Chapter 449


    449


    Sephie


    We arrived at the hotel where Mr. Turner worked to meet with Battista and his associates, once again


    like modern-day royalty. Vitaliy was with us, as were all his guys, minus the little flowers. I watched Ilya


    as he was working. He fit in perfectly with Vitaliy’s other guys. He was considerably younger than the


    rest of them, but he knew exactly what to do, exactly when to do it. They worked together like they’d


    been a team for years, rather than weeks. I caught his eye as we were walking up to the front door of


    the hotel, he smiled broadly at me, then went right back to boss mode. It made me happy to see him


    happy. His light had stayed just as bright as it was since Stephen scared off the darkness hanging


    around him.


    Vitaliy’s other guys were almost happier to be rid of the little flowers than Vitaliy was. It meant they


    coulde to dinner with him again. Apparently the way to all of these men’s hearts was through their


    stomachs.


    As we approached the door to the hotel, we were greeted by Mr. Turner, who was just as happy as


    always to see us. I stepped away from Adrik, to give Mr. Turner a hug before we continued inside.


    Battista was waiting on us in the empty restaurant, like usual. He was standing with three men this


    time. I couldn’t help but feel relief when I saw there was no woman with them. While the guys were


    usually very serious while they were working. I heard them allugh quietly when they felt my relief at


    seeing Battista standing with only men.


    “Not gonna lie, princess, I might’ve enjoyed watching you embarrass that woman thest time a little


    too much,” Ivan said silently.


    Before I could answer him, Adrik responded, “Let it y out, Ivan. We both know she’s equal


    opportunity. If this guy deserves it, it’ll be just as glorious as the woman.” He looked down at me,


    smirking, as we continued the rest of the way to Battista.


    “This is the first time I’ve regretted being able to hear both of your thoughts,” I said. I could hear both of


    themughing in my head, but outwardly, they looked as serious as ever. They were really getting good


    at this.


    I caught Andrei’s eye as Battista was making the introductions with Vitaliy. He let me see what he saw


    when he looked at the men with Battista. I felt Misha’s nauseaing on, but I couldn’t tell which one it


    was from right away. I just knew it was one of them that was making Misha nauseous.


    “Ivan? Anything?” I asked.


    “Definitely. Short guy on the end. I saw it as we walked up. It’s stepped back, though,” he said.


    “Same guy


    Andrei pointed out. Misha confirms it, too.”


    Stephen and I had discussed our options before we came to the hotel. If there was a situation like we


    had with Ilya, where the demon wasn’t necessarily attached, we would signal to him to speak to see if


    he could scare it away. If the demon was already attached, it was going to be slightly more


    complicated. We would wait to reveal who he was until a littleter. Since we didn’t have much


    experience, we were hoping to gain some knowledge on how they would react to us.


    Battista motioned for Adrik to meet his associates. He didn’t let go of me as he went to greet them. The


    first two men were fine when he shook their hands. Thest man, the one that everyone had pointed


    out, made Adrik feel nauseous when he shook his hand. Because he was still touching me, I could feel


    what he felt.


    Ivan’s bubble went up around me as I went through the line, shaking everyone’s hands as well. I wasn’t


    worried about our eyes changing since we now all had contacts in, but this time was different. I knew


    our eyes were ck, even without seeing them. It felt simr to the agitation we felt around Viktor, but


    stronger. Our demons were itchy.


    Battista took my hand, flipping it over to kiss the back of it, as he always did. As he looked up, he


    raised an eyebrow, silently asking if there was anything to be worried about as everyone else moved


    toward the table. I nodded once, discreetly. He looked almost excited as we walked to the table.


    The business associates of Battista hade to the city under the guise of investing in various


    projects throughout the city. None of these projects were real, but Adrik, Vitaliy, and Battista discussedContent is ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org.


    them as if they were. I stayed quiet, watching everyone as they talked with each other. I felt nothing


    bad from two associates, but I could tell the third one was watching us just as carefully as we were


    watching him.


