*Adrik*
Stephen stood in front of me and Sephie. I could feel she was still unsure about letting him help her. She wouldn’t look at him for a few moments. Finally, he said, “I promise it won’t affect me, Seph. I think Viktor can help me get rid of it, in the off chance that it does.”
“Let him try, love. Anything is better than what you’re feeling right now. We all know this isn’t you. We would all like you to come back,” I said.
She finally turned toward Stephen. “What do you need me to do?” she asked.
“Nothing. Just give me your hands. I’ll do the rest,” he said.
She timidly held her hands in front of her for him to take. He smiled at her. “Promise it won’t hurt,” he said, as he took her hands in his.
It didn’t look like anything was happening, but we could all feel what she was feeling. As soon as Stephen grabbed her hands, I could feel the intense pressure. She’d never struggled so much to control her emotions, but Stephen was right. It was because she was trying to contain them, not control them. In trying to prevent them from flowing through her to us, she stopped everything and that was more than any one person should ever try to contain. I could see the small smile on Stephen’s face as he found what he was looking for. Gradually, the pressure decreased, like a pressure release valve being slowly opened.
We could feel her emotions come at us like a tidal wave. One right after the other hit us, wave after wave, crashing into us. But as soon as the emotions hit us, they were gone. What was left was the normal connection I had with her. I could feel everything she was feeling like normal. Stephen said something to her, but I was too busy trying to look in her head to hear it.
*“You’re not shutting me out anymore,”* I said to her, almost giddy that I could talk to her again. I could hear her laughing in her head, but she looked like she was talking to Stephen and watching him move to Andrei. *“Don’t ever do that again,”* I said, probably more seriously than I meant to given her reaction.
She turned toward me, her eyes black, and told me, *“I will do it again if it means protecting you from seeing what I had to witness today. There are things in life that no one should ever have to see.”* She crossed her arms across her chest, her anger preventing her from coming any closer to me. I wasn’t quite sure, but I could almost swear that even her demon was angry with me at the moment. Something felt different.
Ivan chuckled, having witnessed our silent exchange. He could feel Sephie’s anger and knew I’d likely said something to bring it out. “Stephen fixed her. She’s all spicy and shit again,” Ivan said.
Misha clapped his hands, rubbing his palms together. “Extra-spicy Sephie is my favorite!”
I finally gave in and pulled her to me, whether she wanted me to or not. I didn’t like being cut off from her. As soon as my arms were around her, she silently said, *“I hated cutting you off as much as you hated being cut off, but you still didn’t need to feel any of that. Or worse, see it. We’re going to need a warning from Battista next time.”*
I could feel a wave of sadness from her. She still had her arms crossed in front of her, so I unfolded them and put her arms around my waist so I could hold her closer. I felt her body start to relax the longer she was in my arms. *“I love you, Sephie.”* She sighed, holding me tighter, hiding her face in my chest as I watched Stephen help Misha and Andrei the same way he helped her.
After Stephen was done with Misha, it was Viktor’s turn. Misha asked, “can you fix all of us at one time? Is there like a limit on how much you can do at once?”
“I don’t think there’s a limit. It’s not really me doing it anyway. Kostya does it. He just uses me when he does,” Viktor said.
“Does it zap you when he uses you though?” Misha asked.
“Not the same way, I don’t think. It doesn’t last nearly as long. I might be tired for twenty minutes, then I feel fine,” he said.
“How do I sign up for that,” Misha said under his breath.
“Can Kostya fix you again after Stephen helps you?” Andrei asked. “Is there a limit to how many times a person can be fixed? I’m looking at you, Misha,” he said, trying not to laugh.
“As far as I know, there’s not a limit. Your aura is a part of you. It’s an extension of your energy field. As long as you’re alive, your aura will be there and will be repairable to some extent. I think you can reach a point where it’s past the point of saving. Like, I’m sure I would’ve been useless for that guy today,” Viktor said.
“Do you want to see what Andrei saw? His aura was almost non-existent,” Sephie said. Viktor hesitated. She turned toward him, moving slightly away from me. “Andrei only sees auras. It’s Ivan that sees demons. I haven’t shown Andrei what Ivan saw yet. You won’t see anything you don’t want to see,” she said. “He can show you, even. Misha can help him, the same way he helped me.”
Viktor was more agreeable to Andrei showing him than Sephie. He really was terrified of our demons. Andrei, however, was much more skeptical that he could show Viktor what he sees than Sephie was.
She laughed quietly at him. “You can show him, Bubba. It’s the same as with everyone else, it just takes a little longer. You need to concentrate a little harder. Do you want a snack first?” she asked, grinning at him.
“I hate you,” Andrei said, walking to Viktor. He couldn’t hide his smile as he walked past her.
“Not me. I love you,” Misha said, wrapping his arms around her and picking her up quickly before joining Andrei and Viktor. Misha was needed for Sephie to show Viktor before, so it was very likely he was also going to be needed for Andrei.
Andrei tried for a few minutes, but couldn’t get it through to Viktor. Misha grabbed his hand, giving him the extra boost he needed. It was almost immediate, once Misha helped, that Viktor saw what Andrei could see that afternoon. While they were sharing it with Viktor, Sephie motioned for Stephen to come to her. She grabbed his hand, showing him the same thing that Viktor was seeing. She shared it with me and Ivan at the same time she showed Stephen. There was barely anything to look at. What faint outline we could see was dim and greyish in color, with very dark spots scattered throughout.
“Yeah, someone like him is going to get no benefit from me,” Viktor said. He looked at Sephie like he was slightly unsure. “Honestly, I’m not sure how much I can help you, Sephie. I don’t know how it works with your demon.” His tone was definitely lacking the normal softness he had when speaking to her.
I immediately felt her irritation. I knew it wasn’t her irritation this time. I knew it was her demon. As odd as it seemed to say, we were beginning to be able to tell the difference.
*“Does he know that Kostya fixed you once already, love?”* I asked her.
*“No. And I’m not going to tell him,”* she said, grumpily. I had to cough to keep from laughing out loud at her response.
“I think you should still try. I think Andrei and Stephen’s theory of you being here to help us as much as anyone else makes sense. It wouldn’t be reasonable for you to be here and not be able to help the three of us,” I said. He could tell by my tone that there was going to be no arguing with me.
Viktor simply nodded once, then walked over to Sephie. It was irritating to my demon that Viktor had seemingly rejected it, but it was irritating to me that he seemed like he was still struggling to be around her and that he seemed like he preferred to be disconnected from the rest of us. I wasn’t sure how to handle it from him.
We all watched as he placed his hand on her shoulder. In much the same way as it happened when Misha first showed him his gift, we watched a little white light come down from somewhere above us all and land in his hand. He touched Sephie once more, lighting her up. The one hole that we could see when Viktor first touched her filled itself in, making her shine brighter than before.
I could feel her relief as he was helping her. She finally felt calm again. Really, truly calm. Ivan caught my eye while we watched. *“Did his reluctance piss you off as much as it did me?”* he asked.
*“Don’t ask stupid questions.”*
*“Thought so. Stephen needs to help him get over his aversion to our demons or it’s going to get ugly and I’m not sure it’s going to be us that starts it.”*
*“I could not agree more. He’s next after he fixes Andrei and Misha. I’ll hold him down if I have to.”*