Chapter Forty-Seven

Sephie

I woke up before Adrik the next morning. We had planned on getting up and working out this morning, so I was somewhat surprised that he didn’t wake up when I started to stir. Even the few times he’d wanted to stay in bed longer, he was always awake for at least a few minutes once he felt me stir. Guess he really did get new level zapped.

I decided to let him sleep a little longer, thinking he definitely needed it. I laid my head back on his chest, lazily tracing random patterns across his chest and stomach. I could feel him like normal; he felt quite happy. There was a moment or two of worry, but it was short-lived.

I started to worry when I felt his emotions start to increase. I suddenly felt massive waves of every emotion hit me, one right after the other. I sat up to look at him. When I did, he looked like Viktor was touching him. He was completely lit up. I could clearly see his aura, like I was looking through Andrei’s eyes. It was plain as day. It was so bright, it illuminated the entire room, forcing me to shield my eyes from the brightness.

I reached out and timidly put my hand on him, trying to wake him. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but something was definitely happening. He started to return to normal, the light around him fading gradually. He still wasn’t responding to me trying to wake him up. Not even in the slightest. I tried talking out loud to him. I tried talking telepathically to him. I tried to look inside his head, but I could see nothing. I could still feel him. He still felt happy, at least.

“Princess? Everything okay?” I heard Ivan ask. He must’ve felt everything that just happened through me.

“I don’t know. Can you come up here?”

“Be right there,” he responded.

He walked into the room not a minute later, a worried look on his face. “I can’t get him to wake up. Did you feel what just happened?” I asked.

“Yeah, it felt like you were all over the place. It’s why I checked on you.”

“That wasn’t me. That was him.”

“That’s never happened before,” he said.

“He also lit up like Viktor and Kostya were fixing him. Only brighter. It lit up the entire room. Now I can’t get him to respond at all. I can’t see anything when I look in his head either. It’s just black.”

“Can you feel him?”

“Yeah. He still feels happy, at least. He feels like he does when he’s sleeping,” I said.

Ivan thought for a few minutes. “I bet something happened. Like his mom came to him or Kostya or maybe even your dad. He might still be talking to them, which is why we can’t wake him up. The few times you can’t be woken up, when you’re not hurt, it’s been because you were talking to one of them.”

I was still worried, but his explanation made sense. It was just very unlike Adrik to not be able to wake up at all. “Maybe. What if it’s not though? What if something is really wrong? I’d be able to tell, right?”

He laughed. “You’d be able to tell if something was really wrong, princess. You’d be the first to know.”

We both heard a soft knock on the bedroom door. “You can come in, Bubba,” I said.

Andrei peeked around the door, still unsure he should come all the way in the room. I smiled at him. “It’s okay, Bubba. Really. You can come in,” I said.

“Viktor told me to tell you that Boss is fine. Kostya said he needs a few more hours of sleep and that he’ll explain when he wakes up,” Andrei said.

“Is Kostya the one who’s been talking to him?” Ivan asked.

“I don’t know. He didn’t say anything else other than Boss was fine and you shouldn’t worry,” he said, looking at me.

“Easier said than done,” I said, chewing on my lip. “Now I understand why it freaks all of you out so much when this happens to me. I don’t like it.”

“At least he’s asleep and not sitting up at the end of the bed with his eyes wide open going apeshit,” Ivan said, grinning at me.

“That’s fair. That’s totally fair. This is much easier to deal with. I will concede that, 100 percent,” I said.

“Have you tried looking in his head? Is he dreaming?” Andrei asked.

“I tried. All I can see is black,” I said.

“But can you feel him? Is that why you freaked out earlier?” he asked.

“That wasn’t me. That was him. I can still feel him like normal. I just can’t see anything right now. He feels happy, at least. He’s just never not responded before,” I said.

“That was him?” Andrei asked, surprised.

“Yeah. He lit up like Viktor and Kostya were fixing him, too. But brighter. I’m surprised you guys didn’t see it from downstairs. It was so bright.”

