*Adrik*
I woke up later than usual the next morning. I could hear that everyone was in the kitchen already. I ran my hand through Sephie’s hair and she didn’t move. She must need a late day again. There’s been a lot happening. It zaps her more than everyone else. I could see it when she broke Stephen’s sisters, but she fought it for a few days again. Looks like she lost her fight this morning.
I watched her sleep for longer than I normally would have. I really wanted to stay asleep with her this morning, but I had an early meeting that I needed to be at. It did not make me happy to do so, but I carefully moved her so I could get out of bed. She curled up under the covers, still sound asleep.
The shaking started as I was getting ready. I hurried, picking her up with me as I left the bedroom. The guys all knew what was happening as soon as they saw me carrying her. They immediately began arguing over who got to stay with her this time. Watching them argue with each other while trying to remain quiet enough to not wake her up was comical. Surprisingly, Ivan won out this time.
“If I could feel what it’s like to be hit by a truck, I’m fairly sure that’s what I feel like now,” he said, as he positioned himself on the couch so I could lay her on him.
“I’m surprised it’s taken you this long to feel that way. You seemed to be immune from getting zapped any time anything new happened. Did something else happen that we don’t know about yet?” I asked.
“I’m seeing everyone’s demons now. It started after Stephen’s sisters,” he said quietly.
“I thought you could only see them when they started to consume the person?”
“I did too. It’s hard to explain, but I saw them take over the person. Now I can see them waiting to be let in, if you will. Like they’re riding around on people’s shoulders sometimes. If it wasn’t so disturbing, it might be funny. They’re like pets on some people,” he said.
“That’s a new level, for sure. But it seems very useful. Stephen was right. He needs to turn you into a vampire so you have time to save the whole world.”
He laughed quietly as he finished tucking in the blanket around Sephie. Since Ivan wasn’t quite as warm as Andrei, we used an extra blanket to keep her from getting cold. She snuggled in next to him, still sound asleep, hugging his arm as she continued her dreams. I looked from her to him. “I know you’re going to, but make sure you tell her that when you guys wake up. She’s had conversations we don’t know about lately. She’ll likely have insight. We’ll talk about it more tonight, too,” I said.
He nodded as he yawned, laying his head down so he could fall back asleep for the morning.
We finished breakfast as quietly as we could, then left the penthouse. Vitaliy followed me to my office, wanting a few minutes alone. “She was right, you know,” he said, once it was just the two of us.
I laughed. “She’s right about literally everything. You’re going to need to specify.”
“I didn’t believe it could happen so it wasn’t happening. After she chastised me last night, I tried to believe it could happen and it did. I saw your mother last night.”
He had a look on his face that I’d never seen my father have. He was still in his memories as he was standing in front of me, but he looked more at peace than I’d ever seen him. I stayed silent for a few moments, not wanting to break him out of his thoughts. Finally, he remembered he was in my office and looked at me, almost embarrassed. I couldn’t help but smirk at him.
“I had someone tell me when I first met Sephie that she will show you the best parts of yourself if you let her. That statement was completely correct, but when she loves you, those best parts become better than you ever thought possible. You just have to let her love you. She does the rest.”
Vitaliy stood silent in my office, contemplating what I’d just said. “I’m very proud of the man you’ve become,” he said. With that, he turned and left my office, leaving me stunned.
My meetings felt like they were dragging on the entire day. I couldn’t get my mind off of everything happening with Sephie and the rest of us. I could feel what she was trying to do to Stephen’s sisters. I fully supported it. I got just a glimpse of the pain that Stephen had been carrying around his entire life because of them. I wanted to see their destruction as much as Sephie did. If she hadn’t been successful in breaking them, I would’ve offered to have them killed before they left the city.
When it comes to those five men, I would do anything. My life was in their hands every single day. I trusted them. I loved them like brothers. I would make sure they were always protected.
I found myself thinking about Viktor more than usual. He was the last one to realize his gift and it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Sephie was right. He really did love his job and I’d noticed he would send one of the other guys to stay with her, rather than taking the opportunity himself. Not because he didn’t love her. He very much did. But he loved his duties too. I think he loved the distraction of his duties more than anything. Sephie had a habit of finding the dark parts of you that needed a light shone on them. Viktor was avoiding that.
I could order him to spend time with her, but that felt rude. Viktor was a bit of a father figure to me, especially when I was younger and Vitaliy was still in charge. Viktor gave me the guidance I never got from Vitaliy, even though Viktor was only a couple years older than I was.
I sighed. If he wasn’t ready, then he wasn’t ready. I wasn’t going to change that about him.
Before I knew it, it was late afternoon and I still hadn’t seen Sephie or Ivan. The Wonder Twins were also starting to get worried. They came into the office during a break in my schedule. “Have you seen Ivan or Sephie yet?” Misha asked, the worry evident on his face.
“No. I was just thinking about that. You guys haven’t felt anything, have you?” I asked. They both shook their heads no. I looked at my watch. I still had half an hour before my next meeting. Viktor and Stephen walked into the office as I was contemplating going to check on her. “Let’s go check. She doesn’t usually sleep this long. Ivan either, but he finally got new level zapped, so maybe that’s it.”
We were all worried when we walked into the penthouse, but that worry was increased when we found Ivan and Sephie still on the couch. They’d been sleeping almost the entire day. That never happened. I could hear Sephie mumbling quietly, but her body was still. I knelt down in front of them, my hand on her cheek, trying to wake her. I heard him mumbling when I got closer.
I felt nothing out of the ordinary from her. She felt like she did when she was sleeping. I looked at Andrei. “Can you feel anything from her? She’s mumbling. That usually is not a good sign. I don’t feel anything from her, though.”
“No, Boss. She feels like she does when she’s sleeping,” he said.
“Can you take a look in her head and see what’s going on?”
His eyes glazed over as he looked in her head. After what felt like the longest moment of my life, he looked at me, now clearly present again. “They’re dreaming. The same dream, though. She’s in a house, but she’s with Ivan. They’re with someone else, but that’s all I could see before everything went to black.”
I very clearly heard Sephie say, “don’t worry, my love. I’m fine. So is Squish.” My eyes were on her when I heard her voice. Her mouth didn’t move.
I looked at the guys. “Did any of you just hear that?” They all looked at me like I might’ve been crazy.
“Hear what?” they all asked.
“I just heard her tell me they were fine. Like she was standing next to me. Except she’s not. She’s asleep.”
Stephen, in his normal serious way, said, “it was only a matter of time before she was able to communicate telepathically with you. You guys have been doing it silently for a while. Maybe she’s learning how to talk to you now.”
Viktor’s phone beeped, alerting him to my next meeting. He looked to me. “Tell them I’ll be a few minutes late. She said she’s fine, but I still don’t like that she’s not awake. I’m going to stay a few more minutes in case she wakes up.”
I stayed, kneeling in front of her, my hand on her cool cheek, watching her sleep in Ivan’s protective embrace. Neither of them looked troubled. They both looked like they were sharing a joke that the rest of us knew nothing about.
I finally heard her say, “mmm, there’s the warmth I love,” as she opened her eyes, revealing the deepest depth of the ocean blue that I adored. Once again, her lips never moved. She reached up, placing her hand on top of mine. “I’m fine. He’s fine, too. I’m sorry I worried you. I forget time is different when talking to my dad.” Ivan started to stir as well. She sat up, still fighting to wake up completely. “Your next meeting is waiting for you. He’s irritated that you’re late, for the record. Go. I’ll come down after you’re done with this meeting and fill you in. Especially since you’re wondering how I knew that,” she said, grinning at me.