Page 73 of Rise of the Queen

She nodded. “Only you two. You were right when you said you and he have a stronger connection than the others. Yourconnections are going to remain that way. His won’t be quite as strong as yours, but it will be more than the other guys. I think the connection between you and Ivan will get stronger as well. We’ve spent the most time together over lifetimes. The connection gets stronger each time.”

“How do you do it?” I asked.

“Do what? Talk to you?” I nodded. “Same way I push my emotions and thoughts to you. Just concentrate on pushing the words to me instead.”

“Like so?”I thought. She grinned. “Like so,” she said, pressing her lips to mine.

“And you think Ivan and I will be able to do this as well?”

“Among other things,” she said, her smile stretching across her face. “I’m not the only one with demon eyes now.”

“Shut up.”

She laughed. “That’s why I told you to blink earlier before I kissed you. I saw yours change. My dad literally just told me about it today and it already happened. You’re like in the gifted program. You’re clearly an overachiever,” she said.

“How?”

“So, Battista was right, in that the black eyes are a warning to other demons that I own them, but he was missing part of it. He’s apparently never seen it happen before, but you can do it and Ivan can do it. Remember my dad told me we could all walk between Heaven and Hell?” she asked. I nodded. “The difference between us and everyone else is that we control our demons when they step forward. We’re forcing our demons to use their powers for good. It’s virtually unheard of, which is why Battista didn’t have all the details about it. The black eyes are a warning to other demons that we know all their secrets. My dad did warn me that now that we have Stephen, the fear is going to increasetremendously once other demons see us. They apparently get aggressive when they’re afraid.”

“And this is something Ivan can do too?”

“Well, not yet, I don’t think. You figured it out before he did, even though he found out about it before you did. See? Overachiever,” she said, grinning at me. “Although I’m not sure yet how you figured it out.”

“I’m not either. I was so angry at the thought of you seeing Armando again, thinking about ways to keep that from happening. If you needed to show him your black eyes, I thought there must be a way to make it happen with me so you would never have to see him again.”

She chewed on her bottom lip as she thought about what to say next. “It’s not dissimilar to how it started with me. I was also insanely angry the first few times it happened with me. It took me a while to figure out how to control it, but it still sneaks up on me quite often,” she said.

I felt Sephie stir next to me. I knew it was morning. I did not want it to be morning. I knew I didn’t have anything important until early afternoon, so I could stay in bed with her for once. I didn’t even open my eyes; I just pulled her closer to me, pulling her leg over mine.“I’m not getting up yet. You’re not allowed to leave yet either,”I thought. I heard her quietly giggle as she snuggled in closer to me. She pressed her body completely against mine. I heard her sigh as she relaxed once more, falling back asleep.

It was sometime later when I woke up again. She was still asleep next to me, her body completely tangled with mine. I heard Ivan’s voice, but I heard it in Sephie’s head.This is weird.

“Princess, are you two okay? You never sleep this long, but nobody is brave enough to come check on you.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I was thankful they weren’t going to come in to check, as I hugged Sephie’s naked body a little tighter. I concentrated on Ivan, trying to push my words to him the same way Sephie had shown me with her.“She’s fine, Ivan. It’s my fault. I didn’t want to wake up this morning.”I wasn’t sure it had worked, but I heard his reply a few moments later.

“You got new level zapped, Boss. Don’t think I didn’t see your eyes change last night.”I could tell he was laughing when he thought that.

“Right. Because being able to talk to you when you’re God knows where is completely normal too,”I thought. I could hear him laughing.“We’ll be out soon.”

I pulled Sephie closer, running my hands through her hair. She made her cooing noises, snuggling into me even more. “I like it best when you sleep in with me. The guys try their best, but nobody keeps me warm like you do,” she said. She finally opened her eyes, revealing my favorite deep blue.

“It’s the thoughts you make me think. It warms me up. They don’t have the same thoughts. Because they know I would kill them for thinking about you the same way I think about you,” I said.

She laughed loudly. “Gross.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her response. “Come, we should get up. The guys are worried. Ivan checked on you once already.”

“Ivan came in here?” she asked, surprised.

“No. I could hear him in your head. He was asking if you were okay. He said none of them were brave enough to come in here, which I appreciate.”

“You heard him in my head?”

I nodded. “I answered him, since you didn’t wake up. You were right. Apparently he and I can communicate with each other the same way you and I do. He also caught my eyes changing last night. He said I got new level zapped when I told him it was me who didn’t want to wake up this morning.”

“He’s right. I think you did. I’m not surprised he caught your eyes changing either. He’s very quick to notice the newest weird things now,” she said. “Poor Viktor is going to be terrified once he learns you and Ivan can do it too.”

I sighed. “I don’t know what to do about Viktor. I think you’re right. I think he’s avoiding spending time with you.”