*Sephie*
I got up several times throughout the night to walk down the hallway. Everyone’s sleep schedule was screwed up, so we would all nap for a few hours, get up and make a few trips up and down the hallway, then nap some more. It was much nicer at night, because the hallways were basically deserted. I did, however, get plenty of odd looks from the nurses since the guys insisted on escorting me each time.
“How bad do I actually look?” I asked Adrik quietly. I’d gone to the bathroom a few times, but I refused to look at myself in the mirror. I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty and I just didn’t want to put myself through that yet. I could see the bruises on my body, so I was sure my face made a matching set.
“Your face is bruised, but not as bad as your body, solnishko. Maybe it’s the Russian that makes them nervous. They all think we’re talking about them. But I think it’s more that we won’t let you go anywhere without us. They’re not used to seeing a princess in real life,” he said, smiling at me.
“Who knew being royalty was such a burden to bear?” I said, flipping my three-day old braid over my shoulder. I was sure my hair was resembling a rat’s nest at this point, but I didn’t really care. There wasn’t anything I could do about it with only one functioning arm, so I was resigned to it being completely out of control.
Viktor, who was behind us this time, said, “I can redo that for you. Or you’re going to end up with a dreadlock before you can get out of here.” I picked up the empty sleeve of Adrik’s sweatshirt I was wearing and turned to point it at him. “You, sir, are my favorite.”
“Hey, no fair. Just because the rest of us have never had long hair and don’t know how to braid doesn’t mean Viktor gets to be the favorite,” Misha said. I could tell he was just trying to stir shit up for the fun of it. We were all going a little stir crazy being stuck here.
As we walked back in the room, Viktor closed the door then said, “I think your ability to see things as they happen, both past and present now, trumps my knowledge of how to braid, Misha.”
“Wait, past?” I asked as I walked to the bed. I hated that I felt tired after two trips up and down the hallway, but I needed to sit down. I sat on the edge of the bed, gingerly.
Misha sat on the other bed in the room, across from me. “So, when Boss called you the Game Master, I think he nailed it. You definitely unlocked a new level for me when we saw Trino,” he said.
“How so?” I asked, as I tried to gingerly scoot farther onto the bed.
“I’ve never been able to see things that happened in the past before. But the night you and Ivan were taken, we went to the spot where they grabbed you. I could see everything that happened, like it was happening in front of me. I saw them grab you off the bike. I saw you scream to make the guy that grabbed you think you were weak, then I saw you headbutt him as hard as you possibly could to get free. I saw you shoot him. I saw you try to shoot the guys that were on Ivan, but you stopped. I saw them slam you into the car and point a gun to your head. I saw Ivan kill two of the guys that were on him, but he stopped when they pulled a gun on you. I saw them take everything from you and zip tie your hands in front of you and then throw you into the vehicle. It was plain as day to me when it happened and it was like I was watching it in real-time. It’s never happened like that before,” Misha said, running his hand through his black hair.
“That’s pretty incredible, Misha. That’s everything that happened as I remember it,” I said.
Adrik walked to the bed, putting one arm gingerly around my shoulders, the other under my legs, mindful of the IV tubes still attached to me. He lifted me farther onto the bed so I could lean back against the bed instead of having to keep myself upright. “That’s not all he can do now,” he said, as he kissed my forehead once he had placed me on the bed.
“There’s more?”
Adrik nodded his head. “He saw the building where they took you. He narrowed down the part of town you were in considerably, which made it easier to find you through the earpieces. But even after Chen connected to your earpiece, we still weren’t completely sure what building you were in. It only narrowed down the possibilities. It was Keith that randomly told us what building you guys were in.”
“How did you see what building they took us to?” I asked Misha.
“I had to have Boss’s help for that. He thought about you, about finding you, and I was able to see the building. It was what I kind of assume happened when we saw Trino. You were thinking about Trino and it amplified what I could see. Boss was thinking about you and it amplified what I could see,” Misha said. “But it was so dark that I never could see the address on the building. Keith made it easy for us. He gave us the address.”
“Keith took Armando to the building? Does he know Ivan and I were there?” I asked, I could feel myself starting to get angry at the possibility of yet another betrayal.
Adrik leaned down and kissed my forehead again, laughing softly. “He didn’t know, love. He’s still on the good list. For now.”
“Put your demon eyes away, Seph. Armando wouldn’t tell Keith and Chris why he needed to go to that building. Keith said Armando was acting funny and that he had a bad feeling about it all, so he gave us the address. At that time, he didn’t know you and Ivan had even been taken,” Stephen said, smiling at me.
“I do not have demon eyes,” I said, matter-of-factly. Andrei threw another protein bar onto the bed beside me, his broad smile across his face. “I hate you,” I said as I opened the wrapper and took a bite. I got halfway through the protein bar and then added, “I’m sorry for what I said when I was hungry. I didn’t mean it.”
Just to prove there were no hard feelings, Andrei stood up and got me a cup of water. “You’re my favorite, spider monkey. Especially when you’re cranky from hunger.”
“When did you fill Keith and Chris in on the fact that Ivan and I were in that building?” I asked, finishing my middle of the night snack.
“He gave us the address after the first time Armando was there. Keith said he was scheduled to return the following morning, which is when we planned to get you out. We wanted to catch Armando there. We were hoping to catch Sal there, too. We watched Keith and Chris drive up with Armando, but he told them to wait in the vehicle. Once Armando was inside, I made a call to Keith and told them to get out of there. I also told them not to answer their phones should Armando call them. They knew something was up, but they still don’t have all the details. They just know Armando is in deep shit and is in a room,” Stephen said.
“That’s who Armando called, I bet. He was livid when they didn’t answer. He smashed his phone.”
“Is that when you told them to jump off the roof? I have to admit that was my favorite part,” Stephen said.
“I think it was everyone’s favorite part. That was hilarious,” Andrei said.
“I’m going to remind Armando that you warned him. People just don’t listen to us, gazelle,” Misha said, faking being indignant.
“I really want to laugh right now, but it’s going to hurt so much,” I said, trying to hold back my laughter.