside threats. Between you and Bubba, you can see where the weaknesses are. Viktor somehow fixes that, and it’s one less person Stephen has to break. Because while I think Stephen’s gift is fucking incredible, I can’t imagine he’s meant to just break half the world’s population and leave them in a waking coma for the rest of their lives. That would be weird. Stephen is the last resort. Viktor helps make sure Stephen isn’t needed very often,” I said.

As I was talking, Adrik showed me his arm, which was covered in goosebumps. I had been looking down at my hands that were still playing with Adrik’s hand, but when I looked up at Ivan, he had a silly grin on his face. He pointed to Adrik. “Show him too,” he said.

I looked back at Adrik, who smiled at me. “We knew you’d be able to figure it out,” he said, kissing my temple.

“They’re purple?” I asked, still somewhat confused as to what they were talking about. They both nodded.

“Still slightly weird, but much less alarming than the white, not gonna lie,” Ivan said.

“She went from black to purple the other day. That might be my favorite color transition so far. It was incredible,” Adrik said. I could feel the familiar pull in my chest that meant he was thinking about how much he loved me.

“You’re late to the party, Squish. When are you going to figure out you can strike even more fear into the hearts of regular people?” I asked.

He cut his eyes over at me, his sly grin creeping up one side of his mouth. “Since your dad told me it was possible and I saw Boss do it, I may have tried to make it happen when no one was around.”

“Shut up. Did it work?” I asked, completely curious to see if he could make his eyes go dark now too.

He closed his eyes briefly, opening them to reveal his much darker eyes. His eyes were normally golden brown, but they were much darker when he looked at me and Adrik.

“Squish, you’re barely angry right now too. That’s impressive,” I said. “Did you have to get to insane levels the first time it happened?”

“I did. I kept trying to make it happen without going nuclear, but it just wasn’t happening. I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to feel it. I didn’t want you to come running downstairs, so I waited until I knew for sure you were asleep,” he said, grinning at me.

“You did it at the ungodly hour of 4:00 a.m., didn’t you?” I asked.

He laughed. “Yep. I know you’re dead to the world then. It worked. I figured it out and you were none the wiser,” he said.

“Well played.” I looked at both of them. “You’re both going to need contacts now to keep from scaring the entire world. It’s bad enough when people see it on me. You two have an added intimidation factor. People are going to run from you.”

“I think that’s kind of the point, princess,” Ivan said. “How do you control yours so quickly? You can get your eyes to change from normal to black and back again in a second now, without getting ridiculously angry. What do you think about to make that happen?” he asked.

“Um, I don’t know that I’ve ever really thought about this before. I just kind of do it. But I learned very early in life to think of my anger like a living being, almost. Maybe what I think of as my anger is actually my demon? It’s much the same as when I’m sending stuff to you guys. I just concentrate on it and push it forward,” I said.

Ivan closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them this time, they were much darker than they were just a few moments ago. I couldn’t help but grin at him. “Clearly, that explanation worked,” I said. I turned to look at Adrik. “Have yours turned dark other than that one time when we were all in here?”

He nodded. “I was talking to Ivan the other day and they changed. Like him right now, I was barely angry when it happened.”

“You guys are learning much faster than I did. That’s impressive,” I said. Adrik closed his eyes for a moment, opening them to reveal his almost-black eyes. “Yours are getting darker much faster too. How?”

“When you showed me how you control your anger, I started thinking about mine like a living thing too. Maybe we’re just giving acknowledgement to our little buddies in there?” He smiled, his eyes still dark.

“Are you asking me because you think I have the answer? Because that’s not a thing I have,” I said. “Has anybody else seen this yet?”

“Not that I know of,” Ivan said.

“I might’ve had it happen in one of my meetings. I noticed a look of surprise on someone’s face and blinked when I noticed my mind was wandering to Ricardo,” Adrik said. His eyes had returned to their normal blue as he laughed about scaring his business associate.

“All this time I’ve been worried it was me who was going to scare everyone off. Turns out it was you,” I said, laughing.

“Told you that you’re gonna need contacts too,” Ivan said.

