Page 48 of Rise of the Queen

“Seph has been hiding all of this for a very long time. She’s only showing it to everyone now because she knows we can protect her. She’s become a master at covering up the fact that she’s different for fear of what will happen if someone finds out. That’s how she walks around like it’s a normal Tuesday,” he said. “That’s also why her fear is harder to control, for the record. She’s scared for all of us more than she’s scared for herself.”

I watched Andrei’s eyes glaze over as I knew he was confirming what Stephen had just said. He was quiet for a minute, then he looked at me, nodding once. Stephen had nailed it.

We heard Sephie sigh, then she said, “I told you your first instinct was always right, Yoden. Bubba confirms it.” Her face was still hidden in Ivan’s chest, so she didn’t see Andrei double-checking what Stephen had said. “You should listen to it more. You’ve been right multiple times tonight,” she said, finally turning to look at us once again. She smiled sweetly at Stephen. Whatever they had discussed this afternoon was clearly working.

“You’re getting better at that, princess. You didn’t see him checking,” Ivan said. He kept his arms around her shoulders in a bear hug as she stayed leaning against him, just turned toward us instead of hiding.

She shrugged her shoulders. “I can say the same for you two,” she said, looking up at Ivan and then looking at me. “You were right. Sal is involved.”

“What could you guys see?” I asked Misha.

“Once again, it was different. It was like someone was scrolling through the movie to find the right scene to answer our question. Once we found it, we heard Henry on the phone. We didn’t hear the other side of the conversation, but he addressed Sal by name. He was in the middle of a park, at night, so he spoke freely,” Misha said.

“It is Henry that’s in Sal’s pocket. The mayor might be also; they didn’t speak about him, but Henry has been getting money from Sal. They were extra sneaky with how he got it, so no one ever caught on. From what I could gather, he’s been paid mostly in cash, so no one can trace it,” Sephie said.

“What’s their plan?” Ivan asked.

Misha laughed. “It’s funny, but it’s not. We gave them the plan. Sal is backing Henry to get the mayor position. Once there, he’s coming for Boss.”

“He never gave specifics, but he said he has enough information to put Boss away for a long time. It’s going to be his first major move as mayor,” Andrei said.

It was my anger that rose very quickly. Sephie felt it, walking quickly to me. She knew immediately that I was struggling against it, livid at yet another betrayal. “Close your eyes, Bubba,” she said, right before her lips crashed into mine. She kissed me with such passion; my anger subsided so quickly, I didn’t even hear the laughter from her warning to Andrei. There was just her lips on mine, her desire for me growing with each second. I felt her knees start to go and pulled her to me tightly, holding her up as she deepened the kiss even more. I felt myself finally under control and she broke the kiss. She looked up at me, her desire still very evident to no one but me, as she smiled sweetly at me. “Better,” she said, turning around to lean back against me as she kept my arms wrapped around her.

When she turned to face everyone else, Vitaliy was understandably surprised at what he’d just witnessed. “It’s his kill switch,” she said. I could hear the smile when she spoke. “He has a harder time controlling his anger when it reaches nuclear levels. That makes it go away. Sorry for the impromptu show,” she said.

Vitaliy nodded once, giving me a smirk, then asked, “Do you know what Sal is planning on doing while he waits for Henry to be elected? That’s not until next year, correct?”

“They didn’t discuss that part, but I’m sure he’s thinking he can lay low until then,” Andrei said.

I looked at Misha. “How many times can you do this before you get zapped or you zap her?”

“I’ve got a couple more in me tonight, for sure. I think with Andrei too, it helps keep her from getting zapped. As long as he stops ‘holding back,’” Misha said, adding air quotes for hilarity.

“I think it’s worth checking on Sal to see what we can find out with him. Or Ricardo. Or both, if you have enough energy for that tonight,” I said. “I also think we need to check into the mayor even more than we have.”

“It’s entirely possible that Henry has been framing the mayor this whole time, making it look like he’s the one getting money from Sal, when really it’s been Henry. Or Henry is fabricating what he has on the mayor to deflect attention away from himself. Most people are easily distracted. If we’re busy looking into the mayor, we’re not going to look into Henry. I’m starting to think he thinks he’s smarter than us, which really pisses me off,” Stephen said.

“Like normal pissed off, or you-want-to-destroy-his-mind-so-completely-that-he-no-longer-wishes-to-exist pissed off?” Sephie asked.

Stephen chuckled. “Not the latter option. Yet.”

“Noted.” She looked back at Misha and Andrei. “Ready to find Sal? Bubba, do you want a snack first?” she asked, unable to hide her smile as she teased him.

“Shut up and come here,” he said, still standing with Misha. He was smiling at her as he extended his hand to her. Misha did the same. Before they started looking for Sal, she asked, “Do you have a specific question you want answered for Sal? That seemed to work last time.”

“See if you can find out if Sal is working with the mayor. Maybe we can eliminate two birds with one stone,” Ivan said.

“At your service,” she said, giving him a curtsey before they started trying to find Sal.

Once they were quiet, Vitaliy looked to me and Ivan. “You both can feel all of her anger when she’s like that?”

We both nodded. “I’m guessing it works differently for us than it did for you. She shares her control with us when she shares her anger,” I said. “She’s the one who taught me how to get mine under control. She can kill the bloodlust in me instantly with one look.”

Vitaliy’s eyes went wide. Viktor overheard our conversation, moving closer so we could stay quiet. “It’s true. I didn’t believe it when I saw it happen the first time, but she’s done it many times now. When we got to her and Ivan, Boss was about to kill Armando, but Sephie’s lung was collapsing and she was having trouble breathing. Me, Andrei, and Misha were downstairs in the building. Ivan called us to try to get Boss off Armando so we could get her to the hospital. But she just walked over to him and said she needed him before we could make it upstairs. He stopped instantly and picked her up. He was in a complete rage when we got to that building. Between him and Stephen, the rest of us didn’t have to do anything. She stopped it with one touch and three words though,” Viktor said.

“It becomes more and more obvious that she was made for you, the more I learn about her,” Vitaliy said, looking at me.

“They were made for each other. He brings out things in her that no one else can, just like she does for him. Their connection is other-worldly,” Stephen said.