Page 151 of Rise of the Queen

“That was my fault,” Viktor said apologetically.

“It was no one’s fault. We’re very needy lately,” I said, unable to hide the fact that I missed him just as much as he did me. “Is he upstairs?” I asked.

“Yeah, he just got done in the gym. He decided to take it out on a punching bag instead of sitting around and waiting on you two to get back,” Ivan said.

My eyes went wide in surprise. “Cranky indeed,” I said, walking quickly toward the back stairs.“Viktor now knows how we’ve been feeling. I found a way to tell him so he’d understand. He’s likely going to apologize. Be nice,”I said to Ivan, laughing as I ran up the stairs.

I could hear the shower running as I walked into the bedroom. I quickly got undressed, hoping to make it into the bathroom before he turned the water off. He turned to the door just as I walked in, his wide smile across his face as his eyes landed on mine. I practically ran into the shower, jumping into his arms.

“I missed you,” he said, pressing his lips to mine.

“So I heard. You’re cranky?” I asked, leaning back far enough that I could see him, but not wanting any unnecessary space between us.

He chuckled. “You must’ve seen Ivan.”

I nodded. “He told me you were cranky from having to be away from me,” I said, somewhat concerned that he was unhappy with me for being gone too long.

“He’s not wrong. He might’ve overexaggerated. You needed time with Viktor. But I did miss you,” he said, leaning down to kiss me once more.

I looked at him, searching his eyes for a moment. A small grin spread across my face as I found the answer to my question. “It’s not you that’s cranky. Your demon is still mad at Viktor. It got worse when we stayed gone so long.”

He chuckled. “That seems accurate. I started out fine, but as the hours passed and you still weren’t back, Ivan finally forced me to go to the gym.”

I stood on my toes, pressing my body to his as I kissed him again. This time, with more passion. He wrapped his arms tightly around me, answering my passion with more of his own. It was him who needed air this time, as he broke the kiss. I leaned my head against his chest, enjoying being in his arms and warm once more.

“How did it go?”

“I think it’ll be fine. I found a way to explain everything so he’d understand. He opened up about why he made the decision he did. I told him it was never about the decision and that we supported him no matter what.”

“How did you explain it?”

“I told him it was exactly like how he felt when Ivan couldn’t see him anytime he was in the hospital before I came along. Viktor used to get so irritated that Ivan couldn’t see him, but that’s exactly what he was doing. He couldn’t see any of us because of our demons. He said seeing what happened last night at the fundraiser with that girl in the kitchen helped him realize just how much of an asshole he’d been,” I said. I looked up to see Adrik’s expression as I explained everything to him. His sly smile turned up one side of his mouth.

“I wouldn’t have thought of that, but you’re absolutely right. The bigger question is how comfortable does he feel around us now?”

“That’s getting better. He said he was going to ask Stephen to help him again. He recognizes how much it helped the first time. I asked him if Kostya had fixed him again and that’s when he mentioned Stephen. He’s trying. That’s all we can ask of him,” I said.

“Maybe Stephen should help him while we’re still here. That way, he doesn’t have anything extra to worry about and he can focus more on letting things go,” he said, his hands gently running up and down my back.

“I said the same thing. I think he’ll ask him. I think he was going to apologize to Ivan when we got back too. I know you guys want to make him suffer a little longer, but I told Ivan to be nice,” I said, grinning at him.

He laughed. “Ivan said that very thing when you guys left earlier. I can’t say I disagreed with him either.”

“I know. I also know it’s more your demons feeling that way than you two. It’s understandable, but Viktor told me he didn’t feel like he was ready to be able to handle his demon. He said there was still too much of a chance that the demon would’ve won. He said he has a tendency to focus too much on thenegative, so it worried him. Honestly, I can’t argue with his logic. He made the decision that he felt was right for him and I agree with him. He knows himself better than any of us do.” I sighed. “It was not an easy decision for him to make, but ultimately, I think he chose wisely for where he’s at in this lifetime.”

Adrik was quiet for a few minutes. “What happens to his demon though?”

“That, I don’t know. He made the comment that it wasn’t gone for good. I’m not sure what that means. I didn’t ask for specifics about that. I didn’t want to steer the conversation in that direction,” I said quietly.

He kissed my forehead. “Yours is still sad about all this. I can feel your sadness, but it’s not all yours. I can tell the difference now.”

“How?”

Chapter Forty-Six

Adrik

“It feels different,” I said,trying to think of how to describe it. “There’s always warmth to everything I feel from you, which is why it was so easy to pick up on it when it was Viktor’s sadness. It’s like the warmth you feel when you think about how much you love me. That warmth comes with everything else. But when it’s your demon, there’s like a red-hot fire feeling to it. It’s feisty. It’s like a fuck-you element to whatever it is you’re feeling. It’s both intimidating and adorable at the same time,” I said, getting lost watching her eyes change from amber to green.

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