Page 82 of Rise of the Queen

“I couldn’t see your eyes when you saw it, so I don’t know either. For now, though, we at least know that seeing other demons makes ours get a little too excited,”Adrik thought.

“So. Many. Dirty. Jokes.”I replied, trying not to laugh.

Viktor’s curiosity finally got the best of him. “Okay, somebody explain what you all just saw.”

“See if you can show him too, gazelle. I bet it’ll work. I’ll help if you need a boost,” Misha said.

I looked hesitantly at Misha, then looked at Viktor. “It’s up to you, Papa Bear. I know you don’t like me in your head.”

“Only because I know you’re going to force me to deal with things I’ve been putting off dealing with. This is not that, so let’s try,” he said, walking to me. He very timidly took my hand. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked.

“You don’t have to do anything. Just try to clear your mind. She’ll show you,” Misha said. He took a step closer to me, in case I needed a power boost to let Viktor see.

I concentrated on pushing the short clip of the mayor to Viktor. Nothing happened for a few moments, so I grabbed Misha’s hand. Once I did, suddenly Viktor’s eyes went wide. He was seeing what everyone else had just seen.

Except, that wasn’t the only thing that happened. Misha took over the movie. He fast forwarded until we were no longer watching the mayor. Now, we were watching Viktor with someone I didn’t recognize. I didn’t want to interrupt, so I didn’t ask for specifics. The guy was younger than Viktor and actually looked vaguely similar to him. They were talking quietly, but it was difficult to hear the conversation. The other man looked upset; he looked older than what he should have. He looked worn down, tired, like he had been put through the ringer.

Viktor, in his calm, paternal way, put his hand on this man’s shoulder. It seemed like an innocent thing to do, but when he did, we could clearly see the aura around the man become visible. The dark spots were everywhere. It was dim. This man was struggling. Viktor took his hand off his shoulder, but remained close to him. We watched as a white light came down from somewhere above them and hovered above them both. Neither of them saw it in the movie, but it was visible to us watching it.

It stayed still, hovering above them both for a moment, then we watched Viktor open his palm upward, toward the light. It landed in his palm. When it did, Viktor touched the man’s shoulder once more. This time, his aura lit up. We watched as all the countless holes filled in. As his aura got brighter, he looked stronger, younger, more vibrant.

Viktor took his hand off the man’s shoulder, once again turning his palm upward. He released the light upward, all of us watching as it disappeared above them. The man in front of Viktor looked stunned for a moment, but then he broke out in a huge smile. He grabbed Viktor, hugging him tightly as the movie ended for us.

Misha looked down at me, somewhat confused. I looked at Viktor, who looked so stunned I wasn’t sure he was going to be able to speak.

“Did you know that man?” I asked.

“That … that’s … my brother,” he said.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Adrik

While Andrei and Stephen werewatching Sephie and Misha show Viktor what we had all just seen, Ivan caught my eye.“What do you want to bet she’s about to unlock his gift for him?”he thought.

“You might be right. She just unlocked a new level for us. Might as well unlock Viktor while she’s at it,”I replied, unable to hide my smirk.

“What now?”

“She just showed me everything everyone else saw from across the kitchen. She didn’t need to touch me to make it happen. That’s been happening with thoughts and emotions, but never images.”

“Can you see what she sees now?”

“I really want to look, but I also don’t want to fuck it up. She’ll show me later.”

“Coward.”

“Asshole.”

We saw Misha look down at Sephie. He was clearly stunned with whatever they just saw. She looked at him, her eyes wide.Then she looked at Viktor. “Did you know that man?” she asked him.

“That … that’s … my brother,” Viktor said. He was completely stunned at what he’d just seen.

Clearly they had just seen something new.

“What happened?” Ivan asked.

“Viktor just saw his gift in action, but I think we broke him,”Sephie said silently to me and Ivan.“I don’t know what to say to him. He’s completely numb.”