Once the guys came back with Chen, Andrei caught my eye. He tapped his temple and raised one eyebrow at me. I took a peak in his head, looking through what he’d seen when he looked into the journalist’s head. When I looked into people’s minds, I could see what they saw, so I got a chance to see the journalist how Andrei saw him. I clearly saw the journalist’s aura around him, but I also saw it was broken in a few places. Dark spots, like holes, were visible. Andrei felt nothing bad from him as he talked to Chen. I couldn’t stop looking at the way Andrei saw him. It was fascinating.

It also gave me an idea on how to help Viktor. “Squish, can you call the acupuncturist? Bubba just gave me an idea about Viktor. Also, I was able to see what he could see when I just went fishing in his head, so I’m gonna need to do that to you the next time you see a little demon riding shotgun on somebody’s shoulder.” Ivan laughed loudly, which made me struggle not to laugh, because it looked like he wasn’t talking to anybody. “My bad.” I thought.

“What did you do to Ivan, solnishko?” Adrik thought. I caught his sexy smirk on his face as he pretended to listen to Viktor.

“I have an idea on how to help Viktor. I also said I wanted to see what it looks like when a demon is riding shotgun on a person and now I know how,” I answered.

Adrik was much more in control. I could hear him laughing internally. When I looked at him, he looked like he was still listening to Viktor, who was going through the information the journalist had given Chen on the mayor and the police commissioner.

As everyone started to pay attention to Viktor, the mood turned more serious. Our suspicions were confirmed by the journalist. It was Henry, not the mayor, who was dirty. However, it appeared that he hadn’t been on the take as long as we thought. From what the journalist could find, Sal had only recently gotten to Henry. We still weren’t sure what he was doing with the information on Ricardo, but we could still get that information to the mayor, along with this new information on Henry, and get them both taken care of. Along with a win in the next election for the mayor.

“So how do we get to the mayor without Henry finding out?” Misha asked.

“I might actually be able to help with that,” Chen said. He looked somewhat nervous to interject.

“How?” Adrik asked.

“Well, since you were gracious enough to take me on as a contractor on your latest building project, word has gotten around. I have a crew starting a job at the mayor’s house next week. I’m meeting with him Monday morning before we get started. I can get information to and from him and no one will ever know.”

“Fucking shit, Chen. You’ve been a criminal mastermind this entire time and you’re only just now telling us?” I said, trying not to laugh.

“I could say the same for you, my girl,” he said, laughing.

The guys started to discuss the logistics of getting information to and from the mayor through Chen. What that looked like, how it would work, and how he could get information to us. Once they agreed upon a plan, Chen said his goodbyes and left Adrik’s office, leaving the guys to discuss the latest information we’d received.

I was still frustrated with having to deal with yet another reversal of loyalty when it came to Henry. I was chewing on my bottom lip, staring off into space while I thought about how irritating it was to not be able to trust anyone. I suddenly noticed that everyone had stopped talking and they were all looking at me, with very amused expressions on their faces.

“How many times do I have to tell you that spontaneous human combustion is a real thing, gazelle?” Misha asked.

“What? I’m not even that mad right now?” I said, somewhat confused.

“Your idea of ‘not that mad’ and mine are clearly different,” Stephen said.

“Your eyes say differently,” Viktor said.

“That’s not fair. You know these things have a mind of their own now, right? I’m just slightly irritated,” I said.

Adrik walked to me, smirking. He wrapped his arms around my waist as he stood behind me and rested his chin on top of my head. “She’s not lying. This is barely anything for her. You guys are just becoming really sensitive to being able to feel her now. You’ll soon get used to it. This is like a one to two on her scale. Once you feel her ten a few more times, you’ll be able to differentiate,” he said. I could hear him smiling as he talked.

“I still don’t understand how you don’t kill everyone,” Stephen said quietly. “I’m beginning to wonder if Vlad learned his scorched Earth policy from you.”

Ivan arranged for the acupuncturist to come to the penthouse. It had been a while since she’d worked on me. My lung was continually getting better, but I was still struggling with controlling my panic if I struggled to catch my breath. I was more interested, however, in asking her questions about Andrei’s gift and how it could pertain to Viktor.

