*Adrik*
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 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 way before climbing in 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.”
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 to see if she was shaking yet and she wasn’t. For the first time since her 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 asked. I felt her nod her head against my chest.
“You’re the one that did everything and I’m the one that’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.”