Page 155 of Rise of the Queen

“Is there something new happening to me? Is that why I’m so tired right now?” I asked.

He inhaled deeply. “You’ve felt your connection get stronger with everyone lately, but especially with Sephie?” I nodded. “And you’ve also felt your demon getting restless, so to speak? Especially when Sephie was gone with Viktor earlier?” I nodded again. “Your demon is growing stronger, which means you’re growing stronger. You’ve demonstrated you have complete control of it.” He paused again, looking at me like he was somewhat nervous to tell me the rest.

“Why does that make you nervous?”

“Much like Viktor, I want no part of Hell. My wings are white as snow for a reason. It’s an unavoidable side effect of getting news delivered this way. Not to worry, I can manage,” he said, giving me a weak smile. “Adrik, when Stephen joked about his gift leveling up, he was really telling you what you’d be able to do.”

“Ripping the demon out and crushing it?” I asked, completely surprised.

“Well, not crushing it. But because your particular demon is as powerful as it is and because you are who you are, you now have the ability to condemn souls, both human and demon, straight to Hell. You can take both from a body and send them to Hell.”

“What happens to the soul then?”

“It spends eternity in Hell. You’re the only one who can grant it reprieve once you condemn them.”

“That doesn’t sound like something I’m going to use very often,” I said.

He smiled at me, his shoulders visibly relaxing. “This is exactly why you were granted the power.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your new gift is not something to be taken lightly and it’s only meant to be used in very extreme cases. Namely, Ricardo and Martin. Those two have made such powerful deals with their demons that Stephen’s gift would be completely ineffective on them. He could break them, but the soul is eternally bound to that demon. Even after coming back, it’s going to be forced to live out the same life over and over. You’re what can break that cycle. Send the demon back to Hell, along with their souls, and those souls never get the chance to come back.”

“There’s no chance at redemption for them?” I asked, suddenly not sure I wanted the responsibility of condemning someone’s soul to an eternity of suffering.

“It’s a heavy decision, Adrik. You’re right to be wary of it. You have to remember that both souls made their own choices. They knew the consequences. They might not have known the full extent of those consequences, but they knew there would be consequences, nonetheless. You are what will keep future generations safe from those two demons. Think of it that way. It’s easier to digest.”

I was quiet for a few moments, thinking about what he’d just told me. “How will this affect Sephie?”

“Yes!” he said quietly. He quickly looked back at me, trying to look serious once again. “Sorry. I knew you would ask that,” he said, grinning at me. “Because you and she are so connected, your strength will also become her strength. However, you’re the only one who can condemn souls and deliver them to Hell. But she’s going to see an increase in her power just as you will. Her demon will also grow stronger. Ivan will get a boost from her, but not as much as what she’ll get from you. The other three will become connected to their demons quickly, once you realize your full power. They’ve already drawn considerable power fromboth you and Sephie. You’re what unlocked Stephen’s extra gifts. That’s when it became apparent you could handle this responsibility. Nobody expected you to go full nuclear and then just turn it off like a switch that quickly. Especially not when it came to Armando.”

“I have Sephie to thank for that. She showed me how to control it,” I said.

His smile lit up his face, much in the same way that Sephie’s would light up a room. It was evident that he was proud of her.

“What about Viktor? How is he going to handle all of us being so connected to our demons?”

“Yes! I’m on fire!” he said quietly again, making me laugh. I was happy to make him some money, or whatever they were betting with, while we talked. “Viktor will come around. You’ll see. Kostya talks to him nightly. This last time that Stephen helped him worked much better than the first time. He’s going to need it one more time, but then he should be good. Sephie helped him understand how his actions have come across to everyone else. He feels much better about everything, which means he’ll be much more comfortable around everyone very soon.”

“What happened to his demon?” I asked, curious.

He sighed. “He doesn’t know this, so let’s keep this between us, shall we?” I nodded in agreement. “When he asked for it to be taken away, the only choices that Kostya had were to send it back to Hell, where it may or may not ever get the chance to escape again. Or it could go to a sort of purgatory, if you will. Purgatory in the traditional, religious sense, isn’t a real place, but there is a sort of in between Earth and Hell. Kostya sent Viktor’s demon there. If Viktor ever reaches the point that he’s ready to join the rest of you, then it’ll be your jobs to fetch his demon from that purgatory.”

“It has to be that demon? Are demons like assigned to people?”

“Yes and no. For Viktor, it has to be that demon. You guys aren’t dealing with just any demons. There’s a hierarchy of demons. Every single one of you has a very old, very powerful demon with you. It had to be so. You’ve had the same demon over many lifetimes. This is the one that finally saw you each taming the demon. There have been other lifetimes where that was not necessarily the case for all of you. It had to be all of you.”

“If it had to be all of us, then how is it still working without Viktor’s demon?”

“Kostya. He’s a new addition to this lifetime. He’s so grateful to Viktor for helping him to clear his Karma that he’s filling the gap left by the absence of Viktor’s demon.”

I suddenly felt worried about Viktor’s demon. “Is it safe wherever it is? Can it be harmed?”

“Because it’s so powerful, it can take care of itself. It’s not a cake walk where it is, but Kostya keeps an eye on it. Viktor is fearful that he could tame the demon, which is why he asked for it to be taken away. Kostya is trying to help him have the confidence to be able to handle it, but it might not happen in this lifetime. His demon isn’t in so much danger that it can’t last a while. We help out when we can, but it’s really quite scrappy. It’s doing fine. So far.”

I still couldn’t help but worry about it, which sounded very strange to say. He chuckled at me. “Again, this is why you’ve been granted this power, Adrik. All this time, you’ve been worried that Sephie would love you less because of your demon. You’ve completely missed the part where your light is so strong that even your demon prefers to leave the shadows now. You’re worried for the safety of a demon just to be clear what we’re talking about here.” He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment,then asked, “You’re all feeling the same way about your demons that you feel about each other now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am. I know Sephie is for sure too. I’m almost positive Ivan is as well. I can feel the difference between Sephie’s demon and her now. Her demon got mad at me the other day too. It was like she was doubly mad at me.”

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