Once she and I were in the room alone, she said, “Your connection with all of them is much stronger now. But there is one who is still resisting?”

I smiled at her. She always knew. “That’s actually why you’re here. He knows that I’m the one who’s been helping people discover what their gifts are, so he’s been avoiding me. He’s also very careful what he thinks around me since he found out I can read his mind. He’s been grieving the loss of his wife. I keep saying that’s why he’s resisting, but now I think he might just be scared.”

She held her hand out for mine, gently pressing on the spot in between my thumb and forefinger. She closed her eyes, reading all the information she would need from me like she always did. She had a small smile on her lips when she opened her eyes again. “Your connection with Ivan is much deeper this time. You can communicate with him much like you communicate with your fiancé, no?”

I nodded. “We haven’t told the others yet. We’ve almost been caught already because I can’t help myself from saying stupid stuff that makes them laugh.”

She laughed softly. “The others won’t mind. They know there’s a special bond between you three, even if they’re not aware they know it. The one who is like you—he’s seen me for who I really am?”

“I don’t think he saw your wings, but he sees auras. I have questions about that, actually. We think Viktor’s gift has something to do with fixing people or healing people, since they all seem to be opposites of each other in some way. We just found out that Stephen breaks people, so it makes sense that Viktor would fix them. The only one who’s truly different is Misha, who can see the future and the past,” I said.

She started putting the needles where they needed to go as she thought about what I’d just said. She put her hand over my ribs. “You’re still struggling to catch your breath sometimes?”

I nodded. “It also makes me have a panic attack when it happens, which makes it worse. I’ve never had to deal with that before so I don’t know how to control it. They all feel it, too.”

She looked at me, then looked at the door, then back to me. She said quietly, “Your ribs are still not completely healed either. It’s a constant reminder of the pain you went through. It’s hard to heal from something when you get no relief from it. I will fix it.” She silently went to work, putting more needles over the area than usual. Once she was finished turning me into a pin cushion, she said, “The one who is like you—can he see the holes in people’s auras?”

I nodded. “I’ve seen what he sees. It looks like dark spots.”

“There are ways to heal one’s aura, but none of them are quick fixes. All of them require the person to do deep work on themselves. While you might still be right about the last one’s gift, I’m not certain how it would work, without him needing an extra boost from us,” she said.

As soon as she said that, she noticed my eyes turning what I assumed were purple, as I had goosebumps rising over my entire body. Her eyes went wide, just as mine did. I suddenly remembered another detail about Viktor I had all but forgotten. “He’s the only one other than my fiancé who can calm my shaking after it starts. He just did it one day, without a second thought.”

She was quiet for a moment. “It’s not unheard of, but it’s rare. It means he has someone in Heaven helping him. He would need an angel’s grace to make it happen, but he could do it.”

“His wife,” I said.

She shook her head no. “She’s already reincarnated. It’s his unborn child.” She inhaled deeply, smiling at my confused look. “A soul can clear a tremendous amount of Karma when they sign up for tragic ends. His wife was still pregnant when she was killed, which is one of the most tragic endings for a life not yet realized. People tend to mourn the unknown even more. That little soul cleared much of its Karma and is now helping him in this lifetime. They’ll be linked forever now, as well.” She was quiet for a moment, then added, “That soul has chosen not to come back, just so it can always help him.” She looked at my eyes for a moment. “Your eyes say this is the truth.”

We heard a knock on the door. “Spider monkey, I don’t want to bother you, but are you okay? You’re kind of all over the place right now. It’s worrying me and Misha.”

I laughed. “I’m good, Bubba. Thank you for checking though.”

The acupuncturist walked to the door, opening it far enough that she could stick her head out. “It’s resetting her emotions when this happens. They’re going to feel stronger as they recalibrate and her body goes back into alignment. I can show you, if you like?”

I giggled, knowing Andrei was terrified at the thought of getting tiny needles stuck in his skin.

“Uh, no. No, I’m good. I just wanted to make sure she was okay,” he said nervously.

