Page 78 of Rise of the Queen

The acupuncturist walked to the door, opening it far enough that she could stick her head out. “It’s resetting her emotions when this happens. They’re going to feel stronger as theyrecalibrate and her body goes back into alignment. I can show you, if you like?”

I giggled, knowing Andrei was terrified at the thought of getting tiny needles stuck in his skin.

“Uh, no. No, I’m good. I just wanted to make sure she was okay,” he said nervously.

“She’s fine. She’ll be done in a few minutes,” she said. She had a wide smile across her face as she closed the door and turned back to me. She said quietly, so he couldn’t overhear, “I might like messing with him more than Ivan, which is saying quite a lot.”

I laughed. “You’ve been hanging around my father, haven’t you?” She didn’t answer, but her smile grew even wider on her face.

Adrik had come to the penthouse with Vitaliy and Aleksei while I was talking with the acupuncturist. As soon as we walked out of the spare room, his eyes landed on me. His wide, handsome smile stretched across his face. Before we got to them, I pointed to Vitaliy and said to the acupuncturist so only she could hear, “Let that man shake your hand. You’ll make his day if you do.”

She gave me a knowing smile. She surprised me by walking right up to him, putting her hand on his shoulder and whispering something in his ear. His eyes went wide, but his cheeks turned as red as my hair. Even his ears were red. He stammered for a reply, but she just smiled at him as she walked to Ivan to be escorted out.

We were all left trying not to laugh at Vitaliy’s flustered state after she left.

“I might like her a little more each time she’s here,”Adrik thought. I finally couldn’t contain my laughter any longer and asmall giggle escaped. That was all it took for the rest of them, even Aleksei, to start laughing.

“No idea what she told you, old man, but it clearly made your day,” I said, grinning at him.

He grumbled something under his breath, but he also laughed along with everyone else.

“Who was she?” Vitaliy asked, once everyone had gained control. I knew he wasn’t interested in hearing about her acupuncture skills, but that’s the route I took anyway.

“She does acupuncture. She’s amazing,” I said, grinning at him. He knew I knew more than I was saying, but he didn’t push it further.

“Perhaps I should get this acupuncture. Your light is very bright right now, malishka. Come, let me feel,” he said, extending his hand to me. I walked over and put my hand in his. “You will tell me more later,” he whispered as he took my hand. I nodded my head, smiling at his softening expression. He looked from me to Adrik. “Everything feels stronger. That woman does this to you too?” he asked.

“Not every time. She has in the past,” Adrik said.

“You need it every time,” Vitaliy said, frankly.

Adrik chuckled. “Noted.”

“The old man has spoken!”I thought, making Adrik laugh a little harder.

I asked that Stephen and Ivan stay behind while Viktor, Andrei, and Misha were gone Monday morning to make sure Chen was okay while he met with the mayor. No one suspected anythingother than a contractor meeting with his client, but since Chen had been so instrumental in helping us, we all wanted to make sure he was okay. He was also delivering very sensitive information, so it was worth our while to make sure he was good and had backup, should it be needed.

“So, this must be important since I’m most responsible for Chen’s bravery when lying to people’s faces,” Stephen said once the others were gone.

I laughed. “Technically, he’s not lying to the mayor this time. I think he can live without you just this once,” I said, sliding my arm around his shoulders as he sat at the kitchen island.

“You know something more about Viktor, don’t you?” Ivan asked.

“I do. That’s why I wanted to talk to both of you while I was sure he wasn’t around. I think I have it figured out and also why he might be so resistant to it,” I said. I walked back to Adrik, who was leaning against the counter. He opened his arm for me, sliding it around my waist as I stepped closer to him.

“The acupuncturist helped you, didn’t she?” Stephen asked. I could tell he was already putting as many pieces of the puzzle together as he could.

“She did. We were starting to suspect what it might be, but she confirmed it. You realize that everyone complements each other somehow, right?” I asked Stephen.

He nodded his head. “It makes sense that Viktor would somehow be opposite of either me or Misha, and it doesn’t make sense for him to be opposite of Misha. That’s just a normal person who can’t see the future or past. That’s not helpful in the least,” he said, grinning.

“You’re so smart, Yoden. Viktor, we think, is opposite of you. While I think your gift is fucking amazing and quite possibly the most badass thing that any of us can do, I can’t wrap my brainaround you needing to do it very often. It doesn’t make sense that your life’s purpose is to just break half the world and leave them as a dribbling mess for someone else to care for. Much like your sniper skills, I feel like your gift is highly specialized and only meant for a select few,” I said.

“While you are capable of breaking a person, Viktor is capable of healing them,” Adrik said.

“After I break them? Because I can tell you right now, that’s going to make me go harder in the paint when it comes to breaking them. I can’t help it. I’m competitive,” Stephen said, his sly smile creeping across his face.

I laughed. “No, before you’re needed. There are going to be those that Viktor can’t do anything about. I’m sure there’s a point where his services are useless and yours are needed. His gift should prevent people from getting to the point where you’re needed as much.”