*Adrik*
“Can you explain to me, like I’m a child, what you just did?” Battista asked.
Sephie chuckled. “Stephen helps to clear a person, so whatever heavy issue they’ve been struggling to deal with can successfully be dealt with, basically. In very general terms. Sergei, for example, has been struggling with something that happened over 20 years ago. He still carries a tremendous amount of guilt from it. Anytime you carry around heavy emotions for too long, they start to cause other problems. For Sergei, it was becoming overwhelming. It was all he could think about. He was beating himself up about it, blaming himself for what happened, doubting himself because he felt like it shouldn’t have happened. Stephen helped him create a pathway to get all of that out, if you will. Viktor, on the other hand, helps to strengthen his aura. It ensures that those negative thoughts and feelings can’t get a foothold in him again. He might still feel them from time to time, but they’ll move through him like they should, rather than illegally squatting in his psyche for 20 years. What you saw was Sergei’s aura, before and after Viktor fixed him.”
“Those holes that you saw before Viktor fixed him are where demons gain access to people. Big enough hole, weak enough person, the demon can get in and start running the show,” Ivan said. He glanced at Sephie, as they both had the same idea at the same time. She grinned at him, walking back to Battista.
“Wonder Twins, unite!” she said, motioning for Andrei and Misha to come back. She grabbed Battista’s hand again, using them to push what Ivan could see to Battista. “That’s what it looks like when a demon has gained access and is starting to run the show. Her demon has been there for a while. It’s very defined. Sometimes, they’re not as clearly defined. It’s like they’re fuzzy if they’re new. Hers has been there a while.”
“This is how you knew about my business associate?” Battista asked.
“One of the ways, yes,” Sephie said. I could feel her reluctance to reveal everything to Battista.
“You were right when you said we all complement each other. We’ve figured out how to work together to confirm whether someone’s demon is running the show or not. Because we’ve done it a few times now, the demons know who Stephen is. If they haven’t gained full access to a person, he can essentially scare them off. If they have gained access, that’s when the only choice is to break their psyche,” I said.
“Ah, yes. My business associate’s family was saddened to hear of his sudden massive stroke that left him in such a state. They were quite happy to have access to his finances, however,” Battista said, whimsically.
“This is what happened when the people were coughing uncontrollably? Stephen scared the demons off?” Vitaliy asked.
“Yeah. I’m not worried about the hospital administrator, but the next step would be to have Viktor fix the mayor. We did buy him some time with what we did tonight, but he’s still vulnerable,” I said.
“What about the DA?” Battista asked.
“He was fine. Nothing hanging on him. If there was a demon there, it was the most talented one we’ve come across yet. No one picked up on anything,” Ivan said.
“That’s also not to say that it won’t be an issue in the future. They were fine tonight, but that could always change. Depending on their own decisions,” Sephie said.
“What did you find out from the switch-hitting representative?” I asked Battista.
His mischievous smile crept across his face. “She’s more than happy to have me fund a new wing on the hospital. I suspect that she’s much the same as just about every politician on the planet, however. She’s going to figure out a way to make it all about her and take the credit for everything,” he said.
Sephie and Andrei looked at each other and laughed. “That’s exactly what she was thinking. You just left out the money laundering part. She’s gonna suck as much money out of the project for herself as possible,” Andrei said.
“Sucking is an activity that she seemingly enjoys,” Misha said. Somehow he managed to keep a straight face when he said it. Clearly, Stephen was coaching him on how to do so. The rest of us erupted into laughter.
Once the laughter died down, Sephie said, “she is connected to Ricardo already though. She has everything on him. He’s helping her use it against you,” she said, looking at me.
I wasn’t surprised. “She might be slightly more difficult to get rid of than we thought,” I said.
“What was your original plan?” Vitaliy asked.
“Expose her affair with Henry. Her wife comes from a wealthy family. If we expose her affair, along with Henry, her wife divorces her, the family money goes away. She stops wanting to help Henry, as he’s basically the one that ruined her life,” I said.
“That could still work. It might not destroy her completely, because she’s likely to get help from Ricardo, but that could also work to our advantage. Expose that connection and she goes down when Ricardo goes down,” Battista said.
“Or she has an untimely ‘stroke.’ It could go either way, really,” Stephen said.
We talked for a while longer, coming up with a plan for how to get Henry out of the picture, along with his girlfriend. I needed to keep the people of the city on my side; helping the mayor fight corruption was an easy way to do that. The less options that Ricardo had inside the city, the easier he would be to take down as well.
On the way back to the penthouse, I pulled Sephie closer to me. *“I have to admit that was the most fun I’ve ever had at one of those events.”*
*“It did go much better this time. I’m very happy it went much better this time,”* she told me, as her gorgeous smile stretched across her face.
*“We’re all very happy it went better this time.”* I told her, kissing her temple. *“Although, I’m not going to lie, getting to look at you all night long in that dress made me even happier.”*
*“I was thinking the same thing about you in that tux,”* she told me, as she turned her face toward me just enough that she could see me out of the corner of her eye.
I reached over and ran my finger lightly down her neck, following the plunging neckline all the way down. I could feel her sending her warmth to me as she closed her eyes and enjoyed my touch.
*“I don’t think you should wear any color but this one to any formal event ever again,”* I said. *“It looked like you were radiating love for me the entire night.”* I turned her toward me, pressing my lips to hers.
*“The color of the dress just made it obvious for you so you noticed it for the first time. I’m always radiating love for you, no matter what I wear,”* she said, reaching up and pressing her palm against my cheek.
My breath caught, which made her smile even wider at me. I was suddenly desperate to get home and get her alone.