Page 206 of Rise of the Queen

“Did my dad offer any insight into it when he leveled you up?” she asked.

I sighed, thinking back to the conversation I had with Sephie’s dad. “Not really. He just told me I’d be able to do it. We talked more about other things, including you,” I said, kissing her neck.

“Okay, so what do we know already?” Stephen asked. “Armando’s demon was running the show, but apparently not strong enough that Boss’s skillset was needed to take care of him. It seems to be the same for the other bosses. What’s the difference with Ricardo and Martin?”

“Maybe they needed to agree to more, which the other bosses wouldn’t agree to. Maybe Armando’s demon didn’t own his soul, per se, but had still taken over in this body. Ricardo’s and Martin’s demons own their souls?” Ivan theorized.

“That makes sense to me,” Sephie said. “I’m also curious whether Ricardo and Martin are the ones who initiated the deal. It feels more like Armando just gave in to his demon. Like as much as I hate him, he didn’t have an easy childhood. Feels likehe just gave in to evil and accepted that’s how life was supposed to go. His demon saw an opportunity and took it. Ricardo and Martin are next level somehow.”

She had been fidgeting with my hands while she thought through the situation out loud with all of us. I could feel the goosebumps rising over my arms the more she talked. “Look at me,” I said when she was finished. She turned toward me, her deep purple eyes making it obvious she was on the right track.

“Purple?” she asked when she saw my familiar smirk that meant her eyes had changed. I nodded.

“Your dad did tell me that the deals Ricardo and Martin made were such that their souls would be tied to those demons for eternity. Armando is now separated from his demon, so his soul gets a fresh start in the next life. For whatever reason, Ricardo and Martin can’t be separated from their demons now, so they both go to Hell,” I said.

“I realize we don’t have specifics on why that is, but I would like to know why that is, at some point,” Stephen said. “Not just because I’m having performance anxiety knowing my particular set of skills are ineffective against those two either.”

I could feel Sephie’s irritation at Stephen’s words. I knew he was about to get reprimanded.

“Don’t do that, Stephen. Your soul isn’t as old as ours. Your demon likely isn’t either. You’ve already come up with your own level up that nobody saw coming. Who’s to say that won’t continue? Who’s to say that both of you won’t be needed at some point so you also learn how to do it? Demon crushing is still, and will always be on the table, for you. Stop comparing yourself to others.”

He had a sly grin that was turning up one side of his mouth as he tried not to laugh at her being miffed with him. He looked at her for a moment, then said, “You know that feeling that Iimagine kids have when their parents admonish them for any kind of negative self-talk? Yeah, that’s me right now. I just got scolded. Why am I so happy about it though?” He finally let a quiet laugh out.

“You’re happy about it because you know she loves you. We all do. Your gift is pretty badass on its own, man. I don’t know that I’d want the responsibility of having to condemn people for eternity,” Misha said.

“It’s not something I plan to use often. Assuming I ever figure out how to use it in the first place,” I said.

“We’re a team. We’ve always been a team. We’ll always be a team. Just like before we met Sephie, we each have unique talents that we bring to the table and the team is stronger because of it. Just because we can do weird shit now doesn’t mean that changes,” Ivan said. I could feel his irritation that Stephen would even doubt himself.

“You’re so eloquent, Squish,” Sephie said, giggling.

“One other point that Sephie’s dad brought up was that it had to be all of us for this to work. No one is more important than anyone else. It’s all or nothing. We’re all here, together, in this lifetime for a reason. We all found each other for this. Just like Ivan said, we’ll always be a team. Each member is just as important as the next,” I said.

Stephen was looking at the floor, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees as we talked. His sly grin spread across his face once more as he looked up at all of us. “So this is what having a real family is like.”

Chapter Sixty

Sephie

We decided to stay atthe house until it was time to meet with Trino the following evening. It meant we had one more day to relax and not worry quite so much about everything else going on.

Because of Stephen’s admission about his wavering confidence in his abilities now that Adrik had been leveled up, I decided that today was the day he was finally going to the lake. Because he and Viktor were almost always the ones who went with Adrik to his office anytime we were at the house, it meant Stephen hadn’t been dragged to the lake by me like the others had. And it was starting to show.

“Get your coat, Yoden. We’re going on an adventure,” I said, once everyone had cleaned up from our morning workouts.

“Well, this sounds like a fun addition to my day. Is it like a side quest kind of mission? Multi-day mission? Do I need to find someone to feed my bearded dragon?” he asked.

I laughed. “I didn’t know you had a bearded dragon, Yoden. I’ve been to your apartment, even. I never saw it.”

“I don’t. It just sounded like something someone would need to feed when gone for multiple days,” he said, laughing as he walked back toward his room to grab his coat.

I looked at Ivan, who was in the kitchen with me and having a hard time not laughing at our exchange. “I don’t know how youcan both love someone so much and hate them just as much all at once,” I said.

“Want company, princess? Or this side quest needs to be a solo venture?” Ivan asked.

“The more the merrier, Squish. I’ve never dragged Stephen to the lake before. Today’s the big day for him. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Oh, I’m getting in on that. I’ve been wanting to see this for months now,” he said as he quickly left the kitchen to also grab his coat.

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