“She’s fine. She’ll be done in a few minutes,” she said. She had a wide smile across her face as she closed the door and turned back to me. She said quietly, so he couldn’t overhear, “I might like messing with him more than Ivan, which is saying quite a lot.”

I laughed. “You’ve been hanging around my father, haven’t you?” She didn’t answer, but her smile grew even wider on her face.

Adrik had come to the penthouse with Vitaliy and Aleksei while I was talking with the acupuncturist. As soon as we walked out of the spare room, his eyes landed on me. His wide, handsome smile stretched across his face. Before we got to them, I pointed to Vitaliy and said to the acupuncturist so only she could hear, “Let that man shake your hand. You’ll make his day if you do.”

She gave me a knowing smile. She surprised me by walking right up to him, putting her hand on his shoulder and whispering something in his ear. His eyes went wide, but his cheeks turned as red as my hair. Even his ears were red. He stammered for a reply, but she just smiled at him as she walked to Ivan to be escorted out.

We were all left trying not to laugh at Vitaliy’s flustered state after she left.

“I might like her a little more each time she’s here,” Adrik thought. I finally couldn’t contain my laughter any longer and a small giggle escaped. That was all it took for the rest of them, even Aleksei, to start laughing.

“No idea what she told you, old man, but it clearly made your day,” I said, grinning at him.

He grumbled something under his breath, but he also laughed along with everyone else.

“Who was she?” Vitaliy asked, once everyone had gained control. I knew he wasn’t interested in hearing about her acupuncture skills, but that’s the route I took anyway.

“She does acupuncture. She’s amazing,” I said, grinning at him. He knew I knew more than I was saying, but he didn’t push it further.

“Perhaps I should get this acupuncture. Your light is very bright right now, malishka. Come, let me feel,” he said, extending his hand to me. I walked over and put my hand in his. “You will tell me more later,” he whispered as he took my hand. I nodded my head, smiling at his softening expression. He looked from me to Adrik. “Everything feels stronger. That woman does this to you too?” he asked.

“Not every time. She has in the past,” Adrik said.

“You need it every time,” Vitaliy said, frankly.

Adrik chuckled. “Noted.”

“The old man has spoken!” I thought, making Adrik laugh a little harder.

I asked that Stephen and Ivan stay behind while Viktor, Andrei, and Misha were gone Monday morning to make sure Chen was okay while he met with the mayor. No one suspected anything other than a contractor meeting with his client, but since Chen had been so instrumental in helping us, we all wanted to make sure he was okay. He was also delivering very sensitive information, so it was worth our while to make sure he was good and had backup, should it be needed.

“So, this must be important since I’m most responsible for Chen’s bravery when lying to people’s faces,” Stephen said once the others were gone.

I laughed. “Technically, he’s not lying to the mayor this time. I think he can live without you just this once,” I said, sliding my arm around his shoulders as he sat at the kitchen island.

“You know something more about Viktor, don’t you?” Ivan asked.

“I do. That’s why I wanted to talk to both of you while I was sure he wasn’t around. I think I have it figured out and also why he might be so resistant to it,” I said. I walked back to Adrik, who was leaning against the counter. He opened his arm for me, sliding it around my waist as I stepped closer to him.

“The acupuncturist helped you, didn’t she?” Stephen asked. I could tell he was already putting as many pieces of the puzzle together as he could.

“She did. We were starting to suspect what it might be, but she confirmed it. You realize that everyone complements each other somehow, right?” I asked Stephen.

He nodded his head. “It makes sense that Viktor would somehow be opposite of either me or Misha, and it doesn’t make sense for him to be opposite of Misha. That’s just a normal person who can’t see the future or past. That’s not helpful in the least,” he said, grinning.

“You’re so smart, Yoden. Viktor, we think, is opposite of you. While I think your gift is fucking amazing and quite possibly the most badass thing that any of us can do, I can’t wrap my brain around you needing to do it very often. It doesn’t make sense that your life’s purpose is to just break half the world and leave them as a dribbling mess for someone else to care for. Much like your sniper skills, I feel like your gift is highly specialized and only meant for a select few,” I said.

“While you are capable of breaking a person, Viktor is capable of healing them,” Adrik said.

