*Sephie*
Battista took a deep breath. “There are unseen forces in the world, influencing humanity. Think of it like a game, if you will. Your job, in each lifetime, is to figure out how best to defeat the evil forces that prey upon humans. Much like the young women last night. Again, I don’t know details, but I’m fairly certain they’re being controlled by outside forces.” He was looking at me as he was talking. I saw his eyes go wide, which likely meant my eyes had turned dark. He put his hands up in front of him, like he was trying to calm me. “I’m in no way defending them or their actions. It’s only to illustrate my point. People sometimes unconsciously agree to accepting these unseen forces. They give them control because they’re too weak to do it themselves. Once you’ve accepted evil, it’s very difficult to get rid of, unless you’re a very special person. Those women were not, for the record.” He looked from me to the rest of the guys. “You gentlemen, and lady, however, are.”
“How do you know this?” Adrik asked.
“Because we’ve been waiting for you. The powerful people I’m connected to and your father is connected to…” he paused for a moment, trying to choose his words carefully. “We’re from very old family lines that have been keeping an eye on humanity for a very long time. We try to stay out of most of it, only stepping in when necessary. But we’re watching everything. We’ve known about Ricardo for years. He made his deal very early in his life. Martin did too, but he’s so much younger that his deal was only recently made.”
“What kind of deal?” Adrik asked. I could feel him starting to get uneasy about the subject. I grabbed his hand, my fingers playing lightly with his. “And what do everlasting consequences mean?”
Battista looked at me, a coy smile on his face. “I’d still like to know how you knew about that, but that’s a conversation for another time.” He took a breath, once again contemplating how to say what needed to be said. “Some people try to game the game, if you will. Rather than working to better themselves or learning the lessons they need to learn, and signed up to learn, for the record, they find demons that are willing to make deals. It sounds great to the person, but the consequences are, well, horrific.”
“Like selling your soul? Is that what you mean? I thought that was just a phrase people said,” Misha said.
“It is, but it’s also a real thing. Like I said, there are unseen forces at work in this world that most people know nothing about. The ones that do either realize the danger they pose, or are greedy and want to try and use them to their benefit. That never works out well,” Battista said.
Adrik chuckled, his hold on me tightening briefly. I didn’t need to search his eyes to know where his mind went. “Ricardo got a raw deal, then. If he was promised greatness, his demon oversold and underdelivered.”
Battista laughed. “You’re not wrong, but you’re also not considering exactly who you are, either.”
“And that is…?” Adrik asked.
“Not only the King of the Underworld in this city, but the world by the time you’re done,” Battista said.
I felt the goosebumps rise over my entire body. I glanced quickly at Misha, who was having the same reaction. I looked over at Adrik, who looked as surprised as I was, but there was also the familiar look that meant my eyes had done something new, as well.
Battista continued. “You’ve surrounded yourself with the people needed to make it happen. Every single player in this that has stayed loyal to you, will serve you in making this happen.”
“Um, that’s one person. Basically one person has stayed loyal to Boss,” Ivan said, sarcastically.
“Yes, but he’s an integral piece of the puzzle. Trino holds more power than you realize. The people in the entirety of South America love him for bringing peace. Just as the people of the city love you for bringing peace. He was smart when he rose to power. Get the people to back you, keep their favor, and you’ll forever remain in power,” Battista said.
Adrik was quiet for a few moments. “We’re still working on how to fix the chaos in the city. I don’t know the first thing about the rest of the world,” he said.
“You don’t need to. The rest of the world is watching you. Once you fix the city and fix Trino’s problem, they’ll come to you. There will always be a need for the underworld and what goes on there. People need bad just as much as they need good. What sets you and Trino apart, however, is that you control the amount of bad. You have rules to what you’ll allow and what you won’t and your rules are always for the benefit of the people, not the other bosses.”
“What is Ricardo planning? Do you know?” I asked.
Battista sighed. “We’re not completely sure. We’re still working on gathering as much information on him as we can, but both he and Martin caught the attention of very powerful demons. They’re old. They’re careful. They know this is their one chance at establishing any kind of power in this world and they’re patient enough to not fuck that up.” I saw the surprise on his face once again that meant my eyes were likely dark.
“Don’t be worried. It happens when I get angry,” I said, flippantly. “Think of them like a warning system. As long as you’re not the cause of the anger, you have nothing to worry about.”
He smiled, but didn’t look away. “I have a feeling they’re more than just a warning system.”
“What do you mean?” Adrik asked. I could feel that he was feeling overly protective of me.
“When someone invites evil in, the evil takes over. It runs the show. The person’s soul is basically pushed to the background, if not ejected completely. Like I said before, it’s very difficult to rid yourself of evil once invited in. Most people are incapable and will gradually devolve into worse and worse humans. Again, like those young women. You, however, have flipped the tables, so to speak,” Battista said, a sly smile on his face.
“How so?” I asked.
“Everyone has some evil in them. You can’t have a purely good existence in this world. Just like you can’t have a purely bad one, either. There’s going to be both. In fact, there needs to be both. The issue becomes when the evil gets out of balance. That’s what they wait for. They wait for people to shift just enough to their evil side that they can find a way in. It happens in any manner of ways. Sometimes they whisper to you, trying to get you to do evil things, they try to get you hooked on drugs so you’ll be more suggestible. If you’re strong, then they try to break you to give you a reason to shift the scales in their favor. They want you angry. They want you hateful. If they can’t subtly do it, they give you a reason to hate the world. I’m guessing that every single one of you has been given plenty of reasons to hate the world, but you’ve chosen not to,” Battista said. Once again, I felt the goosebumps rise over my entire body. “With you, my dear, your eyes changing to black shows very clearly that your demons work for you. It’s virtually unheard of. I have no idea how you’ve managed to do it, but it’s not only a warning of your emotions, it’s a warning to other demons that you own them.”