King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

386

Adrik

Once Sephie and I were alone that night, I asked her what had happened with Stephen, both while they had disappeared during the afternoon and what happened when he looked like he was struggling earlier.

She exhaled loudly. “Ugh. So, I want to ki ll his sisters now. I got him to open up a little bit this afternoon. We were making Viktor’s favorite cookies by the way. He gets very grumpy when I haven’t cooked in a few days and it shows,” she said, laughing quietly.

“Why do you want to ki ll his sisters? I didn’t even know he had sisters. He never talks about them,” I said.

“For good reason. His sisters were always mean to him growing up. Much more than normal sibling bickering mean. He told me that’s why it took hi so long to warm up to me. He was waiting for me to turn mean too,” she said. She’d taken her contacts out already and I watched her eyes change t the amber brown that meant she was sad. She climbed on top of me, straddling my lap. “There’s more to the story, but I wasn’t going to make him t me. He really struggled even just with that. That’s what happened in the kitchen earlier. When Misha questioned him, it made him insecure. Stepher doesn’t like me in his head, but I asked him if I could look tonight. I told him I knew he’d made the connection already, but he was frozen by his insecurities. I was right. It was easy to find, but he was over-analyzing because he was worried he was wrong.”

She chewed on her bottom lip, her eyes still golden amber. I could feel how upset she was, but it was different. She was upset for him. She looked at me, her fingers tracing lightly over my facial hair. “I told him this afternoon that he should always trust his first instinct. He’s so smart, but he doesn believe how smart he is. He’s so fr eaking hilarious too, I love him a little more each time he makes a joke about Vlad in front of Vitaliy,” she said, leaning her head on my shoulder in a fit of giggles. I laughed with her. It was quickly becoming one of my favorite things as well. My father was convinced that Vlad was a living person at this point. I certainly wasn’t going to tell him any different.

my phone beeped on the nightstand. Sephie sat up so I could check it. It was

Sephie thank you and I

the message. “The cookies?” I

nodded. “He told me his wife used to make these cookies for him when they first got married. He said he couldn’t get enough of them. I almost didn’t try to make them, because they’re not going to be the same. She was the secret ingredient. But he’s been so grumpy since I haven’t cooked the past few days that I decided to give it a try. It gave me a reason to kidnap Stephen, so I think it worked out. I think those two are slower about figuring out how they’re special because I don’t spend as much

do. One of the other ones will step in to take

start stealing Stephen a little more often. Viktor is going to be more difficult. I need your help with him. He enjoys his job too much. He’s very good at it, don’t get me wrong, but he doesn’t like to

it meant spending time with you. They would all much

when I try to steal him, though. He was also the most unnerved about my eyes changing.

scare him, love. You don’t scare any of them. Viktor loves you just as much as the rest

she didn’t believe me, but

that he had levels you didn’t even know about? What happened?” I asked.

me, wide-eyed. “That kid can see auras