King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

King of the Underworld

469

Sephle

The guys were all laughing as we walked into the kitchen. They all looked to me, like they knew I was about to make their morning even better. I was taken aback by their knowing glances.

“We can feel your f**kery, gazelle. I, for one, am very excited about this development in my life,” Misha said.

Adrik caught my eye, his mischievous grin slowly creeping atross his face. “Apparently, I’m not the only one,” he said, kissing my temple.

“Not the only one for what?” Ivan asked.

“He can feel all of you the same way I can now. He knew you guys were here before I did this morning. He can tell you the order you came up, even,” I said.

They all looked at Adrik skeptically, like they didn’t believe him.

“Ivan, Stephen, Andrei, Viktor, Misha,” he said.

“Okay, so new level unlocked,” Ivan said, laughing.

“We were

talking this morning. It feels like the connection is getting stronger each time we do something new,” Andrei said. “It used to only get stronger for Sephie, but now I think it’s getting stronger for all of us.”

with me anymore, either. You’re picking up more between each other now, too,”

at the meeting with Battista. We can’t figure out why. There were

I was going to bring it up this morning. Any theories?”

my mother and Kostya. Maybe they knew and were hiding from her?” Adrik

“Bubba, did you by chance do any snooping with her? Do you know if she could see everything?

when I saw her zero in on Ivan. It worried

man. I didn’t know

saw when Jessica looked at Ivan, then me, then Adrik. She couldn’t see our demons, but she could very clearly see the outline of a pair of wings behind each of us. My dad had told me that Ivan’s wings were black, whi te, and red. Jessica could only see the whi te in his wings, but they looked different to her than what Kostya and Lena looked like. She saw the same difference when she looked at me

stood in stunned silence for a few moments. Andrei and Misha worked together to push it to Viktor and Stephen at the

she’ll be able to eventually see how much cooler yours are than everyone else’s.” It helped snap him back to reality as well. Adrik quietly slid his arm around my waist. I felt the pull in my chest from him, knowing he was thinking about how much more this made him love me, just as I was

way, but they look different than you guys,” Andrei said. He pushed us the images of both Lena and Kostya that she had seen. “She called them ghosts because she didn’t think anyone would believe her and she wasn’t even sure if angels were

them,” Stephen said after seeing what Andrei was sharing with all of

though. Just to bring it back around to that,” Ivan said. “I would like to know why

were quieter because you listened to them last time. They didn’t have to shout this time,” Misha said. “The more I used my gift at first, the more subtle it got. But it was also clearer. Maybe that’s what’s happening. They were louder the first few times, you

be subtle.”

uncomfortable with this conversation. I was hyper-aware of his

back in the present moment, surprising everyone by saying, “Kostya said he thinks Misha is right. He’s not

repeat it a few more times. Just to be sure

most memorable,” Ivan sald, raising his eyebrow at Misha. The rest of us could do nothing but laugh. Misha’s cheeks got red, but he was laughing with the rest of us. I walked to where

conversation and everything that had happened recently while I started breakfast. Finally, he looked up at everyone. “I think we should have another conversation with Dario. I want to make sure we didn’t miss anything the last time. It’s been a while since we’ve been in the same room

Stephen for a few moments. “Is there a reason this popped into your head now, Yoden? Have you been thinking about Dario or