Page 64 of Rise of the Queen
“Shut up. They did not turn purple or orange,” I said.
“It wasn’t orange. And I wouldn’t exactly call it purple either, but it wasn’t your normal blue. Maybe violet, maybe indigo, but it was different,” he said, pushing a curl back from my face. He was still very amused while watching me consider everything. “Your mind is going so fast right now. Take a breath, love,” he said quietly.
I sighed, finally looking at him. “I can’t help it. I can’t get it to stop. Distract me?”
He put his hands on either side of my face, pulling me gently toward him. His lips softly brushed mine. “I thought you’d never ask,” he said, smiling against my lips. I felt my body start to relax as he pressed his lips against mine, capturing my bottom lip in between both of his. His tongue lightly ran over my lip before plunging into my mouth. I felt his desire for me come on suddenly and strongly. His kiss was urgent. He was making sure I could think of nothing else but him, and I loved him for it.
Once I fell asleep, more from exhaustion than anything, I found myself not on the familiar path outside the familiar house, but in the room that Adrik and I stayed in at Vitaliy’s house in Panama. I recognized it but was confused as to why I would be there.
“Hello, sweet girl.” I heard Lena’s soothing voice behind me. Her blue eyes that were so strikingly similar to the ones I’d fallen in love with were smiling at me as I turned around to see her. “I promised not to scare the men again, so your father told me how to make this happen.” She laughed softly. “I really did make them mad, but they were also so worried for you. I felt bad about that. There’s also the matter of them all being able to feel you. I wasn’t aware they were so connected to you or that I would send your visual representation of your emotions into turmoil when I came to you last time.”
I smiled at her. “They really do worry over me for everything. I kind of love them for it, I’m not gonna lie.”
“They all love you, Sephie. Even Vitaliy. He’s so much more like he used to be when he’s with you. He’s a very sweet man. He just doesn’t want anyone to know it. He’s why I’m here. He’s been talking to me when he’s alone.”
I smiled, thinking about Vitaliy finally being able to tell her all the things he’d kept inside for so long. “You need me to give him a message, don’t you?”
She nodded. “You told him I was resourceful and I am, but he doesn’t always pay attention to signs, so I’m here. I’m not able to see him in his dreams yet, but I will be soon if you help him. He’s blocking me because he doesn’t believe it’s possible. He’s jealousthat I came to you instead of him, but he doesn’t realize I came to you because I can’t get through to him. He has to be open to it for me to speak to him. He’s not right now. And he’s cranky about it on top of that, so it’s nearly impossible for me to talk to him.”
“I just need to tell him to let you in? Can I tell him to stop being a cranky, stubborn bastard?” I said snickering.
She laughed. “I would love it if you did. I was with you when you went to the hotel the second time. I haven’t heard him laugh so loudly as when you told him to tighten up and stop being a cheeseball since before Adrik was born. It made my heart very happy, sweet girl. You’re good for him. You’re good for Adrik too. I knew he was special, but you bring out his full potential. His men too. You bring out their full potential. I saw what you did for Stephen. He’s a special case. We’ve all been rooting for him for so long. It was very questionable whether he could be saved. I’m not sure you realize how close he was to giving in to the evil that he’s been carrying around for so long.”
I felt a pain in my chest as I thought about everything Stephen has had to endure in life, but then I immediately felt my anger when I thought about his sisters. She put her hand on my shoulder. “Sephie, I’m allowed to tell you this, because you’re still not sure you actually did it and we’re under a bit of a time crunch here. You took Stephen’s pain and allowed him to transfer it to them. You took the evil he’s been carrying around from his sisters and what they did to him when he was a child and you helped him give it back to them. That’s what broke them. The human mind can only withstand so much. Once the psyche is completely broken, they’re useless to the evil forces inside them, but it also traps those demons in that body. It creates a sort of hell for both until the body dies. That’s Stephen’s gift. He knows how to break the person. He used you to deliver it because he doesn’t know how yet.”
“I knew he was always going to be the one to mindfuck people, but that sounds extra horrific.”
