King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

379

Sephie

I could hear Andrei snoring when I finally woke up. He was louder than Adrik, so I knew who I was sleeping on

before I even opened my eyes. I would’ve been able to tell even if he wasn’t snoring. I wasn’t warm enough. It was

almost warm enough, but not Adrik’s perfect warmth.

I opened my eyes, looking outside to try to get a feel for how late in the day it was. It was definitely afternoon,

judging by the dim winter sunlight coming through the windows. I picked my head up to look at Andrei. He was

pretty adorable when he slept. He was handsome anyway, but he had a boyish innocence to his face when he slept.

I found myself watching him sleep for a few moments, enjoying his peacefulness.

He probably needed this extra sleep as much as I did. I hadn’t thought about it before now, but he had a new level

unlocked between the match with Vitaliy’s men and what happened at the hotel. He was probably exhausted. I

needed to check on Misha and Ivan to see how those two were doing after the last couple of days’ festivities.

I tried to get up as quietly as I could, but his giant arms were still wrapped around me. I knew he was trying to

ensure maximum warmth as I slept. Poor guy must be having a heat stroke with me on top of him plus a blanket.

He felt me trying to quietly move his arms and he woke up.

“I’m so glad you finally did this, spider monkey. I was exhausted too. You’re my favorite,” he said, letting go of me

to rub his face in his hands.

I laughed. “i was just thinking about that. You got a new level unlocked. It always makes me exhausted when it

happens. Are Misha and Ivan just as exhausted as you?”

“I think they’re okay. Boss said he’s never seen it affect Ivan this morning when he moved you out here.”

I thought for a minute. He was right. It had never affected Ivan the same way it did everyone else. “Huh. I never

noticed, but you’re right. I knew he was a superhuman!” I said, laughing as I got off the couch and Andrei. I stood

up to stretch, my joints popping like normal.

Andrei stood up next to me, looking at his phone that had been on the coffee table. He opened it and started

typing. “I know if I’m this hungry, you are too. I’ll have someone pick up Vinny’s for us.”

“Bubba, how much longer are you going to make me wait to marry me? I mean, seriously. Stop toying with me

already,” I said. He grinned at me. He’d finally gotten over his nervousness with me teasing him about marrying

me.

He pulled me to him, once again wrapping his arms around me, holding me to his chest. “I love you, spider monkey.

But not like that,” he said laughing.

I stepped back from him, feigning outrage. I clutched my chest. “It hurts, Bubba. It hurts right here,” I said,

pretending my heart was breaking. When I looked up at him, he looked surprised.

“Green really does mean sarcasm,” he said, smiling at me. I smiled at him, but the sadness from the night before

came back. He picked up on it immediately. It seemed like Andrei was very quickly becoming very sensitive to my

subtle mood changes, just like Ivan. He was almost as good as Adrik, especially considering it hadn’t been

happening very long for him. “Don’t be sad, spider monkey. It changes nothing. It was just shocking last night when

we saw the whi te eyes. Boss was right. They’re scarier than your demon eyes. We just didn’t know what to him, his

strong arms holding me tightly. “Nobody is going to be uncomfortable around you because of it.”

he said, pulling me back to

I sighed, nodding my head, but didn’t say anything. He was quiet for a few moments, then added, “all of this is

strange for all of us, but we’ve had you to help us through it. You’ve had to deal with everything on your own for so

long that it’s going to feel scary to share with us, but you’re the reason I can do what I can do now. I saw you doing

it so easily and it gave me courage to try.”

I remembered what the acupuncturist had told me about Andrei. I laughed quietly. I looked up at him. “Nobody

thought you were going to figure it out this lifetime. You’re the youngest out of all of us,” I said.

He looked confused. “I’m older than Misha, spider monkey.”

I smiled at him. “Your body is older than Misha, but his soul is older than yours. Your soul is the youngest.” I thought

for a minute, then added, “which really just goes to show how smart and capable you are. You surprised everyone.”

“How do you know this?”

I looked up at him, trying to gauge whether he could handle the truth. I decided he could. “You know my dad is a bit

of a guardian angel, righ for Adrik’s mother. They’re around, checking in on us.” He nodded his head. “There are

also guardian angels that live among us.”

“The acupuncturist,” he said, like he’d just answered the riddle.

“Did you fish that out of my head or you figured it out before?” I asked.

“I saw there’s something different about her. She has a glow that most people don’t have,” he said.

“She’s the only one you’ve seen that glow on?” I was curious if he’d picked up on Ivan.

He shook his head no. “Ivan has it now too. I never noticed it before he got hurt that day they tried to take you the

first time. You and Boss do to but I don’t see it all the time on you three. I’ve seen it every time on the

acupuncturist.”

“How long have you been able to see this?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Since I was a kid. I’ve never told anyone because I didn’t want them to think I was

crazy. My m om probably would’ve made me wear glasses because she thought there was something wrong with

my eyes. I don’t always notice it. Like I don’t walk around looking at glowing people all day long. The acupuncturist

is the only one I’ve seen that has it every single time.”

“Does everyone look the same?”

“No. Different colors. The acupuncturist is gold. Ivan’s changes. So does yours and so does Boss’s.”

“I’m so impressed, Bubba. You had levels I didn’t even know about,” I said, grinning at him.

After our sandwiches changed our lives for the better and allowed us a brief stay in gastro-intestinal heaven, we

made our way to Adrik’s office. I was trying to find out what his schedule was like and what Vitaliy was doing today.

No sooner had I walked into the doorway and he looked up like he was expecting me to walk through the door. His

wide smile stretched across his face. “You look lighter. You needed that,” he said as he pushed his chair back from

his desk, opening his arms for me.

“Andrei did too, apparently. That kid has levels I didn’t even know about yet, but he feels much better too.”

He raised his eyebrow at me, but we were interrupted by Viktor coming into the office with his next meeting. “I’ll

tell you later,” I said, kissing him quickly before leaving the office with Viktor.