Page 106 of Rise of the Queen

“You don’t have to show him the other ones, gazelle,” Misha said. He looked at Ilya, saying, “They turn amber when she’s sadand white when she’s scared. All of us feel what she feels and those two are very strong and I’d just rather not right now.”

“They turn white?” Ilya asked.

“Yeah, if you think her demon eyes are scary, then you’re not ready to see that,” Stephen said.

Ilya looked between Adrik and Ivan. “Can your eyes also do the same then?”

“Yeah, that reminds me. How can yours turn black but not change like hers do?” Viktor asked.

“Are you ready for this, Viktor? Because I’m not sure you’re ready for this. But at least you’re already sitting down,” Stephen said. He looked very seriously at Viktor. “They control their demons.”

Viktor’s brow furrowed as he tried to understand what Stephen had just told him. “Your black eyes are your demons?” he asked.

I nodded. “I told Ivan not very long after I met you all that the best way to defeat your demons was to make friends with them. They have no power over you that way. At the time, I was just trying to help him cope. I didn’t know I was being serious. I would’ve told you the same thing if you hadn’t spent so much time avoiding me,” I said, crossing my arms across my chest. I could feel Viktor flinch from the blow. It came out a little harsher than I was intending, but I was still very irritated with him.

“I know, sestrichka. I knew you were going to make me deal with everything and I didn’t think I was ready,” Viktor said.

“If it makes you feel any better, me and Sasha have been trying to get him to deal with it for years as well. He wouldn’t listen to us either,” Ilya said.

“He wasn’t actively avoiding you though. He’s been actively avoiding me for weeks, if not months,” I said.

Viktor stood up, walking to me. “I was actively avoiding you and I am very sorry, Sephie,” he said, opening his arms to me. I glared at him for a moment, not moving, but finally gave in and went to him. He wrapped his arms around me, picking me up off the floor. He whispered so only I could hear, “I know you’re not mad. I know you’re hurt. I can feel you’re hurt. It will never happen again.” He held me for a few minutes. I could feel his turmoil. I knew he was sorry.

I finally sighed. “I know why you did it. It doesn’t mean I have to like it, but I understand.”

He laughed softly as he put me down again. I felt Adrik’s arm around my waist, pulling me back against him. I could tell he was looking at Viktor over the top of my head. “Have you decided, Viktor? In or out?” he asked.

“All in, Boss. Sephie was right. I needed to fix myself first. I couldn’t have handled everything otherwise. They told me what happened with Armando last night. The guards that are on him said he just sits there, completely zoned out. If they make him move, he can move on his own, but only if they guide him. I think we should find somewhere to send him. Then none of us ever have to see him again,” he said.

“Give him a fake identity. No one will ever find him or know what happened to him,”I said to Adrik.

I felt him squeeze me just a little tighter. “Work on getting him set up with a new identity. I want his name, all of his names, erased from history,” Adrik said.

“Can I pretend to be his brother when we take him? Not gonna lie, that would give me so much satisfaction to drop his ass off at a nursing home, knowing he’ll never leave,” Stephen said.

Adrik and I both laughed. “I think that should definitely happen,” I said.

“Does anyone know if there’s anything he particularly hates?” Ivan asked.

“Women who don’t know when to keep their mouths shut. He was not a fan of that,” I said, cringing at the memory. Adrik wrapped both arms around me, leaning down to press his cheek to mine.

Stephen’s face lit up. “YES! We’ll have him put in a room with the chattiest woman there.”

“Do we still have his safes?” I asked Ivan.

“We do still have his safes. We should open those before we send him away,” Ivan said.

“You should do that now because I suddenly really want to know what’s in them,” I said. “I’ll start dinner. You guys go find that answer.”

Adrik chose to come upstairs with me, instead of finding the answer to what was in Armando’s safes. Once we were alone, he pulled me in front of him, looking thoughtfully at me. “Some better now?” he asked.

“Better. I’m still slightly irritated, but better,” I said.

He chuckled. “You’re extra cute when you’re irritated.” His sexy smirk on his face, he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

“I shouldn’t be irritated still. There’s a very big discrepancy in how connected I am with the other guys versus Viktor now. It’s like a constant reminder that I can’t get away from,” I said.

“I can order him to spend time with you,” Adrik said, playing with the curls around my face.

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