*Adrik*
“I think it’s worth taking another look at Henry, no matter what Misha can find tonight,” I said. “Something feels very off with him now. Like we missed something last time. I don’t like surprises.”
“I’ll see what I can start to find in the morning,” Viktor said.
Sephie stood up, extending her hands to both Misha and Andrei. They readily stood up and took her hands, walking a short distance away from the kitchen. She looked back over her shoulder, asking, “who has it that he wants to be the evil overlord of the city?” She waited for a few of us to raise our hands. Then she asked, “who has it that Henry’s the one in Sal’s pocket instead of the mayor?” She put her own hand up, along with me.
“Oh, that’s not fair. I change my bet,” Misha said.
“I could be wrong, my adorable Russian guardian. It’s happened before,” she said, grinning at him.
“Yeah, like once. Seven years ago before you knew us,” he said. He just shook his head and grabbed her hand. “Let’s see what we can find,” he said, getting that faraway look in his eye.
Vitaliy was extremely curious to watch what was happening, even though it didn’t look like much. They all looked like they were in a trance when it happened, but once they saw something, it was obvious. They were watching something in front of them that the rest of us couldn’t see. I could still feel what Sephie was feeling when she was watching the movie, but I couldn’t see what she was seeing.
It took them a few minutes, but we heard Misha say, “got him.” He squeezed both Sephie and Andrei’s hands harder, which always meant he had found what they were looking for. Vitaliy looked to me, his eyebrow raised. I walked closer to him, so I could be quiet, not wanting to interrupt anything.
“Misha sees a movie playing in front of him, basically. When Sephie touches him, she can see it too. We recently learned Andrei can do it as well, since he’s like her. They both give Misha extra clarity. He would only get snapshots before Sephie started helping him,” I said.
“They discovered this when the Colombian was under attack?” he asked. I nodded my head. “That’s a useful skill,” he said, going back to watching them, patiently waiting for the results.
I could feel Sephie’s anger rise the longer they watched, so I knew something was happening. Vitaliy picked up on both me and Ivan focusing on her. “She’s feeling something, isn’t she?” he asked.
“I can feel her anger. It likely means Sal is involved,” I said.
Ivan moved closer, so he could speak quietly as well. “Her anger feels different for different situations. Whenever Sal’s name is brought into the picture, it feels like she’s going to burn the world to get to him. She’s still dealing with being taken by him and Armando. It’s a lot for her to process,” he said.
Vitaliy scoffed. “She has good reason to be that angry. Sal is evil. It sounds like he’s only gotten more so over the years. His son was no better. She has every reason to hate that entire family.”
Misha, Sephie, and Andrei watched the movie only they could see for much longer than they usually did. Sephie’s anger levels stayed high the entire time, so I was almost positive Sal’s name had come up in the conversation somehow. We finally saw Misha relax and look down at Sephie. He looked concerned, but slightly amused.
“Gazelle, you feel like you’re going to explode. Like, for real, for real. Spontaneous human combustion is a real thing. You need to be careful,” he said.
“I’m guessing that Sal is involved somehow?” I asked.
She turned to look at me, her anger still clearly visible, but she was also surprised. “How did you know?” she asked, walking to me.
“Your anger feels different when he’s involved, princess,” Ivan said.
When she walked to me, Vitaliy extended his hand to her. “Come, I want to feel,” he said, motioning for her to give him her hand.
I tried to shake my head no discreetly, warning him that was not a good idea. He definitely wasn’t ready to feel her anger when it was this high, but he insisted.
Ivan just laughed. “You better be ready, Vitaliy.”
She reluctantly placed her hand in his. His eyes went wide, his cheeks flushed, and his breathing immediately sped up. He dropped her hand, almost like it had burned him. Her eyes went wide in response, looking apologetic. She was suddenly scared she’d hurt him. She tried to hide herself behind me. Ivan, Andrei, and Misha all felt her panic and quietly moved to surround her.
“It’s okay, princess. You didn’t hurt him. He just wasn’t ready for it,” Ivan said quietly. His voice was soft, like he was trying to coax her out of her panic. She turned to him, burying her face in his chest while I kept an eye on Vitaliy to make sure he really was okay. His giant arms engulfed her, making her look tiny standing in front of him.
“I told you the level you felt before was nothing. This isn’t even the highest it’s been,” I said, smirking at my father.
Vitaliy took a few moments to get his wits about him again. He was stunned, literally and figuratively. Finally, he shook his head, asking, “how does she contain all of that?”
Ivan laughed, his arms still protectively around her. “Told you. It’s enough to cripple all of us and she walks around like it’s completely normal.”
Misha, ever the instigator, said, “you should really pay attention when people try to warn you, Vitaliy.”
We heard Sephie quietly laugh, but she kept her face hidden in Ivan’s chest. I could feel the fear slowly subsiding, but it always took longer than other emotions. She still really struggled with controlling it. We were quiet for a few moments, when Stephen broke the silence.
“Seph has been hiding all of this for a very long time. She’s only showing it to everyone now because she knows we can protect her. She’s become a master at covering up the fact that she’s different for fear of what will happen if someone finds out. That’s how she walks around like it’s a normal Tuesday,” he said. “That’s also why her fear is harder to control, for the record. She’s scared for all of us more than she’s scared for herself.”
I watched Andrei’s eyes glaze over as I knew he was confirming what Stephen had just said. He was quiet for a minute, then he looked at me, nodding once. Stephen had nailed it.
We heard Sephie sigh, then she said, “I told you your first instinct was always right, Yoden. Bubba confirms it.” Her face was still hidden in Ivan’s chest, so she didn’t see Andrei double-checking what Stephen had said. “You should listen to it more. You’ve been right multiple times tonight,” she said, finally turning to look at us once again. She smiled sweetly at Stephen. Whatever they had discussed this afternoon was clearly working.
“You’re getting better at that, princess. You didn’t see him checking,” Ivan said. He kept his arms around her shoulders in a bear hug as she stayed leaning against him, just turned toward us instead of hiding.
She shrugged her shoulders. “I can say the same for you two,” she said, looking up at Ivan and then looking at me. “You were right. Sal is involved.”