Chapter 232
King of the Underworld
Chapter Two Hundred Thirty-Two Adrik He pulled a chair up next to her, his hand still on her shoulder. He was trying to keep her here. The rest of the guys quietly went back to what they were doing, trying to give them as much privacy as they could, but I was sure they were all eavesdropping as much as possible. She sighed, looking up at him.
She glanced at me as well, then back to Ivan. âI was thinking about everything thatâs happened the last week or so. Mostly about the Glana thing I feel like itâs my fault, somehow. Like I shouldâve been nicer to her and this wouldnât have happened. Then I started to think about Chucky and my mind went blank and you were standing next to me,â she said.
While the guys had tried to appear busy when she started talking, they were now blatantly listening to what she was telling Ivan. It made me smile that they were all so concerned about her.
âYour mind is going blank, Seph?â Stephen asked her.
She nodded her head. âI didnât know I was doing it until Adrik pointed it out.â
âDoes it happen often?â Andrei asked. He gave Stephen a knowing look, which surprised me.
âSheâs done it a few times since Mike. Itâs been a few days since it happened last, I think. It didnât happen at all when we were at the house, did it?â Ivan asked, looking at me.
âNo, I didnât catch her doing it at all when we were there,â I said. I looked at Stephen, asking. âdo you have more insight into why sheâs doing it or what we can do to help her? It seems that talking about things helps her not do it for a while.â
but it In his usual calm, serious manner, he thought for a few minutes. While he was thinking, Andrei said, âitâs happened to me before. After a bad concussion. Sephieâs had at least two bad concussions fairly recently. It eventually went away for me, took a while. I think her brain is still healing. It doesnât help that she has to deal with everything else on top of it.â
Ivan looked at me, then back at Sephie. âMaybe the acupuncture will help again. It helped before. You might need it again.â
Sephie looked at me, silently asking my thoughts. She still wasnât used to believing that she could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She still felt like she needed permission. I found it amusing, but very endearing. I smiled at her, trying to tell her that she didnât need my permission. She looked back to Ivan. âI think I still have her card somewhere. It did help me feel better last time.â
âIâve got her number, Iâve been going to her for years,â Ivan said, a smirk on his face. She raised an eyebrow at him. âWhat? Itâs not like I can feel when something is screwed up. Sometimes I need an outside opinion,â he said. Sephie laughed, leaning over, and resting her head on his shoulder.
âDid this ever happen before to you, Seph?â Stephen asked.
âI think so. I would lose time after that night in the basement with my uncle for a while after I got away from him. It mostly happened when I was alone, so Iâm not sure if itâs the same thing. Iâm not exactly aware when itâs happening, but I would realize that the movie was over and I had no recollection of anything that happened. Things like that,â she said.
âAny idea how long it lasted after you got away from him?â Andrel asked.
âI donât really remember. How long was it for you?â she asked.
âI think It lasted around six months for me, but it was a nasty concussion,â he said.
How did you get it?â she asked.
âCar accident. My buddy was a little too drunk. He swerved to avoid an animal in the road, lost control and hit a tree. I got thrown through the windshield,â he said.
I glanced at Sephie, whoâs eyes were wide in shock. I never knew about this story, either. âWhen did this happen?â I asked.
âJust after high school. I was a sh it in school. Always did what I wasnât supposed to do. My friend was worse. It was good though. The accident was the wake up call I needed,â Andrei said, âWhat happened to your friend?â Misha asked.
âHe walked away from the accident. You know how they always say the drunk people survive the accidents? It was true in this case. He had a couple of bumps and scrapes, but they had to life-flight me to the hospital. They thought I was going to d ie. I havenât touched alcohol since that accident. I donât think my friend can say the same. Last I heard, he was spiraling out of control. He couldnât deal with the guilt,â Andrei said.
I felt Sephieâs eyes on me. I knew she was connecting something, but wasnât sure what just yet. She looked to Ivan with the same look on her face before she looked back to Andrei. âBubba, were you unconscious when you were in the hospital for the first however long?â
He nodded. âI think I was out for four days.â
Thatâs what she was connecting. I caught Ivanâs eye as he realized where she was going with this as well.
âDo you have any memories of when you were out?â she asked. There was a flash of immediate recognition on his face, but he looked like he was uncomfortable talking about it. She quietly got up and went to him. âYou donât have to talk about it, Bubba. But I have a feeling I know exactly what you remember,â she said as she put his giant arm around her shoulders so she could hold onto his waist.
He looked down at her, curious. âWas it like swimming in the nothing? Like you could see your own body but nothing else?â she asked.
Andreiâs eyes went wide. âHow did you know that? Did you just do that mind reading thing to me? Get out of my head!â he said as he put his hand over her eyes.
She laughed, taking his hand from her eyes. âNo, Bubba. It happened to me too. When I was on the plane, thatâs what was happening. Adrikâs voice pulled me out of my nightmare and pulled me there.
His voice is eventually what helped me find my way out.â
âThatâs what happened when I was at the hospital. Sephieâs voice pulled me there out of my nightmare where Iâm trying to ki ll the doctor that experimented on me when I was a kid,â Ivan said.
âThatâs what happened when I was a kid the first time someone tried to get to my father through me.
My fatherâs voice is what pulled me out of it,â I said.
Sephie laughed softly at the shocked expression on Andreiâs face. She then looked to Misha, Stephen, and Viktor. âHave you three had similar experiences too?â
They all had equally shocked expressions on their faces, but they just nodded their heads. Sephie smiled, looking at me. âThatâs why weâre all here together. Weâve always been connected.â