My stepsisters are sexy demons, and I must protect them

When Hakuto opens his eyes, dusk has already deepened—it's almost night.

His body is still racked with sharp stabs of pain, though they are more bearable now. He feels stunned, disoriented. It takes him a moment to realize that he is wearing nothing but his underwear.

He looks around frantically, as much as his movements allow.

Shin, Chantal, and Itsu are also still unconscious. They too wear only their underwear, arranged neatly beside him on sheets. But there is no sign of Velshekar or Clarissa.

«Even with an incubus's energy running through you, it sure took you long enough to wake up. I was getting seriously bored. Another minute and I would've left you here—I can't spend the whole night playing nurse,» a woman's voice rings out behind him. A voice Hakuto is sure he has never heard before in his life.

With inhuman effort, and not without pain, he manages to drag himself just enough to glance back.

«A-And who are you…?» Hakuto asks in a faint voice—it's hard even to speak.

Sitting on a large rock is a stunning young woman of about twenty-five, with long dark brown hair and hazel eyes. She wears denim shorts that leave her thighs completely bare and a black T-shirt cut just above her navel. Her gaze is fixed on the smartphone she taps compulsively.

As the darkness thickens, Hakuto realizes late that she is no ordinary human girl. From her back sprout large violet bat-like wings—succubus wings, unmistakable.

«I'm Melania Narkhalis. Nice to meet you,» she answers without even lifting her eyes from the smartphone.

Melania Narkhalis… I'm sure I've never heard that name before…

Looking again at his three unconscious companions beside him, Hakuto notices their wounds are still severe, but far less than before. Touching his chest, he finds a sticky pink liquid smeared over him—just like on the others.

She said she played nurse for us… so it was her succubus healing saliva that dragged us back from death? But why…?

«I don't know why you did it, but thank you for healing us…» Hakuto murmurs.

«Don't thank me. Thank Marquis Velshekar. He had his assistant contact me. He said this is his way of thanking you for killing that Cassian Thalukvar. For now, he has put aside the idea of possessing the two hybrids to focus on something else. He hopes that, since you're in his debt, you'll stop meddling in his affairs. Trust me, if you value your lives, do as he says.» Melania's grin turns sharp and threatening. «You know, you're lucky it was me here. I doubt many other succubi in Velshekar's service could've healed wounds that severe. Sure, your bodies are still far from anything like a good state, but at least you're no longer at death's door.» She rises from the rock and spreads her wings. «I was ordered to watch over you until one of you woke up. Since that's done, I can finally get back to enjoying my vacation in Rome. Bye-bye.»

With a powerful beat of her wings, Melania takes off, vanishing into the night.

«Who would've thought I'd end up in debt to someone as wicked as Velshekar. Life never stops surprising me…» Hakuto murmurs with a faint smile.

Barely ten minutes after Melania's departure, groans and muffled cries grow louder in the air. They come from Itsu.

«H-Hakotto… I'm glad to see you're still in one piece,» Itsu chuckles.

«I thought you'd grown out of that phase…» Hakuto comments, letting out a soft laugh—one he has to stifle as the pain in his chest presses down on him. Then his tone turns serious. «Since we're not in a rush, I guess it's time for explanations.»

Itsu's expression darkens at once. «It's a pretty long story, and honestly I don't think I've got the strength to drag it out with details, so I'll keep it short. After the news of Iceland sinking, the eye Akashi had torn from Drakhul and implanted appeared inside the red sphere you gave me from him. At first, the last thing I wanted was to use it. I was afraid it was another of my brother's tricks. But then I remembered how, that day in Estonia, Akashi kept insisting I watch how he assimilated that eye. Why was he so intent on making sure I learned to claim that power? I kept wondering. And when I saw that eye again… I don't know. Something told me I could trust it. And when I implanted it… everything became horribly clear.»

Itsu begins to sob faintly, his eyes turning glossy. «Do you remember when my brother said the Eye of the Fallen-One lets you inherit not only the abilities but also the knowledge of its former bearers?»

Hakuto nods faintly, and Itsu goes on.

«I never once believed that my brother truly killed our family just to join the Cult of the Primordial Shadow and gain the chance to claim that eye—or maybe I simply never wanted to accept it. But now that I've inherited his knowledge too, I finally have confirmation it wasn't really like that. Or rather, it was… but only part of the truth. He did kill our family, but only because he was forced to—an order straight from the sovereign of Mildelar, the vampire king Aiden Volkom. He compelled my brother to infiltrate the cult and earn Cassian's trust. As a member of the Crimson Requiem, Mildelar's elite forces, Akashi had no choice. Refusing would've been seen as betrayal, and the punishment for traitors is death—for him and for his loved ones. In other words, he was forced to kill them, or King Aiden would have, making them suffer far more. Akashi killed our parents in a single blow, without letting them feel even a moment of pain. Cassian even demanded my head, but Akashi told him about my Innatus. He convinced him I could become valuable, and promised he'd personally train me and make me strong enough to be useful. That's how it was. Even knowing all this, I doubt I'll ever be able to forgive him. But at least now I can understand him. And that's enough for me…»

♡♡♡

«N-No way… that the great Cassian was defeated… it's insane! Completely insane!» gasps Zhurvak, the blue-skinned, bandaged amphibian. He is short of breath, exhausted. For almost three hours he has been walking nonstop in search of a settlement, but the desolate countryside around the Caspada estate keeps him far from the next town.

«I was such a fool to waste my last two bulbs to bring Cassian and myself here. But who could have imagined it would end like this? And now…? What am I going to do? Yes… first I need to get back to N'Raeth and gather some eyes, tearing them from a few weak Yoghral. And then…»

«Well, well… look who we have here.»

A woman's voice cuts in from behind Zhurvak. He recognizes it instantly, and spins around, terrified.

It's Velune, accompanied by her loyal Drakhul Volkom.

«M-Miss Velune, what an unexpected surprise to see you here. I'm so glad to know you're alive and well,» Zhurvak stammers, feigning as best he can the enthusiasm of seeing her.

«It's certainly not thanks to you,» Velune snaps. «Don't think I've forgotten when you abandoned me on the battlefield and left me in the hands of the Monster Reapers.»

«I-It was… it was Cassian's order. I swear! I really wanted to take you with me, but he was clear. He would've killed us both if I hadn't left you there.»

«Bullshit.»

Velune advances on him one step at a time, Drakhul following close behind.

«B-Believe me, leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done. I really liked you, you know? The only one I ever truly liked… Look! Look what I brought for you!»

Zhurvak rummages under his bandages and pulls out a small black stone sphere engraved with glowing blue runes. He drops it to the ground, and it shatters, releasing a blinding blue light.

When the light fades, the mangled corpse of Akashi lies on the ground, his body gravely damaged in many places.

«Cassian wanted him to sink into the ocean depths, but I managed to seize him just before he vanished beneath the waves. I thought of you, Velune—only a necromancer as skilled as you could make use even of a body this ruined. Akashi was terrifyingly strong in life, and thanks to you he could be just as strong after death. Take it as a gift, to forgive the unforgivable thing I did…» Zhurvak pleads, falling to his knees.

Velune eyes him with a sinister grin. «You did well, you disgusting wretch. A revenant like Akashi will surely raise the level of my newborn undead army. But you know, I was thinking… even a creature like you, able to slip so easily between this world and N'Raeth, could be very useful to me.»

«N-No, please, Miss Velune—»

«Drakhul, kill him.»