King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

364

Sephle

Andrei looked at his watch, then looked at Adrik, then to me. “They’re still not due back for a while. Can we see?”

he asked, tentatively.

Adrik looked to me, but I put it back on him. “It’s your call and only your call,” I said, still working on making enough

food to feed a small army. Adrik looked at me for a few moments, then smiled. I could tell he was sad to no longer

have the secret, but he also seemed happy to show them. Like he was proud of how weird I was becoming. He

simply nodded his head.

I went to take the contacts out, thankful to have a few moments without them. When I came back to the kitchen, I

was still rubbing my eyes intermittently.

“The contacts bother you, huh?” Andrei asked when he saw me rubbing my eyes.

“Yeah, I can handle them for short periods but they make my eyes itch when I wear them for longer periods,” I said.

I walked to Adrik. It was easy to think about how much I loved him, which I knew would turn my eyes blue. The look

in his eyes let me know it had worked. He wrapped one arm around me, but motioned for both Andrei and Misha to

come to us.

He jerked his head slightly in my direction. “Blue means she’s thinking about how much she loves me,” he said,

showing the Wonder Twins.

“That’s your normal blue. It just took over the other two colors,” Misha said. He was clearly fascinated by my new

trick.

“I call them my mood ring eyes now, since they seem to change with my ever-changing moods,” I said, laughing. I

watched as Andrei and Misha’s eyes got bigger, signaling that my eyes had switched to green.

“Green usually means sarcasm,” Adrik said.

“But you still have the demon eyes, right?” Andrei asked.

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to make them go dark. When I opened my eyes, they both laughed. “Yep, still

there,” Misha said.

“What were the other ones?” Andrei asked,

“Whi te means I’m scared. I’d rather not have to show you that one right now. I don’t know how far away it still

works on Ivan, but he definitely feels it when I’m scared. I don’t want to distract him right now,” I said.

“The only other one we’ve seen is they turned golden brown, almost amber, when she was thinking about Trino

seeing his m om for the last time,” Adrik said. “That’s only happened once, though.”

“You don’t have to try to show us that one, either. I can’t wait until you start making up new colors. I want to see

purple and orange next. Get inventive, spider monkey,” Andrei said, teasing me.

“I would try if I had any clue it was happening. I was only just barely getting a handle on the demon eyes and they

started doing this on their own. I don’t have a clue when it’s happening. It’s not like I can feel it. I just see it in his

expression that they’ve changed, but I still sometimes have to ask what color they are,” I said, looking at Adrik.

“Are you going to tell Stephen and Viktor about it?” Misha asked. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face when he

asked.

“Might as well. They’ve both likely noticed the absence of her demon eyes, just as you did,” Adrik said.

“Ten bucks says Stephen offers to turn you to a vampire because of it,” Misha said.

“You’re on,” I said, laughing at him.

I managed to pull Adrik away from the Wonder Twins when I went to put the contacts back in before Viktor got back

with Vitaliy and his men. He was standing behind me in his new favorite spot while I put my contacts in, his arms

wrapped around my waist, his chin resting on my shoulder.

“You’re okay with having told them?” I asked. I was fairly certain he didn’t mind telling them, but I also knew how

much he loved having a secret that was just between us.

“Of course, solnishko. I knew it was only a matter of time before they found out. I sometimes forget how observant

they all are, especially of you. Ivan just has a leg up because he can feel your emotions like I can, but given what

happened earlier, I think Misha might be tapping into that as well. You didn’t look angry when he asked about your

demon eyes. You never look angry, unless you’re an absolute raging inferno and even then, you generally only look

slightly miffed,” he said, rubbing his stubble against my neck lightly.

I laughed. “I wasn’t a raging inferno, but I was angry about them being picked on. I wish I would’ve known it was

happening while we were down there. I would’ve put a stop to it,” I said. I caught him smiling at me in the mirror as

I put the second contact in. It was a strange sight to see my one seemingly normal eye and one demon eye.

“You should only wear one contact at a time, just to f**k with people,” he said, laughing.

“I don’t think the guys are going to like how busy that’s going to keep them, fighting off random people that think

I’m possessed.”

“Worth it,” he said, still laughing, his lips against my neck. “As for the Wonder Twins’ problem, I’ll talk to Vitaliy.

Those guys haven’t been with him long, but I won’t stand for them disrespecting my men.”

“Is that going to cause even more problems, though? If they already have animosity toward you and I, will that just

make it worse? What if Andrei and Misha give them an old-fashioned attitude adjustment? Do you think that will

work? Do Vitaliy’s guys have the same kind of training that your guys do?” I asked.

“The other guys do. I don’t know about these two. They haven’t been with my father very long. Two of his guys

retired a few years ago, so he needed replacements. I don’t know much about these two. Aleksei will know,” he

said.

“I know they’re both bothered by it, even though they’re trying to act like they’re not. Misha made me fish it out of

his head what happened. He’s really bothered by it. I’m sure Bubba is too. They’re both the sensitive ones, but they

also shouldn’t have to deal with this. It makes me want to punch both of your father’s guys in the nose.”

“If I haven’t told you lately, you’re extra adorable when your hackles go up,” he said, turning me to face him.

“I don’t have hackles,” I said, matter-of-factly.

“Oh you do. They go up even when you don’t like someone’s tone with one of us. It’s very endearing,” he said. “I

sometimes want to make it worse and then turn you loose, just to see what will happen.”

“You’re a little bit evil,” I said, laughing at him.

“That’s a lie. I’m a lot evil,” he said, pressing his lips to mine.