Page 95 of Rise of the Queen

Once I heard the door close behind them, I said, “It’s going to take a few more days. Apparently, that’s why they were gone. Ilya was out for almost two days after Viktor fixed him. I don’t know if everyone reacts that way, but somehow I think Viktor is going to need some extra sleep.”

“How did you know?” Adrik asked.

“I could still feel his sadness. He tries to push it to the background, which is why I didn’t pick up on it all the time before. But now that I knew what to look for, I could still feel it. He’s learned ways to contain it, but it’s still there and just as strong.”

Adrik pulled me closer, kissing my temple. “We don’t always realize how lucky we are to have you.”

The other four guys walked into the penthouse, looking very concerned when they didn’t see Viktor and Ilya there. I couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t worry. We talked to them. I made Viktor fix himself before he makes a decision on whether he stays or goes. As it turns out, that’s why they were gone for so long. It knocked Ilya out for a couple of days. I expect the same to happen to Viktor, so nobody panic if we don’t see them for a few more days.”

“He told you that?” Misha asked.

“No. I might’ve snooped in Ilya’s head when no one was paying attention,” I said, grinning at him.

“Devious. I’ll allow it.”

We didn’t see Viktor or Ilya the next morning when everyone came upstairs for breakfast. We were all hoping it meant he was recovering.

“Princess, I’ve been thinking,” Ivan said, as we were cleaning up.

“Me too, but I still don’t quite know how we’re going to get our hands on that many pancakes or if red pandas even like pancakes,” I said. There was silence as they all tried to figure out just what the fuck I was talking about. I just grinned at them as I watched their confusion.

“I’m so glad you’re back to normal now, gazelle,” Misha said, his wide smile stretching across his face.

I looked to Ivan, who still looked somewhat confused, but mostly amused. “What have you been thinking about, Squish?”

“I think there’s a way to keep what happened with Ilya from ever happening again,” he said.

“Please explain. Don’t worry about the pancakes either. We’ll figure the logistics out later,” I said, grinning at him.

“Yeah, I’m still not even completely clear on exactly what happened with Ilya, so if you could enlighten me a little more on that, that’d be great. But, Seph, I’ve got ideas for mass production of pancakes. We’ll talk later,” Stephen said, completely straight-faced and putting his hand up to the side of his face like a phone indicating he’d call me.

Once Ivan finished laughing, he said, “You’ve always said Boss is your sword and I’m your shield. I don’t think getting hit with Ilya’s memories and thoughts were what was too much. I think it was the cold that came with it. Combined with Viktor’s sadness, that was more than you could handle. I think there’s a way that I can keep that from happening again.”

Adrik walked to me, sliding his arm around my waist. “That’s why it’s always felt like Ivan’s anger is facing outward from you.So something like that can’t get to you,” he said, understanding where Ivan was going.

“Also why he puts me in a bubble, I bet,” I said. I looked to Stephen. “I’m still trying to figure out how you shared everything with me when I touched your arm. But at least I know you were trying to share everything with me. I’m not sure Ilya was trying to share everything with me. If it just randomly happened because I touched him, that’s going to make me never want to touch anyone outside this room ever again.”

“Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,” Adrik said, smirking at me.

“Did you get everything from Ilya like you did with me?” Stephen asked.

“No, it was specific to the breakup he just went through and the relationship he had with that chick. She was really abusive to him the entire time, but it started out subtle. She wore him down over time with little manipulations, but then it just turned into outright abuse at the end. He loved her. He started to believe all the horrible things she was saying to him and about him,” I said, thinking back to everything I’d seen and felt when I touched Ilya. I suddenly felt both Adrik and Ivan get angry. I looked up at both of them, seeing their black eyes. “What was that for?” I asked, surprised.

“The sadness and darkness from those two that you couldn’t get rid of was creeping back. You said we burned it off last time, but apparently we didn’t get rid of it completely,” Ivan said.

“You guys noticed it before I did,” I said, quietly.

“Are you sure, princess? Your eyes went black when we felt it,” Ivan said.

“They did?”

“I saw your eyes go black, then Boss’s eyes changed without even needing to see yours,” Misha, who was across from us, said.

“It’s your demon trying to save you, spider monkey. It did it the other night too,” Andrei said. “I can’t tell if it just knows that getting angry is the cure or if it’s asking Boss and Ivan for help, though.”

“How do you know that?” Ivan asked.

Andrei shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just know. But I think that’s what happened the other night. She started to struggle with everything she got from Ilya, her demon took over, and you two immediately went on offense without really knowing why.”