Demonic Pornstar System

The garden no longer echoed with venomous pressure or contempt. Instead, the atmosphere had shifted into something much stranger. It was intimate, even cozy in the most uncomfortable ways.

Talia sat nestled in Tessa’s lap, still sniffling softly as the negotiations continued. Even though she was practically the same height and build as the woman cradling her, she somehow looked small. Tessa gently stroked her hair while humming a lullaby.

Across the table, Diaz had yet to say a single word. His soul might’ve fled the plane ten minutes ago. His empty eyes watched Talia, the renowned smith and respected leader of his guild, do a complete 180.

Meanwhile, the other side of the room wasn’t faring much better.

Vaelira, Jack, and Sasha had given up all pretense of subtlety, their heads ping-ponging between Kaiden and Talia with increasing disbelief. Watching a full-grown guild leader negotiating contracts while curled into another woman’s lap like a doll. She had short-circuited their expectations.

And at the heart of it all sat Kaiden.

He didn’t raise his voice nor was he gloating or acting with mockery considering the unbelievable situation they were in. He simply had a pen in hand, scribbling down notes and speaking in calm, even tones.

"So," Kaiden spoke up while tapping the work-in-progress contract with his pen, "Valhalla’s Sinners will receive twenty percent ownership in Runewoven. Silent shares, meaning we won’t vote unless the decision is major enough to drastically alter the future of the guild. We won’t interfere otherwise. But this also means there will be no restrictions on receiving performance-based dividends. We are not your fighters nor decision makers, thus we will have no obligations to keep the lights going."

Talia sniffled, still red-eyed. "You’ll be hated by the shareholders for this... You know that, right?"

Kaiden offered a shrug. "They don’t have a choice. Nobody’s buying shares in a guild that’s about to get torn apart by Association penalties, so they can’t get their investments out; that ship has already sailed. All they can do is grit their teeth and pray we save what’s left of their investment."

She blinked and then stared at him as if he wasn’t listening correctly. "Did you not hear what I said? They’ll hate your guts. You think just because they’re not awakened that they can’t give you hell? These people have ties. Influence. Friends in very annoying places."

It was Aria who responded instead of Kaiden. "Let them try. We’ve got ties too, and, more importantly, we don’t plan to stay weak for long. If they want revenge, they’ll have to act fast."