    Andrei caught my eye, telling me that the guy was focused on me, Adrik, and Ivan. “He knows there’s


    something different about you three, but he can’t figure out what.”


    1/3


    449


    “Ivan told me his demon stepped back when we first got here. Can you feel it?” I asked.


    “Yeah, it’s the same as that woman before. Not cold, I mean. But it’s there, whether it’s in control or not.


    It’s definitely there.”


    “I’m so impressed that you can feel that now, Bubba,” I said, winking at him when no one was looking.


    “How’s Misha? Tell him to stop looking at the guy. I can feel his nausea when he does.”


    Andrei coughed once to keep fromughing, then I saw him have a silent conversation with Misha.


    Misha caught my eye, grinning at me. Stephen was quiet, as was Viktor. Since we hadn’t figured out a


    way tomunicate with Stephen yet, he was mostly on his own, but he could still feel what I felt. I


    was certain he had felt both Misha’s nausea, as well as Adrik’s when it came to the one business


    associate we’d singled out. He was staying quiet, for now. Doing what he did best. Watching. Waiting.


    The conversation shifted from business to more benign subjects. The three men were from different


    areas in western Europe. In an effort to keep the conversation going. I asked questions about where


    they were from, capitalizing on the dumb woman stereotype. They indulged me, happy to answer my


    questions.


    “Are your demons getting itchy?” Ivan asked.


    “The whole time we’ve been here,” Adrik answered.


    “He’s focused on the three of us. He knows there’s something different about us, but he doesn’t know


    what yet. What can you see, Ivan?” I asked.


    Instead of describing what he saw when he looked at the man, he pushed a snapshot to both me and


    Adrik. We could see the man, but we could also see the demon, just behind his face. Like a demonic


    shadow.


    “That was impressive,” Adrik said.


    “Show off.” I said, trying not tough.


    “What are we going to do with him?” Ivan asked. It was a good question. Battista had told us he simply


    wanted to know if there was a reason to be wary of this man. We had plenty of reasons to be wary of


    him. I ended up asking Vitaliy, in Russian, if any of these men spoke Italian. He shook his head no,


    then looked at everyone like I had just reminded him of a funny story rted to the topic they were all


    discussing. As he finished up his pretend story, I looked at Battista, asking him in Italian how far he


    wanted us to take this.


    Without s*ipping a beat, he answered me quickly in Italian and then followed Vitaliy’s lead, making up a


    reason for me to be speaking Italian to him. None of them were any the wiser.


    “He said he wants him exposed; however we need to make that happen. He said the other two know


    enough that they won’t freak out,” I told Ivan and Adrik.


    “We need to ditch the contacts, then,” Ivan said.


    “Agreed,” Adrik responded.


    I leaned over, whispering to Adrik, “would you gentlemen like to escort me to the restroom?” He stood


    up, extending his hand to me. He looked at Ivan, who stood up with us as well. He excused us, walking


    toward the back of the restaurant. I gave Andrei a quick update as we were leaving.


    They surprised me bying into the women’s bathroom with me. I couldn’t help butugh at them.


    “This is some weird porn fantasy right here,” I said, walking to the sink so I could take my contacts out.


    Ivan groaned when he took his out. “I understand why your eyes have been so itchy, princess. I do not


    want to wear these things any longer than I absolutely have to.”


    “You do get used to them,” I said. “But I still don’t like wearing them for extended periods.”


    We all looked at each other, our eyes turning ck immediately. We couldn’t keep fromughing at


    each other.


    “I think we unlocked a new level. I’ve never noticed my demon get this itchy before when we’ve been


    around another demon. I don’t know what that means,” Adrik said. “It kind of worries me.”


    2/3


    449


    I thought for a minute, trying to get a sense of what was going on. “I don’t think we’re the ones that


    should be worried about it. I think they’re trying


    to help us more as each new thing happens. It feels like mine is trying to tell me something.” I said.


    “New level for sure,” Ivan said, grinning at me. “So, what’s the n for this dude?”


    King of the Underworld