Chapter Thirty-Two

Adrik

As we walked back into the penthouse, Vitaliy and Aleksei greeted us. With each day that passed, I grew more surprised that my father was still in the city. He’d never stayed more than three days since handing everything over to me. It was close to two months that he’d been here this time.

“You all look like something just happened,” Vitaliy said as we walked in.

Sephie glanced at him, then at me. “I see where your observation skills come from,” she said, her sweet smile across her face. “We just went to check on Viktor again. As it turns out, Stephen’s mere presence was enough to make whatever has been on Ilya leave.”

“Not his presence, spider monkey. He was here the other night. It was when he spoke,” Andrei corrected her.

“I know. But it sounds way more dramatic my way, so I’m sticking with that,” she said, grinning at him.

“You had the same thing happen again that happened the other night, malishka?” Vitaliy asked.

She shook her head no. “Nope. Ivan puts up a bubble around me. It couldn’t get in again. Both he and Adrik also feel it faster than I do now, so they burn it off right away.”

“But Stephen made it leave?” he asked.

“Yeah, apparently I’m not warm and fuzzy enough for whatever was on him. I was just trying to be helpful, but it was not appreciated,” Stephen said, trying to come across as offended. We could all see his sly smile turning up one corner of his mouth though.

Vitaliy chuckled. I said, “We have been told that now that Stephen has his gift, the fear is going to increase from any demons we encounter. I’m still not convinced it was actually a demon that was on him, because Ivan couldn’t see anything, but whatever it was, it clearly knew who Stephen was. As soon as he spoke to Ilya, it left.”

“How do you know?” Vitaliy asked.

“I could feel it,” Andrei said. “I can’t feel it the same way Sephie does, but I knew it was there. As soon as Stephen started talking, it changed. It was like it got scared and then it was suddenly not there anymore.”

I caught Sephie smiling at Andrei as he talked. It was obvious that she was proud of him and was enjoying watching him evolve and get better with his gift. He was quickly becoming much more confident. He stepped in right away the first night Ilya was here to help diffuse what could’ve been a very volatile situation. He also stood up to Viktor when his anger got the best of him. I’d never seen Andrei stand up to any of the other guys that way before. It was nice to see. He was stepping into his own.

“What about when Ivan put his bubble up this time? Did he cut her off from you two this time too?” I asked.

“It wasn’t the same as last time,” Misha said. “Last time, he cut her completely off. Like I couldn’t feel anything. This time, I could feel her, it just wasn’t as strong as it usually is.”

“Same for me,” Andrei said.

“Since I didn’t experience the complete cutoff, I’m just going to agree here. Honestly, I didn’t notice either way. I’m still trying to figure out the pancake paradox,” Stephen said.

“What did you do differently, Squish?” Sephie asked, grinning at Stephen.

“Mostly just tried to include them in the bubble this time. I don’t think they were all the way in, since they could hear everything going on like normal. Or else it doesn’t affect their hearing the way it does yours,” Ivan said.

“Does it affect your hearing as well?” Vitaliy asked me.

I nodded. “It’s harder to hear anything outside the bubble. I can still hear Ivan. I can still hear Sephie. Everything else is very muffled. We can both hear through Ivan now though, so it doesn’t matter,” I said.

Stephen suddenly inhaled. “Because that’s how Sephie prefers to read people. She has other ways, but her preferred method is to hear them speak. Ivan hides that, making her look like a normal human once again. Did your eyes change the first time you went to see Ilya?” Stephen asked Sephie.

“I don’t think so. He didn’t react to them that time, if they did,” Sephie said.

“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 shit we all say originated 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 soul 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.

Sephie could feel my anger starting to rise over the 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’s and Sephie’s eyes as well.

“We can find a way to make it all happen without Sephie being there. Maybe I 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 ‘fuck 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 I 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 feelings, 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.”

Her brow furrowed. I could feel her body literally disagreeing with me. “No, I give him everything outside the room. I’m telling you, he doesn’t need to hold on to this very long. They can stay with me outside the room, but I at least need to go that far. Ivan can put his bubble up and cut me off from hearing anything.” I glanced to Misha, who confirmed what she’d just said.

She glanced back at Stephen. “Do you want to do it now?”

“No time like the present to go fumbling through the dark,” Stephen said, grinning at her. She looked at everyone else, who were all in agreement to make it happen now.

