*Adrik*
Sephie was still sound asleep and very much tangled up with me when I woke the next morning. I went to move and she latched on tighter, without waking up. Apparently, she wanted me to stay for a while longer. Who was I to deny her?
I fully expected her to stay asleep, but she eventually started to stir as I held her, thinking about everything that was going on lately. I felt guilty, as it was likely my emotions that were all over the place that woke her up.
She opened her eyes, smiling sweetly at me. I had to admit to adoring seeing her eyes turn blue first thing in the morning. She hid her face in my chest, pulling me closer to her if that was even possible.
After a few quiet moments, she finally inhaled and went to stretch. She winced when she did.
“Yeah, that’s my fault,” I said, trying to look apologetic and not show how proud I was of it.
She giggled. “You can be proud. I enjoyed it immensely,” she said. “But you might have to carry me everywhere today.”
I got out of bed, pulling her into my arms. “I like this idea. If I keep you so sore you can’t walk, then you’ll have to go everywhere with me and you can’t get away,” I said, walking her to the bathroom.
She cut her eyes over at me, but didn’t say anything for a moment like she was legitimately considering this option in her life. It made me laugh. “I adore you for even pretending to consider this,” I said, kissing her as I set her down.
“What? It’s a good plan,” she said. I kissed her one more time, then went to the closet. I was still laughing when she finally joined me in the closet. She was still completely naked from the night before, giving me plenty to think about the rest of the day. She caught me looking at her, but I tried to cover.
“You’re still excited that Ivan agreed to spar with you more often,” I said.
“You’re still excited that I’m still not wearing any clothes,” she said, smiling at me. “We’re both correct.”
*God, I love her.*
--
Vitaliy surprised us all by showing up with his men in the gym when we went down. We had just arrived in the gym and they walked in.
*“Did you plan this last night and I missed it?”* Sephie asked me.
*“Nope. I told you he’d be back to get an explanation of why we feel different,”* I said, laughing. I could hear her laughing in her head.
“To what do we owe this pleasure, Vitaliy?” Sephie asked as she walked over to him to give him a hug.
“Ivan said you two were going to spar this morning. I didn’t want to miss it,” he said, smiling at her. “My guys could use new partners, as well. Ilya wants to see how his progress is coming, too.”
Sephie had told me the night before that Ilya was happy working for my father. She’d shown me what his face looked like as he was talking to her about it earlier in the evening. It was evident that he was very excited with his new situation. It was good to see.
Ivan walked over to Sephie, throwing his arm over her shoulders. “Who do you think should spar with Ilya this time, princess?”
“I get to decide? Why do I get to decide?” she asked.
“You made such a good match last time that it got him a job. You might get him a promotion this time. Choose wisely,” he said, teasing her.
She elbowed him in the ribs, but she said, “I think it should be Bubba this time.” She looked between me and Ivan, saying, “I think they both want to prove how much they’ve improved. It’ll be a very good match.”
“Should we warn Vitaliy he’s going to want to promote him now or should we just let him figure it out?” Ivan asked.
She giggled, then called Andrei over to make sure he would want to spar with Ilya. He just smiled widely at her when she asked him. She knew all of us so well by this point that she didn’t need to snoop in anyone’s head. She just knew.
Andrei pulled her to the side while Sergei and Misha got in the ring. As her trainer, he took everything she did very seriously. I think it made him nervous when she sparred with Ivan. He knew Ivan wasn’t going to hurt her, but Ivan also had more training than everyone but me. Sometimes reflexes can be detrimental in such situations. He was trying to keep her from hurting herself, so he made sure she was warmed up and limber before she got in the ring with Ivan.
Ivan caught me watching them. “I think I make Andrei nervous when I spar with the princess,” he said, chuckling.
“I was just thinking that. He takes his job as her trainer very seriously. I do appreciate it, not gonna lie,” I said.
“It used to worry me, too. I had to hold back so much with her in the beginning, but the last time I was in the ring with her, I was surprised at how much she’s progressed.”
“She’s been excited about this ever since you agreed to it. I have to admit to being quite curious to see if there’s a difference since my last level-up gave her so much extra too.”
“Shit. I didn’t even think about that. I better stretch too,” he said, walking over to join Andrei and Sephie.
Vitaliy took advantage of me standing alone. He walked up, asking quietly, “how do you feel so different to me now?”
I laughed quietly. “I got a new level unlocked.” I glanced toward Sephie, who was still warming up. “It’s actually a much better effect if Sephie is here when I tell you the specifics of it.”
*“I need your demon eyes, for added emphasis. It’ll only take a moment,”* I said to her. She was standing next to me a few seconds later. Vitaliy looked surprised to see her appear without me saying anything.
He snapped his fingers. “I forget you can do that now.”
“It’s quite useful,” I said. I glanced at Sephie, then looked back at my father. “I can now condemn souls and demons to Hell,” I said, flatly.
Sephie slid her arm through mine, as she said, “he’s the King of the Underworld now.”
Vitaliy’s eyes went wide as he looked at her eyes. She glanced at me, knowing I enjoyed the red almost as much as the blue, then looked back at Vitaliy.
“What does this color mean, sladkaya?”
“It’s not so much a meaning as it is homage to the King,” she said. “This one isn’t actually me doing it. It’s my demon. Turns out she loves him just as much as I do.”
Vitaliy cursed under his breath. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes and felt it with my own hands, I wouldn’t believe it. Why did this happen? Who do you need to use it on?”
“Ricardo and Martin, specifically. Maybe Sal too, we’re still waiting to see, but he’s recently made a deal as well. Ricardo and Martin are confirmed.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “We apparently have much to discuss.” He looked at Sephie, saying, “I appreciate you letting Jessica come to dinner last night, but we obviously missed out on very important conversations because she was there.”
“Don’t worry, Vitaliy. She’ll be okay with everything soon. It’s just a little overwhelming for her right now. I didn’t want to jump straight to him being the King of the Underworld the first time she came to dinner,” she said, laughing.
Vitaliy looked surprised again. “They turn red every time you call him that?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t actually know the answer to that question. You tell me,” she said, laughing.
Vitaliy laughed at her. I kissed her temple, then pushed her back toward Andrei and Ivan. She skipped back over to them to continue her warm-up and stretching session.
“How do you deal with her constantly surprising you with the most amazing things?”
I laughed. “You do get used to it after a while. Hang around her long enough and she’ll unlock some new level for you, too,” I said, laughing at his shock.