“After I break them? Because I can tell you right now, that’s going to make me go harder in the paint when it comes to breaking them. I can’t help it. I’m competitive,” Stephen said, his sly smile creeping across his face.

I laughed. “No, before you’re needed. There are going to be those that Viktor can’t do anything about. I’m sure there’s a point where his services are useless and yours are needed. His gift should prevent people from getting to the point where you’re needed as much.”

“Andrei can see auras. He can also see where there’s holes in the auras,” Adrik said.

Ivan put it together in his head. “I can see when they have demons trying to get in through those holes. Viktor can help ensure that doesn’t happen.”

“You’re needed, Stephen, when the demon has already gotten in and has taken over so completely that there is no other choice. You’re the last chance that soul has at surviving,” I said.

Ivan glanced at Stephen, who was looking down at the counter during this conversation. He nudged him, causing Stephen to look at him. Ivan pointed to me. “Her eyes,” was all he said.

Stephen glanced over at me, an immediate look of wonderment on his face. “I thought the black was difficult to get used to, but the purple might be even stranger. Can you do red next? I feel like that will make Vlad feel more comfortable once he makes it out of customs.” When I laughed, they changed to green. Stephen hadn’t seen them as they changed yet. “Whoa. I just saw that, but my brain is freaking out trying to convince me I didn’t just see that.”

Adrik turned me to face him, so he could see what color they were. “That’s not even the best transition. When they go from black to one of the other colors, it’s incredible.”

“Speaking of, I think he needs to know about your eyes and Ivan’s eyes. His presence is going to bring out the violence in any demon we meet, which will also bring ours forward. It’s going to freak him out if he’s not prepared,” I thought. I was trying to talk to both Adrik and Ivan at the same time.

I wasn’t sure it had worked, until I heard Ivan say to Stephen, “So, there’s something else you should know about, since your presence is going to really irritate all demons from here on out.”

I turned to look at Ivan, who had his eyes closed. I could feel his anger, just under the surface. When he opened his eyes, they were just as black as mine. I grinned as Stephen’s jaw hit the floor.

“It’s not just him either,” I heard Adrik say. I turned to look at his eyes, now also just as black as mine.

“I’ve never regretted not wearing adult diapers so much in my entire life as this moment here,” Stephen said, completely shocked.

Both Adrik and Ivan closed their eyes, turning them back to normal. “Allow me to explain,” I said, walking to Stephen. I slid my arm across his shoulders, as he sat in the kitchen. He wrapped one arm around my waist like he was holding on for dear life. “Battista was correct when he said that my black eyes were a warning to other demons that I owned them, but he didn’t know the full specifics of it. He also didn’t know that Adrik and Ivan were the same as me in that respect. Remember when I told you the best way to defeat your demons was to make friends with them?” I asked, looking down at Stephen.

His eyes got wider. “You’re working with your demons.”

“Mostly correct. They work for us. It’s virtually unheard of, which is why Battista couldn’t fully explain it. When our eyes go black, it’s our demons stepping forward, but we’re still in complete control of them. While I can’t say for sure it’s happened to other, normal people, I’ve got memories of my uncle with black eyes when he would beat me. I just don’t know if it was real or not. Also, the guy who attacked me on the sidewalk when I was out with Misha. I’m guessing that once someone gives in completely to their demon, their eyes are also capable of going black. They’re just no longer in control. The demon is,” I said.

“You needed to know we could do this before you see it happen on someone else. I have a feeling that seeing someone else’s eyes turn black is going to bring our demons forward, whether we want them to or not. You need to know that we’re in control when it happens,” Adrik said.

“Not because we think you’ll try to break us. Just so we didn’t freak you out. We’ve been told that now that you know your gift, we’re going to see increased aggression from the demons that are controlling people,” Ivan said.

“They’re going to know what I can do?” Stephen asked.

“We think so, but we’re not sure yet. They’re going to be scared of you, but if they all act the way Armando did, they’re likely going to be aggressive,” I said.

Stephen was quiet for a moment. He sighed, then looked up at me, a very small grin on his face. “Is it wrong that I’m looking forward to them being scared of me?”

