Page 66 of Rise of the Queen
“Did she ask how you were at all?” I asked. I could feel my anger coming to the surface, once again feeling protective of Stephen.
He chuckled. “Don’t be mad, Seph.” He had no sooner said it than his eyes went wide as he looked at me.
Ivan caught on immediately to what just happened. “You felt her anger, didn’t you?”
Stephen nodded. “That was so weird.”
I laughed. “Welcome to the club, Yoden.” I walked to him, sliding my arms around his waist. He hugged me tightly, his vampiric vice-grip quickly becoming one of my favorite things about him.
“Shit’s about to get so much weirder for you,” Ivan said, laughing.
“I can actually help with that,” I said. Stephen loosened his hold on me, looking down at me.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Have you figured out the details of what happened to your sisters yet? It explains your gift,” I asked him.
He thought for a moment. “I showed you my memories, asking you to give it back to them. You did the heavy lifting. I just let you look into my head finally,” he said. He looked almost confused as he talked.
I couldn’t help but smile at him. This was why Lena told me. He was still in complete denial of what happened. “You’re not wrong, Yoden, but you played a much bigger role than you think you did.”
“I don’t understand,” he said.
Ivan, who was really very quick to catch on, suddenly got it. “He’s the one who broke them. He just needed you to make it happen the first time.”
I grinned at Ivan, then looked back at Stephen as he fully comprehended what Ivan had just said. “That’s your gift, Stephen. You know how to completely break people. You’ll beable to do it without me at some point, but Ivan is right, you just used me to make it happen. Bonus points too, because I didn’t need to touch you in order to borrow your gift.”
Stephen looked worried. “But I don’t see how this is a good thing. I might be a serial killer after all.”
“Oh, honey, no.” I wrapped my arms back around his waist. “Let me explain before you start beating yourself up.” I went through the details of everything Lena had told me in my dream. Ivan looked impressed. Stephen still looked worried. “It does sound horrific, but you’re thinking on too small of a scale, Stephen. You’re saving their souls. I’m still undecided if your sisters deserved another chance in the next lifetime, but ultimately that’s what you gave them. When someone gives in to the evil, to their demon, it eventually consumes them. That’s when Ivan is able to see them. He can see when they’re totally consumed or right before they’re totally consumed. When that happens, the soul will eventually die. There are no more chances then. The demon won. While they’re still broken in this lifetime, you kept the soul alive. The soul gets another chance to make it right in the next lifetime. Although it’s going to take quite a number of lifetimes for your sisters to clear their Karma, you gave them the chance to do that. Without you, their souls would’ve been consumed completely and would’ve eventually died.”
“I saw it on your middle sister right away. Your older sister too, when they went to leave. Hers was hiding when I first saw her, but Sephie brought it out,” Ivan said.
In his normal, quiet way, Stephen contemplated everything we’d just said. “I never thought I’d be relieved to know that I didn’t completely destroy them, but I am. I’ve dreamed about killing them in so many different ways, it’s alarming.”
“You never gave in to the evil you’ve been carrying all these years. I haven’t told you guys yet, but Andrei can see auras. Much like Ivan can see the evil in people, Bubba sees the good. He can see yours now, Stephen. He said it showed up the day after you saw your sisters.” Stephen still looked skeptical, but he wasn’t quite as worried. “We don’t always understand why we do things, but our souls know. Your soul knew what needed to happen and you listened to it. That’s the important lesson here.”
“They brought those consequences on themselves, Stephen. You didn’t condemn them, but you did hand down their sentence,” Ivan said.
Stephen was thoughtful for a few minutes, but he finally looked between me and Ivan. He had an uncharacteristic grin on his face. “Wait until Vlad hears about this. He’s going to be so excited.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Adrik
Once the guys had goneback to their apartments after dinner, Aleksei retired to his room while Vitaliy remained in the kitchen for a few more minutes, talking to Sephie. When it was just the three of us, she caught my eye, grinning slightly. She then looked at Vitaliy. “Have you been talking to Lena?” she asked innocently enough.
He still looked at her skeptically, but he nodded. “You said she’s resourceful and she can get messages to me, but so far, I’ve heard nothing. I’m not sure it’s working the way you thought it would.”
She couldn’t hide her smile. “That’s because you’re being a cranky, stubborn bastard about it,” she said matter-of-factly.
He looked at her, surprise evident on his face. “Explain,” he said, squinting his eyes at her, like he wanted to be mad at her but was physically incapable of doing so. He looked almost mad, but his lips were turned slightly upward like he was fighting the smile that was threatening to show itself.
“You’re jealous that she came to me and not to you, but she only did so because she can’t get through to you. She’s been trying, but you don’t believe it’s possible. If you don’t believe it’spossible, then it’s not possible. She also said she’s been leaving you clues, but you’re not paying attention to those either, so she finally came back to me to ask for help. If you would get over yourself and be open to seeing her again, you could talk to her all night every night, but you’re too busy being cranky and stubborn. So cut that shit out,” she said firmly.
Surprisingly, he looked at me. “Part of me wants to tell you to control your woman. The other part of me appreciates her waiting until no one else was around to tell me this,” he said, a sly smile across his face.
I laughed loudly. “Like I’d be able to control her if I wanted to. Which I do not, for the record,” I said, unable to hide my smile as she grinned at me.