Demonic Pornstar System novel Chapter 1007

Chapter 1007: Tired Heroes

The convoy that had brought Kaiden’s family into the valley that morning carried them back out of it that night, and the guardrail above the cordon was lined again.

The evacuees had stood at that wire that morning to plead.

They stood at it now to bow, hundreds of them in the dark with their phone lights raised in place of lanterns, and they held the bow while the cars rolled past at walking pace.

The joint feed was an hour dead by then. Kaiden had ended it with a thought when the Shogunate formally took over the site. Whatever the guardrail was doing, it was doing it for no camera.

"They’ll hurt their backs," Kaiden murmured at the window.

"Let them," Aria said from the seat across, watching the lights slide by. "You bled for their homes, Kai. A bow is the least of what they want to give you."

"We did," Kaiden corrected. "Stop making it out to be as if it was only my doing."

Aria remained silent for a moment, then smiled. "I should’ve known you’d say that. But I disagree."

"All we did was hold down the entrance," Nyx joined, lifting an energy bar out of a holder with telekinesis, peeling it open, and tossing it into Kaiden’s mouth.

"..." Kaiden chewed, eyeing his space babe who blew him a kiss. Then he gulped and shook his head. "You make it sound easy. You held back a high level boss monster. If not for you doing that, I’d have been killed, plain and simple."

The Moon and Space Valkyries exchanged a glance, giggled, then kissed Kaiden’s cheeks in perfect sync.

Alice slept through all of it in his arms, where she had been since the gate. The girl weighed less than his greatsword.

Alexandra lasted twenty minutes past the cordon.

She spent them working down the row with gauze and antiseptic from the convoy’s kit, lecturing Luna about infected knuckles in the gentle voice she reserved for scolding.

She went out mid-sentence, upright, wipe still in hand.

Calypso caught her by the collar and laid her out across the bench seat like laundry.

Luna and Bastet were already gone against Calypso’s other arm, Luna’s mouth open and drooling on a demoness who did not mind. Half the convoy had not made it far past the cordon awake.

"Casualty report: three more down," Nyx purred. "And the group chat has opinions. Scarlet says the race was rigged, her town didn’t come with a door boss, and she demands a rematch on the next valley."

"Tell her she can pick the gate."

"She already picked. She sent a map pin and eight knife emojis."

"...That woman is crazy. I am exhausted," Kaiden sighed.

"Just block her number. She’s been warming up to Kai too much," Aria decreed, hugging him close possessively.

...

The Moon-Thread estate’s gates stood open at eleven that night, and the staff stood inside them in two full ranks with every lantern along the drive lit.

The engines shut off, and the silence did what an hour of road could not: Luna sat up with a line of drool still connecting her to Calypso’s arm, and Bastet uncurled beside her, pretending to have been awake for the entire drive.

The head housekeeper’s bow to Kaiden did not waver when she saw what climbed out of the cars, the blood-stiff armor, the bandaged forearm, the two women being handed out asleep. Her voice did.

"Welcome home, my lord."

"The Lady asks your forgiveness for not receiving you herself," the head housekeeper went on. "She remained at Kawanami with the column, cleaning up the scene."

"I know. She apologized for it herself." Kaiden gathered Alice into one arm and Alexandra into the other, a sleeping woman resting against each side of him.

His stomach grumbled, loudly enough to carry across the drive. "Could you prepare some food for us?"

The head cook stepped out of the rank and bowed. "Already done." He had a victory banquet standing in three courses, and behind him the ranks dissolved into lantern-carrying and door-sliding ahead of the battered column.

"Start on the food without me," Kaiden told the girls. "I’ll be right down."

He carried the two sleeping girls up the corridor without effort, behind a maid who slid each door open ahead of him and vanished before thanks could find her. The widest bed in the guest wing had already been turned down.

He laid his sister down on the far side of it, then Alexandra beside her. Even unconscious, she had her hands folded neatly at her waist, on duty in her sleep.

He put them in the same bed because he knew neither would mind, and that both might be pleasantly surprised to wake up next to each other.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify