Page 72 of Rise of the Queen

Andrei looked excited. “Purple or orange?” he asked.

I thought about what I was sure needed to be done about Armando, then looked at Adrik first. It was obvious that they’d changed to their new color by his expression. I showed everyone else. They all jumped up to get a closer look.

“That’s so weird, but so cool,” Andrei said.

“What emotion does this one represent?” Stephen asked.

“I wouldn’t say it’s an emotion on this one. This one is confirmation of universal truths. It first happened when Battista told Adrik he was the King of all the Underworlds.”

Adrik caught on that I was leading up to something else though. “That’s not what you’re thinking about now, though. You weren’t worried when you thought about that. You’re worried now.”

Ivan said, “Only because she’s not sure how you’re going to take what she’s about to tell you. But for the record, I agree with her. Just let her explain it fully and I think you’ll agree with her too.”

I felt Adrik’s arms tighten around me as he braced himself for what I was going to say. He really did hate surprises. “You can’t kill Armando. Stephen needs to break him the same way he broke his sisters.”

I immediately felt his anger levels rise to insane levels.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Adrik

I’ve never wanted to killsomeone as much as I’ve wanted to kill Armando and now she’s telling me I can’t?I usually agree with her on everything, but this is going to be the one time I definitely do not agree. He’s going to suffer. More than he already has. Then I’m going to watch the life drain from his face.

“I know you want to kill him. In fact, I love you more because you want to kill him. But let me explain.”I heard her voice in my head once again. I glanced around at the guys, who could tell something was happening, but they weren’t sure what. They all looked slightly on edge, like they were waiting to jump in. Sephie had turned to face me, her eyes completely black, but she was smiling at me.

“Let her explain before you completely explode,” Ivan said. I looked to him, not completely understanding how he knew I was as angry as I was. “She had to get angry to get you to think. We can feel her response to you. If it were anyone else, I’d suggest we all leave, but my money’s on her, not gonna lie.”

I glanced around the room. Stephen’s eyes were wide. “This is so weird,” he said. “How does she not kill everyone?” he asked, almost in a half-whisper.

Sephie giggled, her eyes still focused on me. “Let me explain?” she asked. I nodded once. I tried to calm down, but I still felt like I was ready to rip someone apart. She shifted again in my lap, so she was straddling me. I could hear her dirty thoughts as she did, which helped my anger subside, but only slightly. She placed her hands on my chest, saying, “I know you want to kill him. I wanted to as well, but there’s a better way. If Stephen breaks him, he’ll spend the remainder of his life being tortured in the worst way possible. Worse than what you can do to him. Armando was a healthy man. He’s not that old. He still has a long life ahead of him. If Stephen breaks him, he’s going to spend every single day for the rest of that long life in complete and utter torture. He’ll be locked inside that body with the demon, neither of them having control, and only having each other to torture. If you kill him, his soul comes back and he makes the same mistakes over and over again. Which means innocent people will die at his hands, whether directly or indirectly. Don’t think of it like saving his soul. Think of it like saving theirs. If Stephen breaks him, he’ll have to endure a very difficult lesson designed to make sure he makes better choices the next time around.”

As she was talking, her eyes faded from black to the new purple. I felt my anger subside as I watched the colors change.This might be my favorite color transition.

“Um, Seph, I hate to be a Debbie Downer over here, but how do we know his demon is even still there?” Stephen asked.

“It is, but Ivan will be able to see it. If he can’t, then I just have to show it my eyes. That will bring it out. It’s scared of me too.”

“NO.” While my anger was starting to subside, it surged again at the thought of Sephie having to be in the same room as Armando. There’s absolutely no way I would let her see him ever again. I would figure out another way to find out that information. She had glanced at Stephen briefly, but looked back at me when she felt my anger rising again. She had an amused look on her face that quickly turned to wonderment.“Blink, love,”she thought, grinning at me. I didn’t have time to wonder what she meant before her lips crashed into mine, her desire overtaking everything else. She was quick with her kiss, but it was enough that my anger was back to a manageable level.“I’ll tell you that one later too.”

“Okay, so Ivan will be able to see it. Maybe mention me if you have to. Show it a picture, maybe. Whatever. It’s still there. It is, however, smarter than the average demon. It knew enough to step back whenever Armando was around me. That’s how he got past me. That’s also why we all think he’s a fucking moron. He’s not aware of anything that happens when the demon is in control,” Sephie said.

That makes everything make so much more sense.

Sephie pressed her lips to mine once more, her eyes changing to the deep blue that meant she loved me before turning back around to face everyone else. She took both of my arms and wrapped them around her waist as she crossed her legs in between mine. She glanced at Stephen, who still looked skeptical and mostly worried. “Don’t worry, Yoden, I’ll help you. You can do it. You did it three times already. You just don’t believe it was you. I was only your battery. Actually, we were all your battery. Same as when Misha uses me and Andrei. You just needed a power boost. The rest was you.”

He thought for a moment, then looked at her. “I guess if I have to have a test subject, he’s the best one. There’s really no way to fuck this one up.”

She laughed. “You’re not going to fuck it up at all, Yoden. You haven’t spent nine hundred years studying how best to mindfuck someone for nothing.”

Once we were alone later, I asked her about everything we didn’t discuss in front of the guys. “How can I hear you in my head now?”

She grinned at me. “Really, it was the next logical step, I think. It’s not like we haven’t been reading each other’s minds already. We just have sound now. Although, I am now painfully aware that I affect you when I’m not with you. I heard you say, ‘Jesus, she’s all over the place,’ earlier when I was in the shower, thinking about everything that’s happened lately. Yeah, so, sorry about that,” she said.

I chuckled. “Don’t be sorry. I like being able to feel you. That’s what worried me today. It’d been too long since I felt anything from you. Same for Andrei and Misha. They came to check on you at the same time I was beginning to worry about you.”

“We forget that time is different when I talk to my dad. I didn’t mean to worry you,” she said. “I think it took longer because Ivan was with me this time too.”

“You said being able to talk to me was special to me and him. You can do it with him now too?”