Page 161 of Rise of the Queen

“Shut up.”

“No, it’s true,” she said. “Wait, I can prove it. Bubba, come here.” She stood up from her spot on the counter and made Andrei stand next to me so we could both see her. “Full disclosure, I’m using Andrei because he’s so darn good at looking in my head, but he also has an accurate sense of demons too,” she said, as she positioned us the way she wanted us. “Okay, you watch,” she said to me. Then she looked at Andrei and said, “You watch too, but I want you to look in my head while I’m doing this so you know what I’m thinking about for each one.” She was looking at Andrei as she switched her eyes to each color that we knew of. She’d even mastered switching them to white without losing control, but we all still felt her panic when she did switch them to white. She went from normal to blue, to green, to amber, to both versions of white, to black, to purple, to red, all while looking at Andrei.

“She thought the same sentence that she said earlier, about you really being the King of the Underworld when they switched to red,” Andrei said, looking at me. “Just like when her demon eyes show up, the red eyes are her demon stepping forward. Just a different reason.”

“See? Special for you,” she said, her wide smile stretching across her face.

“Okay, I vote for special colors for all of us then. Green is mine. I think we can all agree I enjoy spicy Sephie the most. You guys can fight over the other colors,” Misha said, trying to stir up shit.

“Misha, you’re my favorite,” Sephie said, laughing.

Ivan had been quietly contemplating the news. He asked, “So this isn’t something you’re going to be using often, is it?”

I chuckled. “I said the same thing. No, it’s not. It’s basically the fail-safe, if you will. Those that Viktor can’t fix, Stephen will take care of. There will be a very select few that Stephen won’t be able to take care of. That’s when I’ll use it.”

“What happens to the souls that you condemn to Hell?” Misha asked.

“They stay there, along with the demons. Sephie’s dad told me I was the only one who could grant them reprieve once condemned. I’m still not entirely sure what that means, but I’m guessing they have to go through me to get out of Hell,” I said.

“Yeah, that’s a heavy responsibility,” Viktor said.

“Exactly why I’m not planning on using it very often,” I said.

“Is this why you feel different?” Andrei asked.

“You noticed it too?” Sephie asked Andrei. He nodded his head. “What does it feel like to you?” she asked him. “I’m curious if it’s the same as me.”

“He usually feels hot, like you. Also like Ivan. You three are always hot. It’s still there, but now there’s like ice there too, somehow. I don’t understand how that could be, but that’s the only way I know to explain it,” Andrei said.

“Yeah, that’s the same for me too,” Sephie said. “It doesn’t make sense, but I don’t know how to describe it either.”

“Both Sephie’s dad and Sephie said it’s the balance between good and evil,” I said. I had leaned against the counter where Sephie had previously been sitting and pulled her back against me. She was still facing everyone else as we continued talking.

Andrei looked at her, smiling. “Sephie agrees,” he said. I turned her around enough I could see her deep purple eyes. I smiled at her, kissing her quickly. “Even Sephie feels a littledifferent now too. Did something happen to her too?” Andrei asked. He was studying Sephie as he asked the question, much like she was studying me earlier.

“It’s because of him, I think,” she said.

“She’s right. Because she’s so connected to me, she’s gaining power too. She’s going to give Ivan a boost too. You three will soon become connected with your demons, much like we have, because of this too,” I said.

“What about Viktor?”Ivan asked me and Sephie.

“I asked the same thing. He’s going to need Stephen’s help one more time and then he should be fine with everything. Yesterday helped tremendously. Kostya has been helping him every night as well,”I told him.

He nodded discreetly. Stephen was the one who brought it up to the rest of the group, asking Viktor, “How do you feel after yesterday? Better this time? Do you think you need it again? I don’t want you to be freaked out if we all suddenly show up with black eyes one day.”

Viktor chuckled. “Yeah, I think one more time. Just to be safe.”

“I told you Stephen already knows most of what we’re talking about before we tell him,”I told Sephie. She pulled my arms around her even tighter.

“I think we should stay here for another night. Dario can wait until tomorrow. I think it’s more important we have one more night where we don’t need to worry about anything extra,” Sephie announced.

Stephen raised his eyebrow looking at Viktor. “After lunch then?” Viktor agreed with that plan.

“Then it’s settled,” Sephie said. She turned in my arms to face me; her eyes were deep blue. I could feel her warmth spreading through my body.

“I must be extra special to get two colors all to myself,”I said to her, pushing her curls back from her face.

“You are extra special. Don’t let it go to your head,”she replied, grinning at me.

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