Chapter 443


    443


    Adrik


    Vinny looked through the paperwork. Anna leaned over, also ncing at the paperwork in front of them.


    They talked quietly to each other, discussing options.


    “You can take it home and think about it, Vinny. I don’t need an answer today. I said, trying to take


    some of the perceived pressure off of them. “Everything you need is there. Feel free to call Neal or


    myself if you have questions.”


    Vinny still looked too stunned to speak, but they both stood up. “i would appriciate just a little time to


    make sure this works for us,” he said. “But you’ll have your answer by Monday, at thetest.”


    “That’s fine, Vinny, I know you have a lot going on. Take all the time you need It’s yours until you decide


    you don’t want it,” I said, standing with them. Sephie jumped off the cab and came to stand next to


    me.


    Vinny looked at her, smiling at her. “Somehow I think you had something to do with this, be.”


    “Nope. This was all him. He might’ve thought about it because my stomach is a long-term rtionship


    with you, but really that’s on you. You did this to yourself, Vinny,” she said. She’d put her contacts in


    beforeing to the meeting, but I knew her eyes were green.


    Vinny and Anna bothughed at her statement. They both thanked me and hugged Sephie once again


    before Stephen escorted them back downstairs. Neal stayed for a few more minutes, catching me up


    on other business. I noticed Sephie walk to Misha and Andrei, asking them both their thoughts on what


    Vinny would do. They quietly discussed everything while Neal and I talked about other matters.


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    I caught myself thinking back to the conversation we’d had that morning, where she was concerned


    she was keeping them from living their own lives. I watched as they readily discussed things with her


    that I knew for a fact they wouldn’t be able to discuss with anyone else. She gave them a space to be


    completely authentic. She just didn’t realize how important that was yet. She didn’t know they’d do


    whatever it took to keep it.


    We got to the house early enough that Sephie wanted to take a walk first thing. She loved being able to


    go outside without fear of anything. It made me feel somewhat guilty that we hadn’t been to the house


    in a while..


    “Don’t feel guilty,” she said,cing her fingers through mine as we walked toward the woods. “We’re


    here now. That’s what matters.”


    We walked in silence, enjoying thest bit of daylight. I could feel the stress melting away as we


    walked. I smiled to myself, thinking about how Sephie really was magic in her own way. She always


    knew just what I needed.


    She felt the pull in my chest and nced up at me. She smiled her sweet smile that spark in her eyes


    that was reserved only for me. “I can say the same for you, you know,” she said as we headed back


    toward the house.


    I stopped her before we got all the way out of the woods, pulling her against me. I loved the way the


    fading daylight made her hair look. There were at least ten different shades of red and orange in the


    last rays of sunlight. It made her hair look like it really was on fire. Fier eyes were normal, which was


    bing a rarity, but I found myself loving it just as much as when they changed. Those were the


    eyes that I fell in love with. Those were the eyes that first looked at my soul and loved every piece of


    me.


    I smiled at her, turning away from her. “Get on. We both know you don’t walk back to the house,” I said.


    I heard her giggle as she jumped on my back. She wrapped her arms around my neck and shoulders


    as I bounced her higher and walked us back to the house. I could feel her happiness the entire


    way.


    The guys were all in the back room when we got back. She ditched her coat and went to the kitchen to


    start dinner. We all happily followed her. Viktor still felt somewhat guilty about taking the weekend off,


    even though it was my idea, so he made sure there were plenty of gitceries at the house when


    we arrived.


    She started pulling things out of the refrigerator as the guys all moved to the chairs around the kitchen


    ind. I caught her ncing at all of them.


    1/2


    She hade up with a new signal for Andrei, since I caught theirst one. wasn’t going to tell her I’d


    caught this one as well. She found the answer to her silent question, a small smile on her face.


    She stopped what she was doing, looking at all of them. “You’re all wondering hy Viktor irritates you


    now, aren’t you?”


    There was an audible exhale from all of them. “YES,” they all groaned.


    “We’ve been trying to figure it out. We also think Ivan knows something he’s not telling us,” Misha said.


    He was clearly frustrated with not being able to solve the puzzle.


    Sephie giggled. “Ivan does know something. He found outst night, but he’s being nice to me and


    letting me tell you,” she said, winking at Ivan.


    “Why didn’t we find outst night?” Misha asked. He was somewhat indignant about the matter, which


    made it even funnier.


    “Because I didn’t want Viktor to be around when I told you. It’s easier to ask one of you to stay behind


    than it is for me to ask Viktor to go away so we can obviously talk about him,” she said.


    “That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?” Stephen asked.


    I nodded. “Well, not the only reason. I needed a break. She needed a way to tell you guys what


    happened without Viktor around. She’s worried about singling him out. She doesn’t want him to feel left


    out of anything,” I said.


    “What happened, spider monkey? What do you know?” Andrei asked..


    “Kostya came to me. Same way my dad and his mome to me. Just slightly creepier because I


    wasn’t expecting a kid,” she said as they allughed at her still obvious difort. She exined why


    they all felt different around Viktor now.


    “But we don’t control our demons the same way you three do,” Andrei said.


    “Not yet, you don’t. But you made the choice to learn how to. By doing so, I think your connection is


    already stronger. Your connections to me are stronger, as well as Adrik now. If it’s not already, it will be


    to Ivan soon, too. The connections between the three of us are stronger because of our demons. It


    should be that way with you three soon. As such, we’ll never have the same kind of connection with


    Viktor,” she said. “But that’s okay, too. He has good reason to be afraid of our demons. It’s just going to


    take his soul little longer to get to the point that we’re at. He’s still very much all in with what’s going on.


    He’s not going anywhere.” She looked at Stephen, her wide smile stretching across her face, as she


    added, “and Yoden gets to help him deal with his trauma so that he’s morefortable around us.”