Damovotsk, Molkovia, Earth.

Demian's P.O.V.

His sigh was so fake that the two women giggled even harder, relaxing the former tense atmosphere. Unlike what he showed them, Demian could not help but be nervous about the whole thing. After all, he was not safely tucked under his blanket at home reading a novel where the protagonist of said novel was the one living those adventures.

It was HIM in danger this time. Him and two of the three people he cared about the most. Not that he cared about anyone else, but that was not the point. Sure, he had been trained by his cousin for this kind of encounter, especially knowing what could happen with that Petrovich bastard affair.

He knew where to hit to hurt people badly but... It had only been two weeks. Two short weeks. Again, he was learning combat at such a monstrous pace that his oldest cousin had to increase the training difficulty at a much quicker pace than she originally thought. But it did not change the fact that he had no 'hands-on' experience. He never fought against anyone with his life on the line before. His, his Aunt's, and his younger cousin's...

So, yes. He was nervous. Thankfully, he knew what the stakes were and with his monstrous potential, he also understood that those 'weak' goons and that Petrovich trash would be his first test. His first hurdle on a long, thorny but extremely fulfilling path.

'Nothing better than doing it for real to learn quickly, isn't there?' He thought wryly. Focusing on his breath to calm his nerves, he still did not forget to keep a lookout for the Toyota, all the while opening the Russian version of Google Maps on his smartphone.

Studying the map, he looked at every intersection around their building, noting where the red lights were situated and refining their plans. After less than two minutes, he shared with the girls the path he decided on, making sure that Adeliya knew what to do.

Nodding her head at his question, she turned briefly toward him with a confident smile on her face, before her eyes moved back to the road, while some words escaped her beautiful red lips. “I've had to operate on literal brains in the past, so a bit of car chasing seems slightly lacking in terms of difficulty, at least in comparison.”

Feeling dazzled for a second by her confident grin, he shook his head to remove any stray thoughts from his mind. His facial expression turning serious, he declared. “Alright, then. I'll rely on you Aunty.” Grunting in assent, the trio then fell into a focused silence, waiting to reach the location where they would start their plan.

A bit more than 20 minutes later, they were closing on the targeted location. Turning his head back to look through the tinted rear windshield, he shared with the other what he saw. “The Toyota is 3 cars away from us.” Adeliya added. “And the next red light is green.”

Nodding to her statement, a small smile appeared on his face. “Perfect condition. You know what to do, Aunty.” Chuckling slightly, she replied while mirroring his smile. “Slow down to time our arrival when the red light turns red and then stomp on the gas pedal. Easy.”

Joining in their conversation, Seraphine said, amusement obvious in her voice. “Listening to the two of you makes me feel like we're in a spy movie. It's so exciting.” Shaking his head with a wry smile on his face, he replied. “It's not a game or a movie, Sis. Those goons are dangerous and we need to be careful about what we do.”

Smiling cutely at him, she retorted. “I know, don't worry.” Her adorable smile felt like a spring sun melting his mounting stress. For a few seconds, he could not help but admire her lovely face. Closed eyelids hiding emptiness and surrounded with deep scars. Surprisingly, it did not diminish her beauty in his eyes.

Instead, it added a layer of mystery as her small smile gave the impression of always knowing more than she let on. Her small but dainty red lips reminded him of her long silky burgundy-colored hair, which created an image of both beauty and innocence. A mix quite attractive to the current Demian, despite him doing his best to ignore those sacrilegious thoughts.

Fortunately, he was pulled out of his reverie as he felt the car accelerating abruptly. Sitting himself correctly, he looked briefly at the red light on their right which showed a red hue before their vehicle passed it, and swiftly turned left in the intersection, leaving their previous tail fuming behind a few unmoving cars.

Chuckling at their successful maneuver, Adeliya said in a joking tone. “See? Easy as pie.” They made a last turn to reach the other side of their building where she used the remote to open the garage door. She then promptly entered, closing it behind, letting out a relieved breath echoed by her nephew, while Seraphine stayed silent.

Was it because she was not able to see anything and thus everything felt more like a story than reality? 'Or maybe she's just good at keeping her emotions to herself...' He thought distractedly before Adeliya finished parking the car in its usual spot.

“Let's get to the penthouse quickly. We'll be safer than here.” Swiftly exiting the car, the three then dashed toward their elevator, with the oldest woman limping slightly and Demian holding Sera's hand to help her navigate the path as fast as possible, with only the next words to explain himself. “We need to be quick.”

