Page 63 of Rise of the Queen

Battista laughed. “You’re not wrong, but you’re also not considering exactly who you are either.”

“And that is …?” Adrik asked.

“Not only the King of the Underworld in this city but the world by the time you’re done,” Battista said.

I felt the goosebumps rise over my entire body. I glanced quickly at Misha who was having the same reaction. I looked over at Adrik, who looked as surprised as I was, but there was also the familiar look that meant my eyes had done something new as well.

Battista continued, “You’ve surrounded yourself with the people needed to make it happen. Every single player in this who has stayed loyal to you will serve you in making this happen.”

“Um, that’s one person. Basically one person has stayed loyal to Boss,” Ivan said, sarcastically.

“Yes, but he’s an integral piece of the puzzle. Trino holds more power than you realize. The people in the entirety of South America love him for bringing peace. Just as the people of the city love you for bringing peace. He was smart when he rose to power. Get the people to back you, keep their favor, and you’ll forever remain in power,” Battista said.

Adrik was quiet for a few moments. “We’re still working on how to fix the chaos in the city. I don’t know the first thing about the rest of the world,” he said.

“You don’t need to. The rest of the world is watching you. Once you fix the city and fix Trino’s problem, they’ll come to you. There will always be a need for the underworld and what goes on there. People need bad just as much as they need good. What sets you and Trino apart, however, is that you control the amount of bad. You have rules to what you’ll allow and what you won’t, and your rules are always for the benefit of the people, not the other bosses.”

“What is Ricardo planning? Do you know?” I asked.

Battista sighed. “We’re not completely sure. We’re still working on gathering as much information on him as we can,but both he and Martin caught the attention of very powerful demons. They’re old. They’re careful. They know this is their one chance at establishing any kind of power in this world and they’re patient enough to not fuck that up.” I saw the surprise on his face once again, which meant my eyes were likely dark.

“Don’t be worried. It happens when I get angry,” I said flippantly. “Think of them like a warning system. As long as you’re not the cause of the anger, you have nothing to worry about.”

He smiled, but didn’t look away. “I have a feeling they’re more than just a warning system.”

“What do you mean?” Adrik asked. I could feel that he was feeling overly protective of me.

“When someone invites evil in, the evil takes over. It runs the show. The person’s soul is basically pushed to the background, if not ejected completely. Like I said before, it’s very difficult to rid yourself of evil once invited in. Most people are incapable and will gradually devolve into worse and worse humans. Again, like those young women. You, however, have flipped the tables, so to speak,” Battista said, a sly smile on his face.

“How so?” I asked.

“Everyone has some evil in them. You can’t have a purely good existence in this world. Just like you can’t have a purely bad one either. There’s going to be both. In fact, there needs to be both. The issue becomes when the evil gets out of balance. That’s what they wait for. They wait for people to shift just enough to their evil side that they can find a way in. It happens in any manner of ways. Sometimes they whisper to you, trying to get you to do evil things; they try to get you hooked on drugs so you’ll be more suggestible. If you’re strong, then they try to break you to give you a reason to shift the scales in their favor. They want you angry. They want you hateful. If they can’t subtly do it, theygive you a reason to hate the world. I’m guessing that every single one of you has been given plenty of reasons to hate the world, but you’ve chosen not to,” Battista said. Once again, I felt the goosebumps rise over my entire body. “With you, my dear, your eyes changing to black shows very clearly that your demons work for you. It’s virtually unheard of. I have no idea how you’ve managed to do it, but it’s not only a warning of your emotions, it’s a warning to other demons that you own them.”

I heard Adrik’s sharp inhale beside me as he listened to Battista’s words. I glanced at Misha, who was also shaking off the goosebumps he felt. Ivan’s sly grin caught my eye as well, as I glanced around the room.

“I’m not entirely sure of the dynamics of the group, but I would be willing to bet that you’re all connected somehow and that you all complement each other. You’ve been able to stay one step ahead of everything that’s happening as it’s happened. The fact that Trino is still alive is a testament to how powerful you all are. We didn’t find out about Martin’s deal until it was almost too late. We set in motion a plan to ensure Trino’s safety, only to find you had already gotten to him. His men are loyal to Martin, as we now know you found out much earlier than we did. I’m not completely convinced we would’ve gotten to him in time,” Battista said.

“She even made it so he could see his dying mother one last time,” Vitaliy said. Battista looked at me surprised.

“And clearly you know things we do not,” Battista said.

“I didn’t know his mother was dying until after I told him to leave, to be fair,” I said.

“My point still stands,” Battista said, crossing his arms across his chest. “Now, we have information about the mayor. You’re going to need him on your side. His police commissioner is trying to frame him, but Henry is the one who’s on the take, notthe mayor. The people in the city like this mayor, as well. He needs something to ensure they’ll love him. Why do I feel like you’ve already got just the thing to endear him further to the people?”

Adrik chuckled. “We’re still holding the doctor who created brawn. I think his face is mostly healed now. I had to wait to turn him over until he was recognizable.”

“We’re all still impressed that you didn’t kill him,” Stephen said quietly. “That was a stressful night.”

I felt Adrik’s arm tighten around me. His other hand held mine a little tighter as well. I knew he was still working through me being taken. We all were, judging by the looks on everyone’s faces as I scanned the room.

“You have to get to the mayor. The journalist you’re working with, he’s one of ours. He’ll have the information you need on Henry by the end of the week. We know you asked him to look at the mayor, but we helped him find the information on Henry. He must be exposed at the hands of the mayor, and the doctor needs to be arrested publicly. Because Henry is connected to Sal, we can connect him to Dr. Moretti as well. It will be a very neat package for the people. Your dealers have already spread the word on the street that you are responsible for stopping the brawn operation, as well as capturing the doctor. The people know more about what’s going on than you might think, but they need a big win to stay loyal to this mayor,” Battista said.

I was sitting on the end of the bed that evening, thinking about everything that had happened over the last couple of days. I feltAdrik’s warm hand on my face. “You should stay asleep in the morning, love. I can see it. You’re exhausted again,” he said, his thumb rubbing lightly against my cheek as I leaned into his hand. I was still lost in my thoughts as he pulled me up to follow him to bed. He watched my eyes, his usual mesmerized expression on his face. “You’ve had so much to think about that you haven’t asked me what new thing your eyes did today,” he said, crawling into bed and pulling me into his lap.

“They did something new?”

He nodded. “When we were at Battista’s. You have a new color. Andrei’s going to be so happy,” he said.

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