“Maybe it is Kostya talking to him then?” Andrei said, trying to come up with plausible explanations.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Apparently, he’ll explain when he wakes up. I should tell Misha that our run likely isn’t going to happen now. I don’t want to leave him,” I said, putting my hand on Adrik’s stomach.

“Maybe he’ll torture Stephen anyway. You’ve successfully passed the torch of torture onto him now,” Ivan said.

I laughed. “I’m going to have to apologize to Stephen for that one. Maybe … nah. I’m not really that sorry.”

They both left shortly after, telling me to call them if I needed anything and they would be downstairs if something were to happen. Ivan offered to bring me breakfast, but I told him I was likely going to go back to sleep. I suddenly felt very tired. I was pretty sure it was from Adrik. Whatever had happened to him was zapping him and I could feel it too.

When I woke for the second time, I felt Adrik’s fingers lightly running through my hair and over my back. I snuggled into him more, mostly out of habit, before remembering what had happened that morning. I sat up, looking at him to see if he really was awake. His handsome smile stretched across his face, making me forget everything but him.

“I’m sorry I worried you, solnishko. I needed some extra sleep,” he said, placing his hand against my cheek.

“What happened? You were glowing at one point, so don’t even try to tell me that nothing happened,” I said, holding his hand against my face to keep it there.

He chuckled. “I saw your father,” he said. “I did get new level zapped. I literally got zapped this time. I assume that’s when you saw the glowing.”

“Um, was it a good zap? Are you in trouble zap? Why am I nervous that you were talking to my dad without me there?”

He pulled me on top of him, sitting up more so he could see me better. “Not in trouble. Your dad is a very nice man. You have his smile,” he said, his finger running lightly over my cheek and down my neck.

“He is kind of great. What did he tell you?”

“It seems that Stephen called my new level instead of his,” he said, smirking at me.

“You can crush souls now?” I asked, barely above a whisper. I know my eyes were as wide as they could possibly go.

He laughed. “Not crush them literally, no. But I can condemn them to Hell now.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Don’t worry, it was difficult for me to comprehend as well. Your dad told me that my demon is getting more powerful, which means so am I. When I helped Stephen break Armando and I went full nuclear but was able to just switch it off, apparently that proved that I could handle more. I’m still in complete control of my demon. There are going to be times when even Stephen will be ineffectual, like with Ricardo and Martin. Their deals really are eternal, apparently. Even if Stephen breaks them, those souls still belong to those two demons. They would come back and still make the same mistakes each time because they’re always going to be tied to their demons. The opposite of us, I guess. Instead of that happening, I break the cycle by sending them all back to Hell.”

“What happens then? They stay there forever?” I asked. I could feel the goosebumps coming up over my entire body. I saw the look on Adrik’s face that meant my eyes had changed. I was guessing purple, but I was too curious about what he was telling me to ask.

“Your dad said I’m the only one who can grant them reprieve once I’ve condemned them to Hell. I’m still not sure what that means,” he said, reaching up to twirl one of my curls around his fingers.

“It means you really are the King of the Underworld,” I said, watching his reaction. I knew I had goosebumps, but I could actually feel his spreading over his body when I said it. He was completely focused on my eyes though.

“Sephie, say that again,” he said as he watched my eyes.

I repeated the phrase, then asked, “Why? What are they doing?”

“They were purple as I was telling you everything, but when you said I really was the King of the Underworld, they started to change to a new color. It didn’t last very long, but I swear it was red,” he said.

I giggled. “Shut up.”

“No, it’s true. It happened when you said it the second time too.”

“Stephen is going to be so happy,” I said, hiding my face in his shoulder. I was just happy he was awake and responsive again. I sighed. “I understand why it freaks you out so much when you can’t wake me up now.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, it’s not ideal. I understand why it needs to happen, but I never like it when it happens. How much did you get zapped when I got zapped?”

