*Adrik*
Sephie was right. Stephen did look lighter. He was always the quiet one. His brain never shut off though. He was constantly analyzing everything and everyone around him. We finally saw him relax. Really, truly relax. He wasn’t on guard. He wasn’t waiting for something to happen. He was just present. And happy.
Vitaliy had remained at the restaurant with Battista while we left. When he got back to the penthouse, we were all still discussing what had happened, but the conversation was turning more light-hearted. The guys were telling Sephie how effective her demon eyes were to the normal person.
“I’m pretty impressed they didn’t piss themselves, spider monkey. Your eyes were as black as I’ve ever seen them. And you just sprung it on them. Your eyes were normal, then you looked down as you stood up and holy shit, they were black,” Andrei said, laughing.
“Not gonna lie, I’ve kind of missed them,” Ivan said.
Stephen snapped his fingers, pointing at Ivan. “Same.”
Vitaliy walked in with Aleksei. We could tell he was eager to ask more questions. Mostly, he wanted to know how she had such control over her eyes.
“I kind of don’t. I’ve been wearing contacts around you since I met you. My eyes have a mind of their own and change without me knowing sometimes. I got contacts so I wouldn’t scare you,” she said.
“Change to black on their own?” Vitaliy asked.
“No, the black is the one that I can control the most,” she said. She closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them, they were just as black as they had been at the restaurant. I couldn’t help but laugh at Vitaliy’s shocked expression when he saw them. I walked to her, wrapping my arm around her waist.
“That’s not even the scariest one, Vitaliy. But it is very effective,” I said. She looked up at me and I watched the black fade into the background as the blue took over. I smiled at her, pointing back toward my father. She looked at him and I explained that blue meant she loved me. He stood up to get a closer look.
“Your eyes normally have that blue color, but where are the other two colors?” he asked.
“That’s how it started. The brown took over the other two and turned dark. Then the other two colors started taking over for different emotions. The only one that’s completely different is when she’s scared,” I said. “It’s the only emotion she struggles to contain.”
Vitaliy was clearly impressed. “Battista was completely in awe. He wouldn’t shut up after you left, honestly.” He looked slightly amused, but also slightly perturbed. “He’ll do anything you need him to do from now on. He just asks that you help him with your unique set of skills when he needs them.”
I could feel Sephie’s slight bit of worry. “How often is he going to need them?”
Vitaliy chuckled. “He won’t take advantage. He’s a very capable businessman in his own right, but he occasionally runs into people he needs help with. That woman being one of them. He said he has more information on the mayor, as well. He would like to meet again tomorrow. Only at his house this time.”
“Why his house? Why not the zoo?” Sephie asked, trying to hide her smile.
Vitaliy laughed. “It’s going to be a very interesting discussion, sladkaya. It’s not meant for everyone to hear.”
--
We arrived at Battista’s house the following afternoon. We were all somewhat on edge, as we didn’t know quite what to expect from meeting at his house instead of the restaurant, but Vitaliy assured us it would be fine. He still only brought Aleksei with him, just as he had the night before with Stephen’s sisters, which I found odd.
We were shown to a large study. The woman who showed us to the room informed us Battista had gotten a phone call right before we arrived. He was finishing up and would be in shortly. We were all quiet as we waited on him.
He walked in, obviously rushed, a few minutes later. “My apologies. Unexpected phone call, but it pertains to what I’m about to tell you, so I needed to take it,” Battista said, getting right to business. He looked at me and Sephie, then to Vitaliy, who had a bit of an unreadable smirk on his face. “You still haven’t said a word to them about any of it, have you?” Battista asked Vitaliy.
Vitaliy grunted. “No, I haven’t. You explain it better anyway. You know more than I do.”
I immediately felt Sephie stiffen, as well as saw each one of the guys sit up a little straighter. We did not like surprises.
Battista noticed the shift in mood in the room. He waved his hand flippantly in front of him. “No one is in danger. At least not yet. But this conversation might be difficult to believe,” he said. He looked at me, as he started to explain. “You’re aware your father has very powerful contacts around the world?” he asked. I nodded. He inhaled deeply, contemplating how to phrase what he was about to say. “They’re more powerful than you might think. Some of them are fighting wars that normal people know nothing about. There are dark forces that are vying for the destruction of humanity. There’s a small group of us that are fighting against that. We have a few people, with gifts like your father, who are helping, but I’ve never met so many gifted people in one place until Vitaliy brought you to me.” He looked at all the guys. “I’m aware that you all have gifts as well, but I don’t know specifics. I know she’s trying to keep the focus on her to protect you all, but I saw the subtle signs that you’re helping her.”
“What do you want from us?” I asked. I didn’t have a bad feeling about this, but I still pulled Sephie closer to me after hearing what Battista said.
“It’s not what we want from you. It’s more what we’d like to give you. We want to help. You don’t realize how dangerous Ricardo De Luca is. Or the Colombian,” he snapped his fingers, like he couldn’t remember a name.
“Martin,” Sephie said. Battista pointed to her, silently grateful for the assist. “They’ve both made deals with everlasting consequences, haven’t they?” she asked.
Battista looked at her, wide-eyed. “You know?”
“Not everything. Just that those two are the keys to all of this that’s going on.”