Chapter Three Hundred Nineteen 

Sephle 

Misha and Adrik were in the process of making me yet more broth and another egg when the other four guys walked back into the penthouse. The shock was evident on their faces, even more so once Misha informed them it was the second time in an hour that I’d eaten. 

“Misha wanted to call you guys when I asked for solid food earlier,” I said, still laughing at him. 

“Would’ve been worth it,” Viktor said. “We’ve all been worried about you, sestrichka.” 

“I know. Don’t blame me. It’s my stomach. She has a mind of her own. She’s wild. Untamed.” 

“What did you find at the airport?” Adrik asked, sliding a plate with one more egg on it in front of me. 

“Sal left a day and a half ago. It was the middle of the night when he left, so either Trino was right and he had tunnels, or his guys fell asleep and missed him leaving.” Viktor said. 

“Do we know where he went?” Misha asked. 

“They didn’t log a flight path until they were already in the air,” Ivan said. 

Adrik looked at Andrei. “We’re trying to save the small amount of energy that Sephie has right now. We want to see if you or I can help Misha find Sal, without him having to use her.” 

“Does helping Misha zap your energy, spider monkey?” Andrei asked. 

“Honestly, I don’t know. It’s hard to tell what’s what right now. I didn’t think so, but the night we found Tori and Max was right before I started sleeping for days at a time again, so I don’t know. Could be my lung, could be helping Misha,” I said. 

Andrei looked at me for a minute, like he was completely lost in thought. “It was your lung, but I can see if it works with me. It’s good to have options,” he said, smiling his handsome smile at me. “What do I have to do?” he asked Misha. 

“Just concentrate on Sal,” I said. “Misha does the rest.” 

“Like think of his face?” Andrei asked. I nodded my head. 

“If it works the same for you as it does for me, you’ll be able to see what Misha sees like it’s in front of you,” I said. 

Andrei nodded his head, then extended his hand to Misha. It took a few minutes, but we could see Misha squeeze Andrei’s hand tighter, which always meant he was seeing something. Andrei’s eyes went wide, but he wasn’t looking at anything we could see. We knew they’d found him. We were just waiting to see where they found him. 

They watched the movie that only they could see for several minutes before it stopped. “That was weird,” Andrei said once they joined us back in our reality. 

“Was it like a movie?” I asked. 

“It was just like when you help me, gazelle,” Misha said. 

“That’s because Bubba is like me,” I said, grinning at Andrei. 

“Like you how? Like his rapidly improving observation skills?” Viktor asked. 

“Those, yes. But he’ll be able to know things before they happen like me soon too. That’s why Adrik asked him about me staying behind when you guys went to meet the journalist with Chen,” I said. 

“That’s how he knew you felt like shi t still,” Stephen said. “I was wondering if that was a lucky guess or not.” 

“It just popped in my head and I said it before I really thought about it, but she said that’s how she reads our minds all the time, Andrei said. 

Stephen laughed loudly, which was somewhat out of character for him. We all looked to him, somewhat puzzled. “I’m just glad I already told you guys I was g ay because I would’ve never slept another minute knowing that both Andrei and Sephie can do this. I would’ve had to find another job. 1 would’ve been a wreck.” 

“I love that the vampire among us is worried about mind reading. Isn’t that how you get your victims to willingly comply?” I asked, laughing. 

“Oh, I’m totally fine with it when I’m the one doing the reading. I prefer not to be read. 900 years, Seph. There’s plenty I’m not proud of in here,” he said, tapping his temple. 

*900 years of making you awesomely hilarious and smart as f**k. I fail to see the issue here,” I said. It was hard to catch Stephen off guard, but I managed to do it. His mo uth fell open. He didn’t know how to respond. He just walked to me, putting his arm around my shoulders, and kissing my 

cheek. 

“You’re just the best, Seph,” he said, quietly. 

“So, where is Sal?” Adrik asked Misha.. 

“He’s in Italy. I can’t be completely sure, but it looked like he was not too far from Armando’s place in Naples. But I haven’t been to Italy very much, so everything might look the same to me, I don’t know,” Misha said. 

“It farrows it down slightly,” Viktor said. 

“You guys can try again later and see if you can narrow it down further,” I said, winking at Andrei who still looked surprised it had worked. 

“What if Misha uses both of us?” Andrei asked. “You seem to give him the most clarity, spider monkey. Maybe you can still give him that, but it won’t zap your energy if he uses me too.” 

“Maybe,” Adrik said, firmly. “Let’s see how she gets through the day. I don’t want her to go right back to sleeping the entire day.” 

“The bigger question is how are we going to tell Trino that we know where he is?” Ivan asked. “I mean, Trino’s been cool with the very little glimpses he’s gotten into Sephie’s weirdness, but I’m not sure I like the idea of him knowing everything.” 

Andrei once again got a look like he was thinking about something else and not at all paying attention to our conversation. “He already knows. It’s partly why he’s so enamored with Sephie.” 

“He does?” Ivan asked. 

I laughed. “I suspected he did, too, but never thought much about it and never tried to clarify,” I said. 

“Santeria is common in Colombia. It wouldn’t be a stretch for him to believe Sephie has special powers,” Andrei said. 

I couldn’t help but giggle. “I want to make him think I’m a voodoo priestess now. Does anybody have a snake I can borrow? I’ll give it back once he leaves.” 

They all laughed at me; the relief clear on their faces that I was starting to feel better. Ivan looked at Andrei, saying, “you really are a genius. She feels much better.” 

I smiled widely at Ivan. It made me happy to see them help Andrei be more confident in his newfound abilities. “As for your earlier question, Squish, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch that Sal would run to Italy. It’s probably a very safe bet that Ricardo is there as well. They’re likely trying to plan. What about Niko and Vito? Where are they?” I asked. 

Viktor pulled his phone out of his pocket, stepping away to find that answer as well. When he stepped away, I said, “it wouldn’t surprise me if they also ran. They’re probably still trying to come up with a plan to make this coup happen anyway. I almost want to let them. If Lorenzo was the logistical brains behind this, whatever these mo rons come up with should be hilarious.” 

Viktor walked back to the kitchen, with a stressed look on his face. Ivan grinned at me, then asked, “Niko and Vito ran too, didn’t they? Viktor just nodded his head, looking surprised. “Sephie called it when you stepped away to check on them.” Viktor’s wide smile stretched across his face as he walked to me, putting his arm around my shoulders, and kissing the top of my head. “It’s good to have you back, sestrichka,” he said.