As he was leading the way for her while following his beautiful Aunt, he, unfortunately, missed the change on her face, her previous knowing smile turning sweet and a red blush coloring her cheeks. What he did not miss, however, was her hand tightening around his, which in turn made his heart unconsciously beat slightly faster, the shift not registering in his mind as he was focusing on reaching their home.

Taking only a few seconds to reach the digitally locked garage door, Adeliya rapidly entered the code needed to open it. Almost instantly, it swung wide open, allowing them free access to the 'public area' where the elevator leading exclusively to their apartment was situated along the one leading to every other floor.

Dashing toward it, the trio took less than 30 seconds to arrive, enter another code, climb in the 'cabin', and push the 'Penthouse' button, prompting the door to close on them. Looking at the two women, he noticed them panting for breath. Thinking about his own labored breath and its cause, he knew that physical exertion had little to do with it.

As he looked at the luminous indicator on the elevator's wall where he could see each floor lighting up as they reached it, he felt like time was extending, slowing down their ascension to a crawl and making his anxiety mount, creating an irrational fear of finding those men as soon as they reached the last floor, all the while waiting with guns aimed at them.

He knew that it was logically impossible, as not only should the three of them have enough time to arrive in their apartment with the stunt they pulled earlier, but also, only with this precise elevator could they reach their specific floor. Well, technically there was a stairway leading there too, but they would have to know the code to open the entrance door on the ground floor and the code to access theirs.

They would also need to climb numerous floors to reach it before the trio, which unless they had a Supe with them, was not physically possible. And if they did have one, they would not have needed to stalk them. They would just have to take them away with strength without caring about Bryn's threat.

'I know all of that, but I'm still... Scared... So annoying. Mom always said that I tend to overthink... But the only time I didn't, I got shot to death... I'm not sure if I should follow her advice then...' He thought wryly.

Shaking his head lightly to remove those uneasy thoughts, he instead looked at the other two, noticing how beneath a calm surface, they seemed to share his worries. Maybe it was because of the increase in his senses, his memories coming back a month ago, or even simply because he knew both of them very well...

But he easily noticed their clenched fists and the way they were fidgeting. They were both strong women, that much was a given, but at the end of the day, Adeliya had no physical training and had a slight limp, while Seraphine was physically stronger but she was blind. Inwardly sighing at the situation, he suddenly felt his emotions changing, prompting an 'amusing' thought to pop up in his mind.

'Well, those goons are morons, so if I play my cards right, I might even be able to get rid of them. At most, I'll die again, but as long as Aunty and Sera don't get hurt, it's worth it. This is the path I want to follow...' As if those last words were an illusion, Demian seemed to forget about them swiftly.

What he did not notice though, was the small but confident smile appearing on his face while his body felt full of energy, his fear seemingly evaporating into mist. Having made a decision, his feet started to move toward the front of the cabin.

Adeliya's P.O.V.

As soon as the elevator's doors closed, she let out a discreet sigh of relief. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on the point of view, none of the other two noticed, mainly because she was loudly gasping for air as if she had just run a 10k race. 'I really thought my cardio would be better than that.' She thought wryly, adding. 'I guess a few years of no training and constant pain in my hips would do that to you...'

While she was unconsciously clenching her fists in frustration she glanced briefly at the two children before turning her gaze back to the luminous indicator on the cabin's wall, her body fidgeting because of her worried thoughts. 'I'm nothing but a burden for the two... But I can't let anything happen to them. I'm their mother after all... Well, I'm Demian's Aunt but I'm still responsible for him...'

Pondering deeply, the mature redhead decided. 'I can't let Demian risk his life. I know that Bryn trained him, but there's no way he had much progress in two weeks... Plus he's too young, so I can't...' Disturbed in her thoughts by the hand on her shoulder, she turned her gaze toward its owner, having to lift her head slightly to meet the man's gaze.

A confident smile on his increasingly more handsome face of his, her nephew declared boldly. “The two of you don't need to worry. Just rely on me. Trust me, I can take it.” Stunned by his sudden proclamation, she fell into a daze as the boy whom she protected all his life from danger, the boy whom she cherished as much as her two daughters... stood in front of her, with his broad and muscular back standing between her and the danger that could be waiting for them upstairs.

'When did he become so dependable?' She thought bewildered before adding wryly. 'I have to stop treating him like a little boy, don't I?' Without her awareness, her heart started beating slightly faster, her mind growing hazier while the image of the man standing tall before her seemed to become even clearer. 'A man, uh?' She thought, an involuntary warm smile surfacing on her beautiful face.

Lost in her own world, she was pulled out from her reverie when a 'Ding' sound resounded in the elevator and its doors opened, making the short corridor leading to their penthouse's door appear in their eyes.