“Not at all, Yoden,” I said, laughing.

“It’s about time you felt it from the other side,” Ivan said.

“So, how does Viktor’s gift work? Does he know about it yet?” Stephen asked.

Adrik and I exchanged a glance. I looked to Ivan, then to Stephen. With a sigh, I said, “He doesn’t know yet. We’re not totally sure of how it works, but I know why he’s been so resistant to it. It’s going to be tough for him to handle.”

“What do you mean? It seems like it would be a good thing, right?” Stephen asked, more confused than ever.

“It is a good thing. It’s going to be difficult for him once he learns how he’s able to do it. If his gift works the way I think it will, he needs to have help to make it happen as quickly as we will need it to happen,” I said.

“The same way I used your help and Misha uses you? Why would he have a problem with that?” he asked.

“Not the same way. I can’t help him with what he’s going to do. He needs even more of a power boost than I can give him. He needs to have angelic help.”

Ivan was starting to put the pieces together in his head. “His wife,” he said.

I smiled at Ivan. “That’s exactly what I said, but it’s not her. She’s already started her next life.” I paused to see if Ivan would figure it out, but it was Stephen who did.

“His child,” Stephen said.

“And I thought your gift was heavy,” Ivan said, looking at Stephen.

“No shit, man. Mine was a breeze next to this,” he said.

“So how does that work? Did his child die on purpose to make this happen?” Ivan asked.

“I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. Apparently, a soul can clear a tremendous amount of Karma by signing up to die either tragically or before they’re born. His unborn child is now helping him as a way of thanking him for helping to clear the Karma,” I said. I looked to Ivan and Adrik. “I have no idea how you two are going to tell him about this. Or if he’ll even believe you when you do.”

“You’re not going to tell him, Seph?” Stephen asked.

“He knows I’m the one who’s helping everyone figure out their gifts. He’s been avoiding me and he’s careful about his thoughts around me, as well. Much like you, he does not appreciate me in his head,” I said. “I also think he’s the most freaked out about my eyes. He’s going to shit himself once he sees it’s not just me anymore.”

We were all quiet for a few moments, trying to figure out a way to help Viktor. We all came up empty for the moment.

“I’ve got nothing right now,” Ivan said. He looked at his watch. “They should be back soon though, so we should probably change the subject anyway.”

“Oh, they’re here. They’ll be walking in right about ... now,” I said as we all heard the penthouse door open.

“Okay, you’re going to have to tell me how you do that now, princess,” Ivan said.

“How she does what?” Misha asked as I walked to him. I would never get over feeling relieved when they came back safely. I hugged his neck before moving to Andrei and Viktor.

“She said you guys were back, right as you walked into the penthouse. Only she didn’t hear you first,” Ivan said.

“You have been doing that a lot lately, spider monkey. How do you do it? Like can you hear us coming?” Andrei asked.

“Do you get notifications that you have thoughts to read like normal people get email notifications?” Misha asked, laughing.

“No, it’s not like that. I’m not in any of your heads either, for the record. I keep telling you that I don’t go looking without permission. It’s more of a feeling. You all feel different to me. You always have, so it’s easy for me to tell you apart, especially now that I’m hyper-sensitive to each of you,” I said.

“But you knew that Boss’s meeting was irritated the other day when it was just Viktor downstairs and you’re not as connected to him as the rest of us yet,” Andrei said.

“He’s not as connected as the rest of you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still feel him. Viktor is probably the most even of all of us, so when he’s amused about something, it comes through strongly. He was amused that the guy was irritated, so it was easy to feel,” I said.

“Nice save, princess,” Ivan thought. He flashed me a quick grin when no one was looking.

“Shut up. I’m not lying. I’ve always been able to feel you guys. It’s just next-level now.”

“What about when Andrei was looking in your head? How did you know that was happening?” Misha asked.

“She can feel it. Just like I can feel it when she does it to me,” Andrei said.

“I didn’t feel anything when she looked in my head. Am I brain-damaged? That’s a distinct possibility now that I think about it,” Misha said, trying to sound serious.

“No. Well, maybe. I’m guessing it’s unique to us. No one else seems to notice when we do it,” Andrei said.

“How did it go with Chen?” Adrik asked Viktor, thankfully changing the subject for now.

“Everything’s good. The mayor is interested in what we’ve got. He wasn’t surprised to hear that Henry has been framing him. He said he heard bits and pieces from the two police chiefs about it, but Henry is keeping his cards close to his chest. He hasn’t said too much to anyone else about what he’s got. So we just need to make sure that the mayor moves first on the information on Ricardo,” Viktor said. “The mayor was surprised that Chen was bringing him information, but he said he appreciated the discretion and he agreed to use Chen for the duration. He said he had more work for Chen once this project was complete, just to keep anyone from getting too suspicious.”

“This works out well for Chen,” I said, smiling. It made me happy to see him doing well enough that he didn’t need to deal any longer.

“The mayor was going to take a look at what we have from the journalist about Henry and get back to us. Everything will come through Chen,” Viktor said.

“Did you two see the mayor today?” Adrik asked Misha and Andrei. They both nodded their heads. “Did you get anything from him? Good or bad?”

“I didn’t feel anything bad,” Misha said.

“I didn’t either. I couldn’t see him when he was talking to Chen, which always gives me more accuracy. I didn’t feel anything off,” Andrei said. He glanced at me, tapping his temple discreetly, indicating he wanted me to look in his head again. When I looked, he showed me what he could see when the mayor was leaving after meeting with Chen. I could see his aura, but he also had dark spots or holes.

I suddenly had an idea. “Misha, come here,” I said, extending my hand to him.

“Who are we looking for?” Misha asked.

“You’re not looking for anybody. I’m trying to show you something. I want to see if this will work. Don’t think about anything, if you can. Maybe try and think of a blank movie screen,” I said. I grabbed Misha’s hand and tried to project what Andrei could see into Misha’s mind. It took me a second, but finally he saw it.

“Whoa! That’s what people look like to you?” Misha asked Andrei.

“Not all the time, but yeah,” Andrei said.

“Holy shit, that’s awesome. Is everybody the same color?” Misha asked, completely enchanted by what he was seeing.

“No, different people have different colors. I’m not sure what the colors mean, to be honest,” Andrei said.

I let go of Andrei, then extended my hand to Ivan. “Squish, you’re next in my little experiment. Come here.”

“I think I know where you’re going with this, princess,” he said as he took my hand.

Misha looked at me, confused. “Now what am I supposed to do?”

“I need you to replay what you just saw for Ivan,” I said.

“I can do that?” Misha asked, completely surprised.

“We’re gonna find out,” I said, grinning at him. He started to replay what Andrei saw in his head. I could see it clearly right away, so I tried to push it to Ivan. I felt Ivan squeeze my hand, so I knew he was seeing what I was seeing. Once I felt like he had the video clip in his mind, I let go of Misha to see if I could see what Ivan sees.

I saw the same short clip of the mayor, walking outside his house. His aura was visible, just like Andrei had seen, only now, I could see the outline of something else hovering just behind him. Wherever the mayor moved, it moved with him.

I grinned at Ivan. “It worked,” I said. I looked back at Misha, asking, “Want to see what Ivan sees?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions, gazelle,” he said as he took my hand. He was quiet for a minute, while he watched. I could feel Misha’s nausea as he saw what Ivan saw. “Is that what it always looks like?” he asked, still watching what I was projecting into his head.

“No, this one is actually faint. Some of them are really well-defined. This one doesn’t look firmly attached either. Like it’s moving with the mayor, but it’s also hovering away from him. Some people have them literally sitting on them, or holding on to them,” Ivan said.

“Blink, Ivan,” Adrik thought. Ivan quickly shut his eyes. When he opened them again, he was normal.

“I can feel your nausea though, Misha,” I said.

Stephen stood up, walking to me. “Okay, I want to see. It might not work on me, but my curiosity is overriding my aversion to having you in my head,” he said.

“I want to see what Ivan sees too,” Andrei said.

I grabbed both of their outstretched hands, trying to project the final picture into both of their heads.