She had a sympathetic smile on her face. “It does sound horrific, but it’s also the only way to save that person’s soul. You’re ultimately doing them a favor. Not in this lifetime, but in the next. If they continue to give in to evil, it will eventually consume them completely. The middle sister was close to that happening. That’s when Ivan can see them—when they’re close to being consumed or have already been consumed. When that happens, the soul dies. There’s no chance at another life after that. What you’ve done and what Stephen will eventually learn how to do is to give the soul another chance. Not in this body, but the demon will separate from the soul when you and he break their psyche, and the soul will have a chance at coming back and trying again in a new life. So, it sounds horrific, but it’s the only way to save the soul when the person isn’t strong enough to get rid of the evil on their own. Not many people are. You’re saving souls, Sephie. Stephen will too, once he learns how. Ivan is going to help. You three have known more evil than most people and are best equipped to deal with it. The others will provide support for you in their own ways as well.”
I inhaled deeply, thinking about what she’d just told me. I sat down on the end of the bed. She sat down next to me, placing her hand on top of mine. “I know it’s a lot, sweet girl, but you can handle it. You all can handle it. You’re the strongest group of people we’ve ever seen. Just what you’ve all lived through while still holding onto the good inside you proves that. You’re all meant for such great things.”
“I know. I’m actually glad that you told me this. I think Stephen is still struggling with everything, but this will help him. It helps me too. I still think his sisters deserve everything that happens to them, but I’ve found myself feeling the slightest bitguilty over what happened. Battista made me wonder if maybe it wasn’t their fault.”
“Everyone has a choice, Sephie. Remember that. Every single person, no matter what happens to them, can choose good, or they can choose evil. You can be influenced, of course, but it’s still your choice. It’s only your choice. They made their choices, and now they must live with those consequences. As you’ve told at least two of the guys, Karma will use you to deliver justice. You didn’t decide their sentences, but you delivered them, Sephie. And you saved their souls in the process. So that’s enough of feeling guilty,” she said. Her tone was very maternal, almost like she was chastising me.
“Dammit. Scolded by a ghost,” I said under my breath.
She laughed. “You’re so much like your father. But you’re also very stubborn. I need you to believe in yourself, sweet girl. They all need you to believe in yourself.” She paused, looking at me like a mother would look at a daughter. She smiled sweetly at me, taking my hand and inspecting my ring. “He is quite possessive of you, and I think it’s one of his best qualities. You’re going to need to be patient with him. Your connection with him is going to get even deeper, but it’s going to also get deeper with all of the guys. He might find he struggles with jealousy at first.”
I looked down at my hand, smiling. “I kind of think he’s adorable when he gets jealous. I don’t ever want to make him jealous on purpose. He has nothing to worry about, but I find it very endearing when it happens.”
“He does have to share your time with five other very attractive men. It’s understandable, but you’re also quite good at making sure he knows he has nothing to worry about.” She brushed a curl back from my face, her sweet smile still on her face. “I do miss him. I know I talk about Vitaliy more than Adrik, but I missAdrik just as much. He just doesn’t need me as much. Especially now that he has you. You’re so good for him.”
“He’s good for me too. I can’t live without him now that I have him,” I said.
“You two are meant for great things. But for now, it’s time for you to go back. Adrik is trying to wake you up. I seem to have caught you when you’re not decent as well, so he can’t move you.”
“Jesus, again?! How do I keep getting embarrassed in my own dreams?!”
Her laugh was the last thing I heard as everything faded to black in front of me. I felt Adrik’s hands on me, lightly running through my hair, over my back. I heard his voice softly urging me to wake up. I took a deep breath, picking my head up to rest my chin on his chest so I could see him.
His sweet smile was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes. “Were you talking to your dad again? You were laughing,” he said, his fingers lightly running down my face.
I shook my head no. “No, this time it was your mother. She still feels bad for how she came to me when we were in Panama, so she learned how to come to me in my dreams like my dad does. She had a message for Vitaliy, and she gave me insight about Stephen.”
He raised his eyebrow, curious as to what information I now had. “What message for my father?”
I was actually surprised he asked about that first, but I grinned at him. “I get to tell him to stop being a cranky, stubborn bastard.”