Page 68 of Rise of the Queen

I sighed. If he wasn’t ready, then he wasn’t ready. I wasn’t going to change that about him.

Before I knew it, it was late afternoon and I still hadn’t seen Sephie or Ivan. The Wonder Twins were also starting to get worried. They came into the office during a break in my schedule. “Have you seen Ivan or Sephie yet?” Misha asked, the worry evident on his face.

“No. I was just thinking about that. You guys haven’t felt anything, have you?” I asked. They both shook their heads no. I looked at my watch. I still had half an hour before my next meeting. Viktor and Stephen walked into the office as I was contemplating going to check on her. “Let’s go check. Shedoesn’t usually sleep this long. Ivan either, but he finally got new level zapped, so maybe that’s it.”

We were all worried when we walked into the penthouse, but that worry increased when we found Ivan and Sephie still on the couch. They’d been sleeping almost the entire day. That never happened. I could hear Sephie mumbling quietly, but her body was still. I knelt down in front of them, my hand on her cheek, trying to wake her. I heard him mumbling when I got closer.

I felt nothing out of the ordinary from her. She felt like she did when she was sleeping. I looked at Andrei. “Can you feel anything from her? She’s mumbling. That usually is not a good sign. I don’t feel anything from her though.”

“No, Boss. She feels like she does when she’s sleeping,” he said.

“Can you take a look in her head and see what’s going on?”

His eyes glazed over as he looked in her head. After what felt like the longest moment of my life, he looked at me, now clearly present again. “They’re dreaming. The same dream though. She’s in a house, but she’s with Ivan. They’re with someone else, but that’s all I could see before everything went to black.”

I very clearly heard Sephie say, “Don’t worry, my love. I’m fine. So is Squish.” My eyes were on her when I heard her voice. Her mouth didn’t move.

I looked at the guys. “Did any of you just hear that?” They all looked at me like I might’ve been crazy.

“Hear what?” they all asked.

“I just heard her tell me they were fine. Like she was standing next to me. Except she’s not. She’s asleep.”

Stephen, in his normal, serious way, said, “It was only a matter of time before she was able to communicate telepathically with you. You guys have been doing it silently for a while. Maybe she’s learning how to talk to you now.”

Viktor’s phone beeped, alerting him to my next meeting. He looked to me. “Tell them I’ll be a few minutes late. She said she’s fine, but I still don’t like that she’s not awake. I’m going to stay a few more minutes in case she wakes up.”

I stayed, kneeling in front of her, my hand on her cool cheek, watching her sleep in Ivan’s protective embrace. Neither of them looked troubled. They both looked like they were sharing a joke that the rest of us knew nothing about.

I finally heard her say, “Mmm, there’s the warmth I love,” as she opened her eyes, revealing the deepest depth of the ocean blue that I adored. Once again, her lips never moved. She reached up, placing her hand on top of mine. “I’m fine. He’s fine too. I’m sorry I worried you. I forget time is different when talking to my dad.” Ivan started to stir as well. She sat up, still fighting to wake up completely. “Your next meeting is waiting for you. He’s irritated that you’re late, for the record. Go. I’ll come down after you’re done with this meeting and fill you in. Especially since you’re wondering how I knew that,” she said, grinning at me.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Sephie

I felt Adrik stir underneathme, but I couldn’t bring myself to wake up. Normally, I wasn’t aware of when he woke up when I needed to sleep longer. This time, however, I could hear his thoughts as he watched me sleep.

It was like his internal dialogue was now in my head. I heard him thinking. I heard him wishing he could stay with me.

I felt him pick me up, wrap a blanket around me, and carry me out of the bedroom with him. Before the guys made the decision on who was going to stay with me, I knew it was going to be Ivan. I knew he’d been zapped, but I didn’t know why yet. I could feel his exhaustion.Wait, I can feel him without seeing him.

I heard him tell Adrik why he’d been extra tired—how he could see not just when a person’s demon consumed them, but now when they were looking for ways in too.That’s gotta be slightly comical, in a twisted sort of way.

As everyone left for the day, I felt Ivan fall asleep behind me. His massive arms were holding onto me, keeping me safe while we slept. I found myself back in the darkness. Only this wasn’t my darkness. It felt different. It sounded different. I could hear music. Piano music. I recognized the song. It was Ivan’s song.

I felt him before I could see him. “Princess?” I turned to find Ivan, looking very confused as to why I was in his darkness.

“Squish,” I said, smiling at him. “Did you leave your phone on before you went to sleep with me on the couch?”

“How do you know we’re on the couch? You were sleeping?” He said the last statement like a question, as he was beginning to question what his eyes saw.

“I was. I am. But somehow I’m still aware of everything going on around me. I knew it was you who was going to stay with me today. I could feel your exhaustion when Adrik walked out with me.”

“This is new, isn’t it?”

“Yes. Very much so, yes. I could also hear Adrik’s thoughts before he got out of bed this morning. I kind of woke up when he woke up, but I didn’t move. But normally I’m incapable of not reacting when he touches me, so I wasn’t really fully awake. Just aware.”

He looked at me thoughtfully, like he was trying to come up with an explanation. “You have been very aware of things happening that you can’t see lately. Maybe this has to do with that?”