“Do you want my hatred for Giana too? I mean, I want to make sure you have enough material,” Misha asked, grinning at Stephen.

Outside the room where we kept Armando, Ivan told the guards to take a very long break, then cut the cameras off once they were gone. Sephie still felt nervous, but also determined. On the elevator down, I caught her silently talking to Andrei. They had a signal they gave each other to indicate that the other should fish in their head. Once we were outside the room, she glanced at him, then looked at Stephen.

“Yoden, I’m really sorry for what I’m about to give you,” she said. She looked at me, then to Ivan. “If he falters in there, do what you did with me the other night with Ilya. He might not, because he can handle cold much easier than I can, but just in case, you need to send him everything right away.”

She then looked at Stephen, saying, “If you do falter, it’s going to come after you as a last-ditch effort. Let them protect you the same way they would me. It’s going to feel like you got hit with a wall of fire, but just remember to breathe.”

She stepped away from me, taking Stephen’s hand and pulling him with her. She dropped his hand and took in a deep breath. “Give me a second,” she said, closing her eyes.

I could feel everything she was going through as she relived everything with Armando. It was brief, but it was intense. All the fear, the betrayal, the heartbreak both for her and for Giana, the anger, she went through all of it, trying to contain it to give it to Stephen. “I’m sorry,” she said as she grabbed his hand.

Stephen doubled over like someone had just sucker punched him in the stomach, letting out something between a loud exhale and a groan. She didn’t let go of his hand, trying to help him stay upright. I could see tears streaming down her face as she watched him feel everything she had felt. He sucked in a sharp breath, standing up. His face was red and his eyes were somewhat wild. It almost looked like his bloodlust was coming to the surface. It took him a moment of holding onto Sephie before he finally gained some of his composure back. He looked to Misha, saying, “I’ve got plenty, dude. We’ll figure out what to do with your hatred for Giana later.”

Sephie tried to smile, but it only made more tears fall. He looked back at her, putting his hand on her cheek. “Don’t worry, Seph. I can handle it. You shouldn’t have to anymore,” he said, kissing her forehead. He glanced at me and motioned toward the room where Armando was being kept.

Ivan walked to Sephie, wrapping his massive arms around her. I watched her hide her face in his chest as we closed the door behind us. Once she was out of sight, I let my anger take over. Stephen needed it to break Armando and I wanted Armando’s last conscious moments to be nothing but terror as he looked at my black eyes.

Armando’s eyes got wider as he took in the sight before him. Stephen was intimidating in his own right when his bloodlust took over. Then you add in me and I’m surprised Armando didn’t piss himself. I had been keeping him restrained, mostly just because I still had moments where I couldn’t get the image of Sephie with her wrists tied behind her out of my head and I wanted him to know that discomfort as long as possible.

I would give him periodic breaks from it. Just when he got used to not being restrained, that’s when I’d have him tied to the chair again for days on end. His memory had never been the best. I wanted to make sure he could easily remember the feeling.

Now, however, he was on a break. He was free to move away from us, but his fear kept him firmly in place. He was seemingly frozen in the chair, his eyes shifting nervously from me to Stephen and back again. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Stephen was staying remarkably calm, despite struggling with everything Sephie had just given him. He walked closer to Armando. “Do you want to know what’s about to happen?” he asked. Any time Stephen would use psychology as a weapon, his voice got a certain tone to it. Almost like he was mocking the person, but in the most sinister way possible.

Armando kept looking between me and Stephen, which caused Stephen to glance back at me. “Oh, I know what you want to know first. You want to know why his eyes are black. Allow me to explain. You see, you made a deal with a demon. There’s a very slight chance you might not have known you did, as intelligence was never your strongest attribute, but it was ultimately because you’re so weak that you couldn’t fight off the evil. Either way, you have a demon that’s been riding you for years.” Armando kept looking at me while Stephen was talking. His eyes were pleading with me to save him as some part of him realized what was about to happen.

Stephen continued, “Now you shouldn’t feel too bad about being such weak sauce that a demon got in. Happens to lots of people. Happened to Boss, as a matter of fact. The only difference is, Boss made his demon work for him. Which makes him infinitely more powerful than you’ll ever be.” Stephen paused to let Armando comprehend what he’d just said. “See, your soul tried to take the easy way out of life. It tried to skip ahead quite a few levels, but it did so in the most evil way possible. It meant that innocent people had to die, which can’t go unpunished. That’s where I come in. My job is to make sure your soul spends the rest of your very long life learning to never, ever do that again. I’m going to make sure neither one of you leave that body until that body dies from very, very old age.”

