The Scumbag's Guide To Heroism novel Chapter 99

Chapter 99: 99 | A Three-Step Plan for Household Stability

She had seen what happened to Heroes with unique utility Aspects. They got bought. Sold. Controlled. Their entire lives became about who had access to them and when and under what terms. Some of them never saw combat at all. They just became breeding stock for powerful families trying to lock down the genetic advantage.

Lukas wouldn’t be Lukas anymore. He’d be property.

Over her dead body.

She lay back down beside him, wrapping herself around him again. Tighter this time. More possession than affection.

"You’re not going anywhere," she whispered. "Do you hear me? You stay right here."

He didn’t answer. Too deep in sleep to register her words.

Good. She needed to think without him looking at her with those amber eyes that made her brain go soft.

Facts. She needed facts.

First: her Aspect felt stronger after sex with Lukas.

Second: she felt better in general. Happier. More energized. Like she’d gotten a full night’s sleep and a spa day combined.

Third: this wasn’t normal. She’d had plenty of good sex in her life. None of it had ever made her powers hum like this.

Conclusion: Lukas had some kind of enhancement effect that activated through physical intimacy.

Which meant Sloane had it too.

Diane’s stomach dropped.

Sloane had been sleeping with Lukas for less than a day. If the enhancement scaled with repeated exposure, Sloane was sitting on a power boost she didn’t even know she had.

A power boost that would show up on diagnostics if anyone bothered to run a comparison scan.

Diane’s mind started racing through scenarios. Halloran ran full Aspect profiles on every student at enrollment. They did quarterly assessments after that. If Sloane’s output jumped between her entrance exam and her first diagnostic, someone would notice.

And they’d start asking questions.

Questions that would lead back to Lukas.

Questions that would end with Lukas in a lab or an agency contract or worse.

She needed to manage this. Carefully. Before anyone else figured it out.

First step: confirm the theory. She needed data. Her own Aspect readings before and after. Sloane’s performance metrics over the next few weeks. Something concrete that proved what she suspected rather than just feelings and intuition.

Second step: make sure Lukas understood what he was. Not in a way that scared him. Not in a way that made him think she was using him. Just enough that he’d be careful. That he’d keep his head down. That he wouldn’t go around sleeping with every girl who batted her eyes at him.

Third step: lock him down completely. No more secrecy about what they were doing. No more pretending this was casual. If she was right about his enhancement ability, every ambitious female Hero with half a brain would be gunning for access.

Diane had to be first. Had to be permanent. Had to be unshakable.

She pressed another kiss to his temple.

"You’re mine," she whispered again. "Say it."

Nothing. Still asleep.

"Say it," she repeated, louder this time. Enough to pull him partially out of sleep.

"Mmm?" His voice was thick. Confused.

"Tell me you’re mine."

He blinked slowly. Processing. His amber eyes found her face. "I’m yours."

"Good boy." She kissed him properly this time. Deep and possessive. "Go back to sleep."

He did. Within seconds.

Diane didn’t.

Her brain was still spinning through logistics. Through risk assessment. Through every possible way this situation could go wrong if she didn’t control it perfectly.

Tomorrow she’d go to work. Handle the Victor Sterling crisis that was eating up her schedule. Pretend everything was normal.

While she was gone, Lukas needed to work on Sloane.

Sloane was hurt right now. Angry. Feeling betrayed by both of them. But Sloane was also competitive. Territorial. She hated losing more than she hated sharing.

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