*Adrik*
We didn’t hear from Ivan or Viktor for most of the day. Finally, that evening, Ivan let me and Sephie know that he had taken Viktor to the house.
*“He’s okay, but he’s now having to deal with everything he hasn’t dealt with since his wife died. He mourned her. He never mourned his child. I decided to just get him completely away from everyone.”* Ivan told us.
*“Are you there now?”* Sephie asked him.
*“Almost. We’re on our way.”*
*“I want to know if this still works even when you’re that far away from us,”* she replied.
I could tell what she was thinking. We’d never tested how far away the guys could be from her and still be able to feel anything from her.
*”If he manages to fall asleep before you do and this still works, let us know. It’s not often we get a chance that you’re away from Sephie and not working.”* I told him.
*”You guys want to know if I can still feel her, don’t you? That’s a solid plan. I’ll let you know.”*
Sephie looked at me, her eyes swirling. I could feel she was worried about Viktor, but I could also feel that she was curious about how far away Ivan could be and still feel her and talk to her. I walked to her, pulling her against me. I loved watching her eyes swirl, but I hadn’t seen them do it since the addition of the purple. It was even more mesmerizing than before.
“When are we going to tell the Wonder Twins about your eyes?” she asked me.
I sighed. “I don’t know. They’ll figure it out eventually. I think they’ll be able to handle the surprise of it better than Stephen would have. He’s more overwhelmed than those two are about everything happening right now.”
She giggled softly. “They have been good about taking everything in stride. I think Andrei likes it when I snoop through his head now. I think Misha might be helping him deal with everything better.”
“How did you know you’d be able to show Ivan what Andrei sees?” I asked, resuming my eternal battle with her curls.
“I didn’t. It was a hunch. When Chen went to meet with the journalist, I asked Andrei if he’d snooped through the journalist’s head before. He hadn’t. I told him to do it this time, but I didn’t know why. When they got back, he let me see the journalist how he sees him and that’s what gave me the idea to call the acupuncturist. When they got back from the meeting with the mayor, he told me to look again. Since Ivan wasn’t with them, I was curious whether his gift would be able to work like that, so I wanted to try it. I figured I would need Misha to make it clearer for them,” she said. She was fidgeting with my shirt collar as she talked. Her eyes were still an ever-changing kaleidoscope of color.
I watched her for a few moments, a grin slowly spreading across my face. “And when it worked, you felt cocky so that’s when you discovered you could share it with me without having to touch me?”
She slowly raised her gaze, looking me in the eyes. Her eyes landed on green as her wide smile stretched across her face. “I mean, might as well have fun with it, right?” she said, hiding her face in my shoulder as she started to laugh.
*God, I love her*.
--
Later that evening, once the other guys had gone back to their apartments for the night, Sephie and I were alone. I was just about to ask her if she’d heard anything from Ivan, when we both heard him.
*“Viktor finally went to sleep. More from exhaustion than anything, I think. He’s talked more today than he has in the past ten years,”* he said to both of us.
*“Poor guy. How is he handling everything? Is his brain starting to wrap around all of it?”* Sephie asked.
*“I think he’ll come around. He might need another day or two here, though. It helped tremendously to come here. He stopped thinking about everything he’s not doing at the building once we got here.”*
*“Keep him there as long as he needs. We can manage without you both for a few days,”* I replied.
*“Bright side, we know this works from a distance now,”* Ivan said. We could both hear him chuckling as he said it.
*“You’re sure he’s asleep?”* Sephie asked.
*”I’m sure. I went to get a glass of water a minute ago. I could hear him snoring,”* Ivan said.
Sephie looked to me. I sent a quick text to the other three, telling them not to worry about whatever they felt from Sephie in the next few minutes. Once it was sent, I gave her the okay.
*“Okay, Squish. I want to see if you can still feel me even when you’re far away,”* she said. *“Tell me if and when you feel anything.”*
I felt her anger starting to rise. She always impressed me with how controlled she could keep it when she was consciously using it. Her eyes turned black, which I still found to be incredibly hot. I tried not to think about that, since Ivan was privy to my thoughts at the moment.
*“I can feel your anger, princess,”* Ivan said, laughing. *“I can also feel how your demon eyes turn Boss into a horny little boy.”*
Sephie looked at me, a look of surprise on her face, but she immediately burst into laughter.
*“I can also feel your happiness right now. That one comes through strongly. You weren’t that mad, so it was faint. I might’ve missed it if I hadn’t been looking for it.”*
Sephie walked to me, pulling my arms around her. *“Okay, last one, Squish, just because I’m curious.”* I could feel her panic starting to rise, her eyes changing to white. She hadn’t panicked in a while. This time was different. It felt like she had more control over it. It got to the level that previously would have made her start hyperventilating, but she stayed outwardly calm.
*“I can feel it. You can stop now. Please stop now. That one is the worst,”* Ivan said.
*“I agree,”* I said. She looked up at me, a look of surprise on her face.
*”It turned his eyes dark. Can you check to see if your eyes are dark now too, Ivan?”* she asked.
There was silence for a moment, then Ivan came back. *”Yep. Black.”*
I held her tighter against me. *”I think it’s because when we feel your panic, we want to destroy whatever is causing it,”* I said.
*“Yeah, even from the first night we felt it, nothing will put me into kill mode faster than feeling you panic,”* Ivan said.
My phone beeped, then beeped again, then beeped a third time. I went to check it, as I rarely got messages, especially this time of night. It was Misha, Andrei, and Stephen. They all said the same thing: *“I know you said don’t worry, but I felt her panic and it made me freak out too.”*
I couldn’t help but laugh. *”Apparently everyone else also hates feeling her panic. I warned the others we were doing this, but they still sent messages checking on her because of her panic,”* I told Ivan and Sephie. Sephie walked to me, asking for my phone so she could reply to them and apologize.
*“I’m so high maintenance,”* she said, rolling her eyes.
*“I’m not sure you understand what those words mean, princess. I would not use those words to describe you. But now we know that the connection is still there, even over shorter distances. I don’t know if we’ll have a chance to, but now I’m curious how it works for even longer distances,”* Ivan said.
*“I agree. This is quite a convenient trick to have. At some point, we’re going to have to let the others in on this, as well as our eyes, but for now, I’m enjoying this,”* I said, chuckling. *“Keep us informed on Viktor. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help. Keep him there as long as he needs, too.”*
*“Will do, Boss,”* Ivan replied, as Sephie was still busy typing replies to the guys on my phone. When she finished and looked at me, her eyes were completely black once again. She wasn’t angry in the slightest. This was completely for my benefit.
“So, horny boy, what should we do now?” she asked, her sly grin stretching slowly across her face.
*God, I love her.*