"Us?" Bastet began.

Her voice was calm. Too calm. The word carried the weight of a verdict, her golden eyes lifting at last, imperial and cold, as though the very notion offended some immutable law of order.

"Separate?" Luna added, straightening from her seat. The hoodie did nothing to soften the menace rolling off her now, with her stormy eyes narrowing as her fingers curled slowly against the tabletop.

"From…" Calypso growled with the animosity of a wild beast.

"Kaiden?" Aria finished.

She didn't raise her voice. She didn't need to. The heat in her glare was enough to scorch the thought from existence.

Jack swallowed.

It was loud in the silence.

He wasn't the only one. Several others shifted uncomfortably in their seats, with their Adam's apple bobbing, shoulders tightening as the oppressive pressure from Valhalla's Sinners settled over the room like a physical weight. The air still felt cold, brittle, as if one wrong word might shatter it entirely.

Then…

*Clap.*

Nyx brought her hands together once, sharply. The sound of her act broke through the tension like a whip. "Alright," she said coolly, eyes sweeping the room. "That's enough of this clown show."

Every gaze snapped to her.

Vaelira's eyes narrowed instantly. She was the leader here. The implication was not lost on her for even a heartbeat.

Nyx didn't care.

"We've spent our entire day going around, scouting inhospitable terrain while being on constant high alert, killing monsters," she continued flatly. "We're tired. We're sore. And frankly, I want hot coffee and a cozy blanket, not this utter nonsense. Let's stop posturing and conclude this meeting so that we may all unwind for a few hours before doing it all over again tomorrow."

A few people blinked at her. Even Luna glanced sideways, momentarily thrown. Not because she disagreed per se, but because Nyx didn't sound angry. While Nyx wasn't as clingy as Aria, the little sis, or the monster girls, the Storm Valkyrie didn't know her friend who would take being told to separate from her boyfriend to team up with randoms this well.

If anything, she sounded outright bored.

That was when Nyx's gaze sharpened.

She turned her head slowly, deliberately, and locked eyes with Vaelira.

Not Jack, who uttered the suggestion of separation.

Vaelira.

She went directly to the cause of this nonsense, not the decorative mouthpiece.

"But let me make something very clear," Nyx said, voice even and razor-edged. "Valhalla's Sinners will not separate. Not under any conditions. Not because of a favorable strategy. Not because of a promising opportunity. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever."

The room went dead silent.

"No matter how you twist your words," Nyx continued, unblinking, "or what accusations you throw around, it doesn't matter. We've heard worse. We've endured worse." Her lips curled. "When the world turned against us because of a death row inmate's accusations, when everyone was more than happy to believe the worst, we stayed together."

Her eyes hardened further. "So, please, don't think so highly of yourself that your petty little insinuations will achieve anything at all."

Nyx leaned back in her seat, and her voice dropped into a cold note not even her friends recognized.

"Know your place, Vaelira."

The effect was immediate.

Vaelira stiffened as if struck by a slap across the cheeks.

Color drained from her face. Her lips parted, then pressed together again.

"Damn," Luna breathed.

Kaiden chuckled, low and genuine. He was still angry; he could feel it simmering under his skin, but after Nyx's words, after the way she'd shut the entire room down with that cold authority of hers, all that fury had twisted into something else entirely.

Amusement. Pride. And a powerful, almost overwhelming desire to pull her close, to shower her in affection until she complained about it.

Hopefully, it'll happen soon.

Before he could say anything, a voice spoke up.

"Okay," Tessa said suddenly.

Every head turned toward her.

She cleared her throat, fingers tightening together on the table as she forced herself to continue. "The… the first team-building exercise could use some work," she admitted, a little nervously. "That much is obvious."

Aria's head turned.

It was sharp. Mechanical. Like a turret locking onto a target.

Her moonlit eyes fixed on Tessa, cold and unblinking, the earlier fury compressed into something far more focused. The pressure wasn't overt, but it was there, suffocating and personal. The moonlike beauty did not like how Tessa tried to shove the problem aside as a failed team-building exercise.

Tessa shuddered.

Just for a moment.

She knew. She knew. Vaelira was her responsibility, and she'd let the blonde spend the entire day seeding doubt, quietly carving a wedge between Kaiden's group and the rest of the alliance.

And yet…

Even Kaiden could understand her point of view.

As guild leader, Tessa had a lot of problems with Vaelira. Yet, this problem in itself wasn't something she should intervene with directly, he thought.

Tension in a group project, especially with one harboring such high stakes as this, was normal. Crushing it with a guild leader's authority every time would only make Kaiden look weak, as if he needed a guild leader to protect him against Vaelira.

And judging by the five women beside him, he clearly did not need such a thing. His girls held their ground masterfully, without even needing his input.

Thus, Kaiden smirked at Tessa. "I think it was a wonderful team-building exercise," he joked lightly.

That drew a few looks.

Then his gaze shifted.

He looked at them, really looked. He held each of his teammates' eyes for a heartbeat. Most of them were people he only knew from looks, if that at all. Only Diaz, Sasha, Jack, and Vaelira were members with whom he had personal interactions until today.

Only then, once done observing them all, did he look back at the room.

"You're right," Kaiden said calmly. "Valhalla's Sinners are richer than most at our level."

A few people stiffened.

"But so what? That million Chronos at stake is a fortune for us, just like it is for you. I can think of a ridiculous number of things I'd do with that kind of money." His lips curved faintly. "And that's without even touching the armor the Association promised."

That got attention.

"If they really pull through, it might just be the kind of gear no amount of money can buy." His eyes swept the room, landing on Jack. "You are right. I am a jealous, possessive man who hates even the mere idea of dividing my girls into separate teams. I couldn't fight properly if I felt constant anxiety for their safety because I'm not just a jealous man but one who wants to protect all five of them with all I've got. So, naturally, such an armor protecting my girls is something I'd fight tooth and nail to get."

He looked over the room briefly once again. "How about we stop this accusation spree and focus on the task at hand instead? What do you say?"

Silence followed.

Then, slowly, heads began to nod.

One by one. Tentative at first, then more certain. A few of the girls even looked embarrassed, color creeping into their cheeks as they murmured quiet apologies, eyes dropping away from Kaiden and his group.

The tension eased.

Across the table, Diaz leaned back in his chair with his grin spreading wide across his face.

In just a few minutes, Kaiden had unraveled the poison Vaelira had been carefully brewing all day.

And Diaz, for one, found it endlessly entertaining.

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