As Stephen was talking, I was watching Armando watching me. I couldn’t see his demon, but I knew it was there. I could feel it. I could feel when it took over and stepped forward. Armando’s eyes went black as well. If it caught Stephen off-guard, he didn’t show it. Armando laughed. He looked at Stephen, his expression dripping with hatred. “You’re not strong enough to do that,” he said. “You don’t have enough power to do that to me. You have no idea who I am.”

Stephen was quiet for a minute, like he was having second thoughts. He crossed his arms across his chest, looking at Armando. He walked right in front of him, bending down, so he was eye-level to him, saying, “Why do you think I brought him too, dumbass?”

When Armando realized the full meaning of what Stephen had just said, he tried to quickly get away from Stephen. Stephen anticipated it and caught Armando by the throat, throwing him back down in the chair. “Did I say you could leave?” he asked, his anger now clearly visible. Armando coughed a few times, trying to weigh his options.

Stephen stepped back from Armando. He glanced quickly at me, then looked back at Armando. “Just as a courtesy, I’m going to give you something to keep you in your seat before we get started,” he said. I knew he was asking for my anger. I was more than happy to provide it.

Sephie had explained how she pushed her anger to Andrei and Misha when they fought Vitaliy’s guys. She was right. It was more difficult to send to anyone other than her. My anger was a complete raging inferno, but I saw Stephen’s sly grin turn up one side of his mouth when he felt it.

I watched as Armando’s eyes changed back to normal and a look of horror came over his face. He was seeing something I couldn’t see. I wasn’t sure if Stephen could see it or not, but much like Stephen’s sisters, Armando was frozen in place. His hands gripped the arms of the chair he was in, like he was on the edge of a cliff, trying to save himself. His knuckles turned white. Every muscle in his body tensed as he was trying to not see what was being shown to him.

Stephen took a deep breath, looking back to me once more. “That was just the warm-up. Keep it coming. It’s clearly working,” he said.

I cranked up the inferno as high as it would go and concentrated on pushing it all to Stephen. I always wondered if there was a limit to my anger. Would I ever hit the end of it? Would it run out? Judging by what I was feeling at the moment, that answer was very clearly no. The more I concentrated on keeping my anger as high as possible, the more it responded and the hotter it burned.

Stephen turned back to Armando. One last time, we saw his eyes go black as his demon tried to think of a way out, but his body wasn’t responding to its demands. There was already a clear disconnect between Armando’s soul and his body. The demon was powerless. Stephen hit him with more memories from Sephie, and Armando let out a blood-curdling scream. It was the last sound he made.

As Stephen gave everything back to Armando that he’d done to Sephie, I could clearly see the light behind his eyes go out. There was nobody home any longer.

Stephen turned back to me after a few moments. “It’s done,” he said, almost like he was surprised it had worked.

Surprisingly, my anger dissipated easily. Almost instantly, even. Stephen caught my look of surprise and laughed. “I’m as surprised as you that all that went away so quickly,” he said. “You’ve never been so angry before. I could’ve broken ten Armandos and you still would’ve had plenty leftover.”

“Yeah, that was different,” I said. “What about you? You good? You gave it all to him? Nothing left?”

He looked at me with wide eyes. He stepped closer so he could talk quietly. Before he spoke he tapped his temple, like he was asking if anyone else was listening in. “Just us,” I said.

“Boss, I don’t know how she’s been walking around with all of that. She gave me everything from the attack on her and Misha, to the ball, to the first kidnapping attempt, and then everything from the second. Just the pain alone from when she was hurt was enough to break him, not to mention everything she felt on top of that. Much like your anger, I could’ve broken ten Armandos and still had leftover. He’s never getting away from all of that for the rest of his days,” he said, somewhat satisfied.

I put my hand on his shoulder, pushing him toward the door. “You did good, kid. I’m proud of you.”

As he opened the door, he said, “You know, I’m proud of me too. I can finally use my hatred for people to do some good in this world.”

