Living With My Demon Stepsister

They came through a portal. Just like that. One second, I was sipping a soda and half-watching something on TV, and the next, reality split open in our freaking living room.

And they stepped out — all robes, glowing red eyes, and long, ancient beards like they were plucked straight out of a hellish council meeting. Because they were.

"Lila…" I turned, and my heart almost skipped.

She was already standing in front of me, in nothing but an off-shoulder black tee and faded jeans. Her hair was down, wild. Her feet were bare. She looked nothing like the royalty that just entered our house — but somehow, she looked more powerful than all of them combined.

And then came Violet.

Draped in a stunning deep-purple gown that shimmered like oil in candlelight, her heels clicked ominously on the tile floor. Her smug smirk was back, but something in her posture screamed I'm pushing my luck.

"Queen Lila," one of the elders boomed. His voice had that gravelly echo that made your bones shake. "This is an official visit. We come with concerns."

"You come uninvited," Lila said calmly, her arms folded. "Let's not pretend formality when you're already breaking protocol."

The room tensed.

"We were told," Violet began, "that the Queen has been compromising the balance — emotionally compromised by her human pet." Her eyes flicked to me.

Lila didn't blink. "He's not a pet, he's the only thing keeping me tethered to mercy."

The elders frowned. "He should not be present."

"I said he stays," Lila replied, her tone like polished steel. "And unless one of you wants to challenge my decree, shut up and sit."

No one moved.

I was too stunned to say a word. One of the elders — the tallest — stole a glance at Lila's bare shoulder. His gaze lingered. A slow, deliberate shift of her eyes met his. It wasn't sexy. It was terrifying.

He coughed, looked away then the rest followed suit and sat.

Violet smirked, but it was thinner now. "You see what I mean, Elders? She's impulsive, distracted by human affairs. She prioritizes romance over rulership. If she loved our kind, she would never—"

"If," Lila said sharply, "you loved anything, cousin, you'd know love makes leaders stronger. Not weaker."

"And what happens when he dies?" Violet gestured at me. "Because he will. Sooner than you. Sooner than all of us. And you'll be shattered, unable to rule."

Lila stepped forward, slow and quiet. "Then I'll rule shattered. But I will still rule."

There it was again, that power in her voice. Even the Elders seemed to flinch.

"We merely seek to understand if your current state of mind is… stable," the elder on the far right offered.

"And you'll use that doubt to build a vote against me?" Lila said, raising an eyebrow. "I'd hoped for more courage from those with so much age."

No one replied. Just shifting robes, the occasional nervous flicker of red eyes.

"She isn't ready!" Violet snapped. "She's soft. The humans have changed her—"

Violet stopped. Her voice caught in her throat the moment she saw it.

Lila's eyes were glowing, slowly and brightly.

No words. No smirk. Just this… quiet, rising fury that made the whole room feel colder.

Even the elders stopped breathing.

"You know what happens when they glow like this," Lila said. "And you also know how far I'd go for the people I love. So unless you're ready to start a war in my house, you'll stop talking."

Violet froze. Her lips parted. Her hand started to rise —

"Wait wait wait," she muttered quickly, holding both hands up. "I… I didn't come to fight."

I was stuck somewhere between awe and full-blown panic. Every word Lila spoke had weight, like she could end the room without raising her voice. The Elders looked down too, silent, no longer brave enough to even protest.

"I am Queen. Not because I want to be. But because none of you can do what I can," she said. Then, softer, "Or would."

The glow faded from her eyes, slowly.

She turned to me.

And I...

I just stood there. Proud. Scared. Completely in love and overwhelmed.

All at the same time.

---

As the portal reopened with a slow hiss, the Elders stepped back through one by one — heads bowed, robes trailing, not a single word spoken.

But just before the last one vanished, he paused, glanced over his shoulder at Lila, and muttered low enough for only her to hear:

} "The throne is yours… for as long as you can hold it."

And just like that, they were gone — leaving behind silence, tension, and the faint scent of brimstone.

---

To be continued...