I pulled up my status screen one more time, needing to see it all written out to believe it was real.

ACTIVE ABILITIES (3/3):

[EMBER] [IN USE]

[SPATIAL CLEAVE] [IN USE]

[LIGHTNING ROD] [NEW]

PASSIVE ABILITIES (4/4):

[MYSTICISM] [IN USE]

[PROTECTION FROM ARROWS] [IN USE]

[BLESSING OF THE SOVEREIGN] [IN USE]

[KINETIC ABSORPTION] [NEW]

PASSIVE TRAITS:

[STEEL BODY] [NEW]

[THERMAL VISION] [NEW]

[SOVEREIGN’S MANDATE] [NEW]

Current SP: 15

Fifteen points left in my account.

Barely enough for a single bronze-tier pull if I was desperate.

But I had what I needed. What I’d been hunting for.

Direct counters to Reyna’s lightning-based assault.

Passive buffs that would strengthen my entire team.

Multiple ways to turn her overwhelming advantage into my weapon.

Now I just had to survive long enough to actually use them.

"Maki."

She transformed in a shimmer of shadow and smoke.

Still completely naked.

Still utterly shameless about it.

"Yes, Master?"

"Training session starts in twenty minutes. Can you behave yourself?"

"I can." She pouted, lower lip jutting out in an expression that was probably calculated to be adorable. "But if the purple-haired one tries to freeze me again, I’m defending myself with extreme prejudice."

"That’s fair."

She immediately pulled my hoodie back on, the fabric hanging nearly to her knees.

No underwear underneath.

No shame whatsoever in her posture.

"Let’s go meet your pack properly. I want to see what all the fuss is about. You talk about them constantly."

I stared at her.

At the hoodie that was doing absolutely nothing to preserve modesty.

At the cat ears currently poking through her messy black hair like fuzzy antennae.

At the two tails swishing behind her with obvious excitement, conducting an invisible orchestra only she could hear.

"Maki. Hide the ears and tails."

She blinked at me with wide, innocent eyes.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you look like a cosplay convention violently exploded in my bedroom."

"Master is mean." She touched one ear defensively, and it flicked under her fingers. "They’re part of me. Hiding them would be like asking you to hide your arms."

"You can change forms completely. You literally showed me earlier when you turned into a regular house cat."

"That’s completely different. When I do that, I’m being a whole different thing—a mundane cat." She crossed her arms stubbornly under the hoodie. "This is just me. My natural state. Why should I hide it?"

"Maki."

"No."

I rubbed my forehead, feeling the headache from the ability installation starting to creep back with a vengeance.

"Please?"

"Still no." She sat on the edge of my bed, legs swinging. "And you forgot something very important."

"What?"

"I’m still not wearing pants."

You had one job, Nel whispered in my mind, and I could hear the smirk in her voice.

Right.

The pants.

I walked over to my dresser and grabbed a pair of athletic shorts from the drawer. Black, basic, boring. Perfect for this particular nightmare scenario.

"Put these on."

"No."

"Maki."

"Master hasn’t given me proper motivation yet." She smiled, and the expression was sweet like honey laced with arsenic. "I work on a very strict incentive-based system. It’s quite fair, really."

"I literally just gave you ear scratches ten minutes ago."

"Those were for staying hidden in your room and not causing chaos." Her tails swished behind her. "These pants are for a completely different service. Different services require different payments. It’s basic economics."

My eye twitched.

"What do you want?"

"A kiss."

"I literally kissed you twenty minutes ago."

"That was a goodbye kiss when Apollo left. This is a motivation kiss." She tapped her lips with one finger, and her nail was definitely sharper than it should be. "Very different categories. Don’t confuse them or I’ll have to explain the entire taxonomic system. It’s extremely complex and has subsections."

I looked at her.

Really looked at her.

At the cat ears that twitched with barely contained glee.

At the tails that were absolutely laughing at me.

At the oversized hoodie that was covering approximately nothing important.

At the knowing gleam in those golden eyes that said she had me completely figured out.

"One kiss."

"Deep kiss. With tongue." Her grin widened, showing slightly too-sharp canines. "I saw how you kiss the others last night. Don’t hold back just because I’m new. I want the real thing."

She’s got you completely figured out already, Nel observed.

Shut up, Nel.

I walked over to the bed slowly, deliberately.

Maki’s eyes tracked every single step I took, her pupils dilating with anticipation.

Her breathing quickened audibly.

Her tails went still behind her.

When I reached the edge of the mattress, she stood to meet me, rising gracefully from her seated position.

She was still shorter than me by about six inches even when standing straight.

Still completely shameless about what wasn’t covered by the borrowed hoodie.

Still staring at me like I was the most fascinating thing in the universe.

I cupped her jaw with one hand, fingers sliding into the soft hair at the base of her skull.

Tilted her face up to meet mine.

"You’re trouble."

"The best kind." She rose up on her toes, bringing her mouth closer to mine. "Now kiss me properly before I change my mind and demand two kisses plus the ear scratches as a package deal."

I kissed her.

Not gently this time.

Not like I’d kissed Emi when she’d been nervous and uncertain about everything.

Hard.

Demanding.

The way I’d kissed Skylar when she’d challenged me to prove I meant it.

Maki melted against me immediately, going boneless in my grip.

Her mouth opened for me without hesitation.

Her tongue met mine halfway, eager and electric.

The Nectar of the Gods flooded between us, that supernatural enhancement making everything sharper and sweeter.

She made a sound that was half purr, half desperate moan.

Her nails dug into my shoulders through my shirt, sharp enough that I felt the pressure even through the fabric.

I slid my hand down her back deliberately, tracing the curve of her spine.

Found the curve of her ass under the hoodie’s hem.

Gripped hard enough to leave marks on her skin.

She gasped directly into my mouth, the sound vibrating between us.

Broke the kiss with obvious reluctance.

Her hazel-gold eyes were blown wide with shock and pleasure.

Pupils so dilated they nearly eclipsed the gold entirely, leaving just thin rings of color.

"Master is mean," she whispered, voice shaky.

"You asked for motivation."

"I’m extremely motivated now." She swayed slightly on her feet, and I had to steady her with the hand still gripping her hip. "Give me the pants before I completely forget why I need them."

I handed her the shorts.

She pulled them on while her legs visibly wobbled, the fabric riding low on her hips and showing far too much skin between the waistband and the hoodie’s hem.

But it was significantly better than nothing.

"Ears and tails."

"Fine." She pouted again, but this time there was less bite to it. "But I want another kiss later. Multiple kisses. With interest."

"We’ll see."

"We will definitely see yes." She closed her eyes, concentrating.

The ears and tails shimmered at the edges, going translucent.

Faded gradually.

Disappeared completely like they’d never existed.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked almost entirely human.

Almost.

Her pupils were still vertical slits instead of round.

Her nails were still just slightly too sharp and pointed.

And the way she moved was too fluid, too boneless, to be entirely natural for a human woman.

But from a distance, in a crowded room full of distractions, she’d pass casual inspection.

"Good girl."

She beamed at me.

An actual sunlight smile that transformed her entire face.

"I’m Master’s best girl!"