Sephie, who still had her face hidden in Ivan’s chest, heard him and giggled. She didn’t turn around immediately and now that my anger had dissipated, I could feel her emotional turmoil. Ivan kept his arms around her, lightly rubbing her back with his thumbs.

“How did it go?” Andrei asked.

“Not as violently as I was expecting. His demon underestimated me, so there wasn’t as much fighting back as I was hoping for, which is slightly disappointing,” Stephen said.

Sephie sighed and went to turn around, which made Ivan loosen his grip on her. She still looked troubled, but she was curious. “It worked to use Adrik?” she asked.

“Yeah, he’s all the battery I would ever need. Dude’s got fire for days,” he said. As he answered her, I was hit with her warmth. Her smile stretched across her face and she walked quickly to me.

“It was harder to send it to him versus you at first, but it worked. It got easier the longer I did it,” I said, kissing her temple.

“He also turned it off immediately when we were done. Not gonna lie, I was worried about that in the moment. I’ve never seen him so angry and be able to turn it off like that,” Stephen said.

Sephie wrapped her arms around my waist. “You’re finally learning how useful of a tool it is,” she said as she hid her face in my shoulder.

I looked at Ivan, asking, “She didn’t hear anything?” He shook his head no at the same time that she did. “Come. Let us be gone from this place,” I said, pulling Sephie with me.

Sephie stayed quiet the rest of the evening, but she felt happy. I caught Stephen away from everyone else while Misha was distracting Sephie. “When you gave everything to your sisters, what did it do to you?” I asked.

“I was crazy tired that next day but otherwise felt much better. She’ll feel better soon. I’ve known that she feels things intensely for a long time, but knowing it and feeling just how intensely she feels things are two very different things. She’s probably going to need to sleep most of the day tomorrow,” he said.

“What about you? Are you extra tired after doing that again?”

He thought for a moment. “No, actually I feel really good. I think it’s leftovers from your ‘fuck you’ boost,” he said, laughing quietly.

“Good. That also means you’re getting better at handling the extra. It’s a good sign. Likely means you’re going to level up soon.”

He thought for a moment. “I have no idea how my gift would level up. Do I get to choose? Can I literally rip the demon out of the person and crush it next time? I’d sign up for that.”

I looked at him, trying not to laugh at where his mind went. “This break from Vlad has been good for you. I think you were spending a little too much time with him. It’s really increased your creativity. I have contacts at customs. I might delay him a little longer.”

Stephen was normally very understated. He would laugh, but he was always quiet about it. It was a rare occasion when we could get him to laugh loudly, especially in a group setting. He laughed so loudly that everyone else stopped talking and looked at him, completely surprised that he’d done so.

Sephie’s wide smile stretched across her face. I knew she’d fished in my head to find out what made him laugh. For a moment, she looked brighter. I was hopeful that after some extra rest, she could continue to look brighter.

That night, once we were alone, I asked her about her and Andrei’s method of talking to each other. “Me and Ivan aren’t the only ones you can talk to without actually speaking,” I said, grinning at her.

She cut her eyes over at me. “How did you know?”

“I saw your signal to each other. You’re very discreet. I don’t think anyone else has caught on,” I said. “What did you need to tell him?”

“I asked him to keep an eye on Stephen. I was worried about his confidence. I wasn’t sure how strong Armando’s demon would be and I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to feel if he started to hesitate about his abilities. I was trying to cover all the bases,” she said, climbing into bed while she waited for me.

I turned off the light and grabbed the remote for the blinds, closing them part of the way before climbing in bed beside her. “I don’t know if it will always remain so, but his confidence was definitely not an issue this time. We saw the demon step forward. It grossly underestimated Stephen,” I said. I opened my arms for her to lie across my chest. She sighed and snuggled in as close to me as possible. I knew it wouldn’t take her long to fall asleep. “How are you, solnishko? You’ve been quieter than usual.”

“I’m really tired, but I think I’m okay. Kinda feels like what I would imagine a hangover feels like,” she said.

I laughed. “You’ve never had a hangover?” I asked, surprised.

“I’ve never had alcohol,” she said quietly. “I saw the worst of it and the supposed good side of it didn’t seem worth it to me. The alcohol I used to have in my apartment was just a side effect from working at the bar with Max. Unavoidable, really, but also unused.”

I held her a little tighter. “You’re not missing anything at all. I love you a little more because of it.”