“I’m reevaluating my entire existence now,” Stephen said. His eyes were wide as he was watching what no one else in the room could see.

Andrei was quiet for a moment as he looked. I had stopped projecting, thinking he was done, but he said, “Wait, no. Show me again.” Stephen dropped my hand, so Andrei grabbed that one too. When he did, I could see what he was focusing on. It was difficult to see, unless you were looking for it, but you could clearly see the demon focusing on the dark spots in the mayor’s aura. Because the mayor was moving, it looked like the demon was just moving with him. But Andrei managed to slow it down so I could actually see the demon was not only staying with the mayor, but was constantly trying to force its way inside his auric field.

“How did you see that? I totally missed that, Bubba,” I said.

“I just remembered where the dark spots were. That’s gotta be how they get in then,” Andrei said, taking a step away to lean on the counter.

I caught Adrik’s eye. Since my little idea had worked, I was feeling cocky. Instead of needing to touch him, I just pushed the images I’d just shown everyone else by touching them to him from across the kitchen. He looked surprised initially, but just as intrigued as everyone else.

“Blink, Boss,” Ivan thought quickly.

“Well, now we know that seeing other demons is going to bring both of yours to the front. Did mine do that too? Is this something you guys can eventually get a handle on?” I asked both of them, silently.

“I didn’t notice yours, princess, but I wasn’t paying attention. We’re going to have to keep an eye on it,” Ivan replied.

“I couldn’t see your eyes when you saw it, so I don’t know either. For now, though, we at least know that seeing other demons makes ours get a little too excited,” Adrik thought.

“So. Many. Dirty. Jokes.” I replied, trying not to laugh.

Viktor’s curiosity finally got the best of him. “Okay, somebody explain what you all just saw.”

“See if you can show him too, gazelle. I bet it’ll work. I’ll help if you need a boost,” Misha said.

I looked hesitantly at Misha, then looked at Viktor. “It’s up to you, Papa Bear. I know you don’t like me in your head.”

“Only because I know you’re going to force me to deal with things I’ve been putting off dealing with. This is not that, so let’s try,” he said, walking to me. He very timidly took my hand. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked.

“You don’t have to do anything. Just try to clear your mind. She’ll show you,” Misha said. He took a step closer to me, in case I needed a power boost to let Viktor see.

I concentrated on pushing the short clip of the mayor to Viktor. Nothing happened for a few moments, so I grabbed Misha’s hand. Once I did, suddenly Viktor’s eyes went wide. He was seeing what everyone else had just seen.

Except, that wasn’t the only thing that happened. Misha took over the movie. He fast forwarded until we were no longer watching the mayor. Now, we were watching Viktor with someone I didn’t recognize. I didn’t want to interrupt, so I didn’t ask for specifics. The guy was younger than Viktor and actually looked vaguely similar to him. They were talking quietly, but it was difficult to hear the conversation. The other man looked upset; he looked older than what he should have. He looked worn down, tired, like he had been put through the ringer.

Viktor, in his calm, paternal way, put his hand on this man’s shoulder. It seemed like an innocent thing to do, but when he did, we could clearly see the aura around the man become visible. The dark spots were everywhere. It was dim. This man was struggling. Viktor took his hand off his shoulder, but remained close to him. We watched as a white light came down from somewhere above them and hovered above them both. Neither of them saw it in the movie, but it was visible to us watching it.

It stayed still, hovering above them both for a moment, then we watched Viktor open his palm upward, toward the light. It landed in his palm. When it did, Viktor touched the man’s shoulder once more. This time, his aura lit up. We watched as all the countless holes filled in. As his aura got brighter, he looked stronger, younger, more vibrant.

Viktor took his hand off the man’s shoulder, once again turning his palm upward. He released the light upward, all of us watching as it disappeared above them. The man in front of Viktor looked stunned for a moment, but then he broke out in a huge smile. He grabbed Viktor, hugging him tightly as the movie ended for us.

Misha looked down at me, somewhat confused. I looked at Viktor, who looked so stunned I wasn’t sure he was going to be able to speak.

“Did you know that man?” I asked.

“That … that’s … my brother,” he said.