*Adrik*
“Why?” I asked Sephie, completely captivated by her out of control hair that was everywhere all at once.
“When Misha said we unlocked a new life goal for him and both Andrei and Stephen agreed, they strengthened the connection. They’ll eventually be like us. They’ll be able to walk between Heaven and Hell,” she said.
I inhaled. “Viktor wants no part of that,” I said.
She nodded her head, saying, “our demons still freak him the fuck out.” She grinned at me, as she got up, straddling me. “Are you ready for this next part, because it might actually be my favorite,” she said, giggling.
I sat up a little more, my hands running over her thighs. “I can’t wait,” I said, smiling at her amusement.
“The irritation we all feel around Viktor now isn’t us. It’s our demons. They’re hurt because they feel like he rejected them when he asked for his demon to be taken away,” she said. “I can’t help it. I might love my demon a little more for that. Poor thing. That’s a hard pill to swallow.”
I had to admit to feeling a pang of sympathy for my demon as well. “He asked for his to be taken away? How does that work?” I asked.
“I assume Kostya did it, but I didn’t think to ask for specifics. I had too many other questions for him,” she said, as she placed her hands on my chest. She looked down at her ring, which she never took off. I might’ve loved that about her. She looked back up at me, saying, “both my dad and Kostya have said this ring has more significance than I realize and I can’t figure out what they mean by that.”
“Did they say anything else about it? Or just that it’s significant?”
“My dad said it was significant. Kostya said I didn’t understand yet, but that you and the guys would always be with me and would always protect me as he was looking at it. I asked him if he could tell me and he said no, but he said I would connect the dots.”
I laughed. “He meant that literally, solnishko. Connect the five rubies.”
She looked at her ring, trying to still figure out what I meant. She looked at me, still completely confused. I took her hand and drew the outline of a pentagram on the back of her hand. “Five points equal a pentagram, solnishko. It’s an ancient symbol of protection. That’s why the big diamond is square. It was the only way to arrange the rubies so they would form the pentagram the way I wanted it. I wanted one ruby to always be on top of the others. For Ivan. The big diamond is both of us, because you are my heart. The rubies are always protecting you,” I said, as I pointed it out on her ring. When I looked at her, her mouth was open in shock.
“You…how…” She closed her mouth, trying to formulate a complete thought. I tried not to, but I laughed at her. She was so adorable when she was confused. By the looks of her, she should’ve felt like she was all over the place, but all I felt from her was her warmth. Her eyes were the deepest depth of the ocean blue as well.
I smiled at her. “Ivan gave me the color scheme. I sketched out a few options. One day during a meeting, I found myself doodling with the sketch of this design and happened on the pentagram. Like many symbols, it’s been thought of as good and bad, but that’s kind of perfect. We’re both, too. I didn’t expect that you would never take it off, but it makes me happy that you always have it on. It’s one more small way I can feel like you’re protected.”
“I can’t believe you put this much thought into it,” she said. She had tears falling down her cheeks, but her eyes were still blue. I looked at her, confused at the tears. “Nobody has ever put this much thought into something for me before,” she said. She wrapped her arms around my neck, holding onto me for dear life and pushing all her warmth to me. I held her just as tightly. I would never want to let her go.
--
We were all in the gym that morning. Vitaliy and all of his men were there as well. He was still trying to find a replacement for the two guys he hated. It was proving more difficult than he would’ve liked. I think it made him hate those guys a little more with each passing day.
Sephie had talked Andrei into letting her train harder now that her lung was better. She’d been slowly increasing the intensity. She was probably back to 90% now, which I was sure was 100% more than Vitaliy’s little flowers.
She was almost giddy to get into the ring with Ivan. Andrei had been working on her form while she’d been hurt. It had improved her technique, but it’d also made her stronger. Once she got her speed back, she was going to be deadly. I was actually looking forward to seeing how well she held up against Ivan. I knew he took it easy on her. He had to take it easy on everyone but me, but I had a feeling she’d force him to turn it up more than he expected today.
Vitaliy’s men’s eyes all went wide when they saw her step into the ring with Ivan. They all knew Ivan’s reputation. They were all scared of him, especially after seeing him spar with me. They quickly decided that he was going to be training her, not sparring with her, and they quickly lost interest. I laughed, knowing they’d be back.
“Don’t worry, princess. I’ll take it easy on you,” he said to her. Andrei actually looked relieved when he heard him say that.
“If it were anyone else, I’d be offended, but I do appreciate that from you,” she said. She still socked him in his shoulder when he wasn’t expecting it, grinning at him. “But maybe not as much as you planned,” she said.
I was basically counting down in my head for how long it took Vitaliy’s men to take notice. I was right. Ten seconds of Ivan and Sephie beginning their match and they quickly saw they’d been wrong. He was not training her the way they thought he was going to.
The seemingly endless weeks of slow, arduous training had made her technique next to perfect, but it had made her so much stronger. She still wasn’t as fast as she normally was, but nobody else outside our group would’ve known that.
Two minutes in and I saw Ivan grin at her. He had underestimated her when they first started. She was giving him more of a run for his money than he thought she would. He was actually having to work a little. I felt my heart swell watching her hold her own with him.
She was so adept at anticipating your next move that she managed to land a few kicks on Ivan. If he could feel pain, he might’ve been sore tomorrow. Because she knew that he wouldn’t feel it, she didn’t hold back one bit. I was very happy to see it.
Vitaliy walked up beside me. “I said it before, but that woman was made for you. She is perfect in every possible way,” he said, completely awe-struck.
“I think that at least 100 times each day,” I said, not taking my eyes off Ivan and Sephie.
“She’s back to normal now?” he asked.
“No, this still isn’t everything she’s got. She’s maybe 90% now.”
Vitaliy cursed quietly. “Does she want a job? Can I hire her?” he asked, a mischievous grin sliding across his face.
I laughed. “No chance, old man.”
Sephie was starting to reach the end of her endurance. Her face was red and her breathing was heavy. I could feel her getting tired. This was the most she’d done in months. She still looked strong. It was her cardio that couldn’t keep up. Her lung was going to remain the weak link for a little longer.
Ivan saw it too. He ended the match by surprising her. He rushed her and threw her over his shoulder. “No fair!” she yelled, smacking his back.
He laughed, setting her down. “You’re breathing heavier than I’d like, princess. That’s enough for today,” he said. I expected her to argue with him, but she just grinned at him and threw her arms around his neck. He caught my eye. *“She’s happy she made me sweat,”* he told me. I just laughed.
They climbed out of the ring while Misha and Ilya climbed in. I raised my eyebrow watching those two climb in the ring together. Sephie saw my surprise. She glanced at Vitaliy, saying, “you should watch this one, too. Misha is almost as fast as Ivan.”
*“You’re planning something, aren’t you?”* I asked her as I watched Misha and Ilya’s match start.
*“Yep.”*
*“Are you gonna tell me what that is?”*
*“Nope,”* she said. I could hear her laughing, but she looked like she was watching Misha and Ilya. I laughed quietly, moving her in front of me, pulling her back against me.