Her soft laugh was the last thing I heard before she quickly fell asleep.

I woke quite late the next morning. Sephie was still in her favorite spot across my chest, sound asleep. She was mumbling quietly, but her fingers were playing lightly on my chest. She felt like she was still happily sleeping. I ran my hands through her hair, which still caused her to make her sweet cooing noises and snuggle in to me closer.

I watched her sleep for a little longer, then finally decided to get up. It was close to noon, which never happened for me. Maybe I used a little more energy than I thought last night.

“Boss, you two okay? Did you get zapped again?” I heard Ivan asking after I had been up for a few minutes.

“Apparently so. She’s still sleeping. Stephen said it made him really tired after he broke his sisters, so he expected Sephie to sleep later today,” I told him. I walked back to the bed to check if she was shaking yet and she wasn’t. For the first time since she and Ivan were taken, she was sleeping on her own without shaking. “I think he fixed her shaking problem. I got out of bed a few minutes ago and it hasn’t started yet.”

“That’s impressive. That hasn’t happened since she and I were grabbed. Although Andrei’s going to be really disappointed. I think he looked forward to extra naps.”

“We’ll see if it sticks before we tell him,” I said, laughing. “ Has anyone seen Viktor yet?”

“Yeah, he’s awake now. He and Ilya came upstairs not too long ago. When you two didn’t wake up, we moved back downstairs. Let us know when the princess wakes up. Viktor wants to see her,” he said.

“Will do. I half expect her to wake up soon just because she can tell he’s awake now.”

I climbed back in bed with her, pulling her back on my chest. She moaned softly and I felt her start to stir. I ran my hand over her scarred back, letting my fingers trace along her scars. She’d told me that her scars were mostly numb because of the extensive damage, but when I traced my fingers along them, she could feel it. She said she liked it when I did it, as it made her back feel more like normal because she could actually feel something.

“Good morning,” she said, her voice hoarse from sleep. She didn’t pick her head up to look at me. I could feel she was still tired.

“How do you feel? You’re still tired,” I said. I felt her nod her head against my chest.

“You’re the one who did everything and I’m the one who’s exhausted. It doesn’t make sense,” she said, pressing her body closer to mine.

“You still had to unpack everything for Stephen, which meant you had to go through it again. Even if it was brief, you still had to do it. But I do think it might’ve fixed you not being able to sleep by yourself. I was out of bed for several minutes and you never started shaking,” I told her.

“Really?” she asked. She finally picked her head up to look at me. She was definitely still tired.

“Yeah, I was just as surprised as you,” I said, grinning at her still sleepy eyes. I moved her hair out of her face as she rested her chin on my chest. My fingers traced lightly over her face, which caused her to close her eyes. She had a small smile on her face as she enjoyed my touch.

She was quiet for long enough that I was beginning to wonder if she fell back asleep again, but she asked, “Has anybody seen Viktor yet?”

“Yeah, Ivan said he’s awake now. He and Ilya showed up a little while ago, but they moved back downstairs when we didn’t wake up.”

She sighed. “Guess I should get up then.” I could feel her reluctance to move and couldn’t keep from laughing at her. “You don’t have to, solnishko. You’re clearly still tired.”

“I am still tired. But I want to check on Yoden. And I would like to not feel awkward about Viktor again, so I need to get that out of the way, even though I’m happy to just keep avoiding it for a while longer,” she said. She sounded almost irritated when she brought up Viktor, which had never happened before.

“You can avoid him for as long as you like. You’ve never once been irritated with any of them, but you’re clearly irritated with him.”

She sighed again. “I know. I shouldn’t be though. I think being irritated with him is easier than admitting I’m hurt he spent so much energy avoiding me,” she said. She’d closed her eyes again, but it didn’t stop the tears from escaping down her cheeks.

My breath caught as I felt her sadness. It was at least her sadness this time and it wasn’t nearly as oppressive as what she’d felt from him, but I found it made me angry that she was feeling it. She felt the shift in my mood and opened her eyes. They switched from amber to black as soon as she looked at me. She searched my eyes, a small smile on her face. “I know it’s not Viktor’s fault, but I do love that you’re even willing to kick his ass for me.”

“Not just me. They’re all willing to kick his ass over losing his temper with you. I don’t envy the position he’s in right now. It’s going to take some time for him to make it up to everyone.”