They stepped out of the restaurant into the cool night air. The city lights cast long shadows across the pavent, and the hum of distant traffic mixed with the soft chatter of pedestrians passing by.
Vespera adjusted her coat and glanced at the group. "It’s ti to leave."
Kaiden looked at her and asked, "Would it be possible for us to take a short walk in the city? Just for a bit."
Vespera paused. Her eyes swept across the street, calculating risks and variables in the span of a heartbeat. Then she lifted one hand and snapped her fingers once.
The response was imdiate and overwhelming.
Figures dropped from rooftops with practiced silence, landing in perfect formation around them. A man in a casual business suit who had been walking past suddenly stopped and fell into line. A woman pushing a stroller turned sharply and joined the periter. Then the ground itself rippled, and three more operatives erged from beneath the pavent as if stepping through water.
Within seconds, a full security detail had materialized from nowhere.
Vespera’s voice cut through the air with cold authority. "I’m leaving. You will maintain the protection of my son and his loved ones."
"Yes, Lady Ashborn," they responded in perfect unison.
Naira and Lira stepped forward with grateful smiles. "Thank you for this," Naira said warmly. "It was a great night!"
"We got to taste a whole new world!" Lira added with genuine joy in her voice.
Julia smiled and walked over to Aria, pulling her into a warm hug. "It was amazing to eat with my cherished daughter after so long," she said softly.
Aria hugged her back tightly. "I’m glad you ca, Mom."
Julia released her and turned to Lux, taking the girl by the arm. "Co on, sweetie. It’s ti to leave. We’ll see them again soon."
Lux’s face fell imdiately. "But I wanted to stay with Kai and-"
"You’re a big girl now, right?" Julia countered instantly. "Big girls don’t make a scene."
Lux pouted and looked at Kaiden wordlessly, her eyes pleading. ’Can I get my McDonald’s another day?’
Kaiden nodded with a small smile. ’As long as Aria doesn’t veto .’
That seed to satisfy her. She waved reluctantly as Julia led her away with Naira and Lira following close behind.
Vespera gave Kaiden one last look before stepping into the shadows and vanishing entirely.
The street felt quieter now.
Only Kaiden and his core group remained, surrounded by an invisible wall of protection.
They started walking.
Alice shifted into her conduit form and beca a black halo above Kaiden’s head, spinning slowly as she settled into place.
Luna whistled. "Your mom is a badass."
Kaiden chuckled. "I know. She’s one heck of a woman."
Nyx agreed vehently. "I was always a Scarlet fangirl, thinking Vespera was a scary psychopath... but getting to know her from this close has allowed to see the person beneath the Shadow Monarch guise. She’s a great mother! I wish mine was like yours, too..."
Hearing that sad statent, Alexandra reached out and held Nyx’s arm. The blonde girl was the only one still wearing a mask. Her eyes showed a great amount of concern for her dearest friend. "Nyx... I’m sorry..."
While Nyx’s parents had made the sa mistake as Alexandra’s had by signing dubious contracts with Maximilian and entering crippling debt, Alexandra’s parents had tried their best to make good on their mistake.
They worked hard to repay it, but failed. Nyx’s parents, on the other hand, blad their daughter and refused to accept responsibility. They escaped the country to avoid the debt collectors, leaving Nyx behind with nothing but a debt no teenage girl should ever be forced to endure.
Nyx smiled and squeezed Alexandra’s hand in response. "It’s okay. They’re a thing of the past."
She tightened her grip and pulled the blonde girl into a hug. "I have found my real family. The one I decided to be with instead of having it decided at birth for ."
Alexandra squird in her hold before smiling softly and returning the hug. "Yeah..." she whispered.
Kaiden and the others looked at the sight with warmth in their eyes.
Then Luna spoke up suddenly, grinning smugly. "So when’s the lesbo scissoring session start?"
The little gremlin was watching the two won hug tightly with an amused smirk visible on her delicate face.
Alexandra yelped, blushed, and jumped out of the hug. "Never! This was a family hug!"
Nyx, however, had a very different reaction. She turned toward Luna with a dangerous purr in her voice. "Speaking of lesbian plays, don’t you have an admission to make, gremlin bestie? It wasn’t Alexandra who shoved a dildo up my poor little butt. Is there a certain confession you want to make?"
Luna’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "It had nothing to do with my sexuality. I did it out of duty to help my greedy friend who wanted to get ahead of the rest of us."
"Much appreciated~" Nyx purred dangerously. "Even though I didn’t ask for it."
Kaiden was quick to interject. "Okay, okay, girls. Let’s try to get along, shall we?"
They started walking deeper into the city. The streets were alive with the evening crowd, people moving between restaurants and bars, street perforrs drawing small audiences, neon signs casting colorful glows across the pavent.
Kaiden glanced around and noted how fortunate it was that night had fallen. "At least it’s nightti. Recognizing us will be much harder in the dark."
"Bruh," Luna scoffed, gesturing broadly at their group. "Tell that to your red-skinned chick or the one with a fluffy tail coming out of her butt."
Bastet smiled with predatory amusent, her golden eyes gleaming in the streetlight. "Soone has a particularly foul mouth today. Did being reminded of your unwarranted assault on a bound Nyx ruin your mood?"
Calypso chuckled from the other side, clearly enjoying the exchange. She had no qualms about being called a ’red-skinned chick.’
"I think having been beaten by Luna many tis in your gas clearly fouled your mood, kitty. You’re hissing more than you usually do."
Kaiden decided enough was enough.
He stepped between Luna and Bastet as they walked, wrapping an arm around each of their slim waists and pulling them closer to him. The motion was firm but gentle, grounding them both.
"Girls," he said quietly, his voice carrying warmth and just a hint of weariness. "We get to have a walk like this very rarely... We’ll go back to the competition tomorrow morning. I don’t want us to spend these few precious minutes bickering. Can you do this for ?"
Luna and Bastet both looked away, neither willing to et his gaze directly.
Luna was the first to break. She exhaled, and her shoulders relaxed slightly. "Sorry, Bastet... I might’ve been a bit too rude."
Bastet giggled softly, her earlier tension lting away. "I don’t even recognize you. Did soone replace our resident gremlin?"
Then she felt Kaiden’s arm tighten around her waist, a gentle reminder.
She sighed dramatically and tilted her head with regal elegance. "I understand. There is no problem. Not even I am perfect, though I am quite close. Shoving up a dildo our bound friend’s butt is a mistake any of us could make."
Kaiden coughed.
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