King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

470

Adrik

That afternoon, once we’d arrived at the house, Viktor surprised the rest of in by asking if he could take Sephie for a walk, just the two of them, while she was upstairs for a minute.

“I still have making up to do with her from everything that’s happened,” Viktor said.

“You do,” Ivan agreed. “But that’s the best place to do it. Make sure you tell her everything, though. She already knows anyway, but she needs to hear you say it.”

Viktor chuckled. “You’re not the only one that’s told me that recently,” he said. Apparently, he and Kostya spoke quite often. Much more than the rest of us were aware of. If he was getting that kind of advice from him, I wasn’t going to be mad about it though.

Sephie walked into the back room, where the rest of us were. Her smile made the room brighter as her eyes landed on me. It didn’t seem to matter how long we spent together, she was always happy to see me after even the shortest time away from me. I loved it. I couldn’t get enough of it..

“Sestrichka, I was hoping you’d like to take a walk with me?” Viktor asked. I don’t think I’d ever seen him so timid. He was nervous, but at least he was finally trying to make things truly right once again.

“I would love to, Papa Bear. But now I have to go get my coat. Shockingly, I’m cold,” she said, grinning at all of us before jogging back upstairs.

“Her lung is getting better and better. She’s acting more like her old self,” Stephen observed.

in the morning if you want to come too,” Misha said. “Hopefully this time she’ll be able to catch her

her struggle to breathe was still one of the most horrifying things I’d ever seen. It’s the biggest reason that I was

me, leaning down to kiss me before leaving with Viktor. I thought back to how shy she used to be about any sort

gone,” she said as they walked out the back doors. She slid her arm through Viktor’s as they walked around the pool toward the gardens, then stopped to look at a few of the rose bushes, noticing that there were the tiniest little buds starting to appear. I could feel the warmth from

she’s so forgiving. I

been really hard on her, especially since she’s so connected to all of us now. She’s not with him and she feels that every time we’re all together. She said it’s a constant reminder of his rejection. She understands why he chose the decision he did, but she’s struggled with how long it’s taken him to be okay with the

the same level as her. It’s obvious to us that his connection is the weakest, too,” Andrei said.

his connection will keep slowly increasing. It seems like he’s talking to Kostya very regularly,” Stephen said, in his usual reasonable manner.

you’re right. As much as she worries that she’s holding you all back from living your own lives, she really enjoys the connection she has with

now?” Ivan

back from living your lives. From finding girlfriends. She thinks Stephen will have an easier time, but only just barely. She brought up the conversation we had about it in Italy, when Ivan pointed out how difficult it was going to

seem to matter how much I reassure her, she’s still worried

he’d made a connection. “That’s what she was worried about,” he said. We all looked at him, waiting for an explanation. “The last time Viktor had a ‘moment,’ when she broke down you were downstairs talking to him. I could feel her worry about Viktor, but then something else came up. I asked

She doesn’t know how to turn it off to spare you from having to feel

a few moments, mulling over what I’d just told them. I could actually feel their own inner turmoil, trying

control. She doesn’t realize she’s giving us a gift to be able to feel that