Talia looked at her friend, entirely unimpressed.

"Despite dressing like a professional woman, you are still a jealous little girl. That remark was entirely unnecessary."

Tessa gasped with her composure shattering for a moment. But it only lasted for a moment; the woman quickly collected herself.

Kaiden's grin only widened at the sight, turning her gasp into flushed cheeks. "She is worried she will be left out of the deepening relationships. What a shameless and greedy woman."

Talia chuckled and nodded along. "Indeed, indeed. She reminds me of that spider boss monster. They are both gluttonous."

Kaiden smirked. "She even looks a bit like that vampire woman before she turned into a spider. With some makeup, they would look nearly identical. Maybe a long-lost sister?"

Talia giggled while her eyes glinted with mischief. "She really is a leech like that disgusting bloodsucker. Just look at her. She is sitting here only because I was forced to accept her blackmail of becoming allies. She would not be at this table otherwise, and she knows that as well, yet she sits here as if she owned the place."

Tessa's lips trembled as her outrage built with every jab. Her hands curled into tight fists in her lap while her face turned a deeper shade of red with each passing second.

Finally, she burst.

"I will not stand for this slander! My guild is very capable, I'll have you know!" she decreed with rising voice, sounding a bit as if it were a desperate cry instead of a bold declaration. "And I'm not a glutton nor a leech!!"

Her flustered tone made the declaration sound more like a pout than a threat, and that only made Talia and Kaiden smirk harder.

But the woman's misery wasn't meant to last for long, as both of them moved on quickly.

"A joint mission, huh?" Kaiden mused. "I'm not keen, truth be told. I worked with that blonde bitch of yours far too many times. I have no desire to do it again."

"Far too many times? It was only twice, if my notes are correct," Talia spoke up with an obvious hint of interest in her tone.

"That's two times too many. She's been a nasty cunt to me and my girls ever since we met, despite our professional attitude toward her. I have no desire to endanger our lives by putting ourselves at the mercy of her jealousy."

Tessa straightened, no longer looking like a flustered woman. Instead, she oozed a strong mix of seriousness and sincerity.

"I'm aware. And it's my turn to speak up. I apologize. I've been a failure of a leader. There can be no doubt about it. "

She looked visibly dejected and ashamed as she continued, "But… if it's any consolation, I've reined her in. I told her plainly that either she stays in line from now on, or she'll be booted from Nova Circuit. I also told her that she will apologize to you and to the rest of the Sinners. If she refuses, she's done for. Lastly, let me also articulate that this will not be an undertaking like the dungeons. The monsters are outside; there are no restrictions on the number of combatants who can fight them. Dozens of members will be present from both guilds, thus Vaelira will not have any chances to act out against you."

Kaiden was silent for a moment as he mulled over her words.

Inside, his thoughts moved between caution and pragmatism.

Slaying monsters shoulder to shoulder with two guilds filled with veteran members was no small opportunity. The experience gains would be immense, both from the XP and the conventional experience standpoints. And Tessa was right; Vaelira couldn't try anything against them in such a setting. With so many eyes on her, she'd be noticed the instant she tried to stir up trouble.

At length, he exhaled through his nose and nodded.

"Alright. I'll go along with it. But only if she goes through with her apology. If she refuses, then I want her nowhere near this undertaking. My girls and I will find another way to level up."

Talia's gaze sharpened at that, her eyes cutting toward Tessa with the clear message that said: 'ensure it happens.'

The blonde brat won't be allowed to ruin everything they'd built with Kaiden.

Tessa's lips pressed into a firm line. Her face was resolute as she returned the look. She knew. She understood. Nova Circuit had clawed its way into a favorable alliance with Runewoven, and through Runewoven to Kaiden Grey himself. If she let Vaelira's arrogance tear that apart, she'd be throwing away more than just a deal. She would alienate both parties at once.

The golden opportunity for the guild to return to its former glory days would be over before it even began.

Her eyes swept back to both of them.

"It will be done."

Then, the Paragon of Sin noted something dark in her otherwise friendly eyes. A desire for blood and murder… A cruel glee.

"And, Kaiden, just for the record, if, at any time, she does something despite my strictest orders, I ask that you kill her."

Kaiden's gaze locked onto Tessa's. For a long, heavy beat, the room shrank to just the two of them and the heat of that look.

Then something akin to a smile tugged at his mouth, far too cruel. So much so that for a moment, neither woman even recognized the fact that he was smiling.

His pupils darkened until they flared red as a thin thread of wrath seeped through his composure. His voice became lower and deeper than before, far too ominous.

"Death is a mercy she will not be granted."

…

The discussion ended not long after. Plans were drawn, details exchanged, and papers shuffled into neat piles. What lingered, though, wasn't the reports or the numbers. It was the cruel promise Kaiden left in the air, one neither woman would soon forget.

A mere 24 hours later, the convoy rolled through the badly kept roads of rural America.

The cities were stabilizing, but out here in the less populated stretches, the wilderness had welcomed monster swathes in them still. After all, the President's declaration wasn't a full-on 'monsters don't exist on American soil,' but 'most of the cities are safe, hence the crisis has been averted.'

True to that, trees pressed close against the broken asphalt, and fields once full of crops now crawled with monsters. Even with the armored vehicles groaning across the terrain, the occasional shriek of some beast echoed loudly on the wind.

Inside one of the transport vehicles, Kaiden leaned against the side with his eyes half-closed. The past day had been good to him. It was quiet, blissful, filled with nothing more than his women and their time together.

No politics. No arguments. No bitchy puppeteer gnawing at his patience.

But all peace has an end.

The vehicles ground to a halt before the back doors clanged open. The guild members filed out with their weapons at the ready. Kaiden and his girls walked among them.

And there she was.

Standing just ahead with her perfect golden hair and the same smug air.

Vaelira.

Their eyes met, and the silence that followed was louder than the monsters prowling the wilds around them.

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