“I don’t know. I called Ivan up here when it first happened. The glowing part kind of freaked me out. I could also feel your emotions, one by one, incredibly strongly. They all did too. Ivan thought it was me, so he checked on me and that’s when I asked him to come up here because I still couldn’t get you to respond. I tried looking in your head, but all I saw was black. It worried me.”

He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tightly. “I’m sorry I worried you. Your dad said you’d be able to see whatever it was he did to me.”

“It was like Viktor was touching you. But a thousand times brighter. It lit up the entire room. That was after your emotions went crazy. Ivan said you likely were talking to someone. We thought your mom or Kostya. Then Bubba came upstairs and said Kostya had told Viktor you were fine. They offered to bring me breakfast, but I was suddenly really tired, so I just went back to sleep with you.”

His hands were roaming lightly over my body as we talked. “I’m glad you got extra sleep. You’re going to get benefit from this too. Your dad said because we’re so connected, your demon is going to grow stronger with mine. Ivan will get a boost through you, but you’ll get the most. The other three are also going to become connected to their demons very quickly,” he said. He felt me stiffen as I worried about Viktor. “Don’t worry, I asked about Viktor. He’ll be able to handle it. He needs Stephen to help him one more time and then he’ll be good.”

I let out the breath I was holding, making him laugh softly. I was quiet, thinking about everything he’d just told me. “I think we should stay one more night then. Dario can wait until tomorrow, I think. We can ask Misha to be sure, but I think staying here another night is best,” I said.

“I will not argue with you on that one. I wouldn’t mind another night here either. If we go back, I’m going to feel the need to go to my office and I don’t want to just yet. I do, however, want to send someone for Vinny’s. I’m starving,” he said as he flipped me onto my back. I could hear his stomach grumbling as he did it.

“It’s like you love me or something,” I said, laughing.

He was smiling at me, but he stopped to think about something and his face turned serious for a moment. “I do love you. I always have. But as it turns out, my demon loves you as well,” he said, unable to stop the sly grin that was appearing on his face.

“Shut up.”

“No, he does. He very much does. I’ve never felt anything so clearly from him before.”

I laughed. “As it turns out, I love him too.” I could feel the happiness exuding from him when I said that, which made me laugh louder. “I just made him extra happy, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, like twelve-year-old-boy-who-just-saw-a-boob-for-the-first-time happy,” he said as he sat up to pull me up. I pulled my shirt up, flashing him my boobs, just for fun.

“So much happiness he’s not going to be able to take it!” I said, laughing.

He stood up, pulling me off the bed with him. His handsome smile was stretched across his face as we laughed together. “I love hearing your laugh. He does too. You’re much lighter lately. It’s infectious.”

“I could say the same for you, you know. I think as everything gets even weirder, you, me, and Ivan have become anchors for the other three. There’s a quiet calm to you now, where before you always felt like your anger was always present just under the surface, threatening to burn anything in your way. That’s still there, but it’s quieter and more in control. It’s scarier, if I’m being honest,” I said.

He stopped walking to the closet and turned back toward me, surprise on his face. “It scares you?” he asked. The surprise on his face was quickly replaced with concern.

I put my hand on his cheek, loving his constant concern for me. “No, love. I don’t think it’s possible for you to scare me. I meant it’s scarier for anyone else outside of our little weird family. You make people nervous on a good day, but it’s to a new level now. Even Neal has noticed it. He’s tried to hide it, but he has to constantly remind himself that he hasn’t done anything to incur your wrath every time he talks to you now.”

He was thoughtful for a minute. “I don’t even feel bad about that.”

I laughed loudly. “You shouldn’t. You don’t need to change a thing either. People aren’t necessarily scared of you; they’re scared you can see something in them that they don’t want you to see. Even without knowing what’s happening, you’ve learned to shine your light on their darkest places. People don’t like that.”

“I learned it from watching you,” he said, leaning down and pressing his lips to mine. I reached up and pulled him closer to me.

How is it possible to love this man so much?