章節 178: Chapter 179
Yelena POV
"I will not leave my future in the hands of a demon," Petra said, her sharp voice cutting through the clearing.
She was 5 foot 11 with a figure cut from Greek marble. She was every man's wet dream and every woman's envy. She had been Dreykov's right-hand man and the unofficial leader of the Widows before Dante and I appeared.
Petra claimed to be just as much of a victim as the other girls. I obviously didn't believe her, but Dante didn't poke at her story, surprisingly.
My gut told me she was hiding something, and the Demon Prince probably knew what, which confirmed my theory that this was some kind of test to gauge my conflict resolution skills.
"From everything you've told us. He has the power and means to be far more dangerous than Dreykov. Even entertaining him is a risk."
Several widows nodded, understandably apprehensive of Dante Sparda, as was I. But I knew things they didn't. This was our best chance…our only chance, really, to survive.
"We'll be in even greater danger if we do nothing," I said. "Just because we left the red room doesn't mean it left us. We're wanted in nearly every country and have rap sheets longer than any reasonable government entity will forgive without major sacrifices. This is the best deal we're ever going to get."
"What if we don't want a deal?" Petra asked. "What if we want to become our own protection? We still have the contacts, the information caches, and the resources Dreykov had. We should go into business for ourselves. Grow our organization from the ground up. Become so powerful not even SHIELD would dare cross us."
"We'll be dead in a year without Dreykov's connections and government assurances," I said.
"We can restore them," Petra argued. "A few widows have nurtured connections in the Kremlin." She finished with a sultry twist of her lips.
"Pussy can't buy us diplomatic immunity, Visas, and the armed contracts we'll need to survive."
"Maybe yours won't," Petra smirked, and a few Widows followed suit. "You were always lousy at seduction. Couldn't get past the drama of it all. It seems you've improved."
I snorted. "Accuse me all you want; it doesn't change the mathematics of it all. Even if we all go underground and do everything right, there are too many cameras, insufficient resources, and intelligence. All those 'connections' you have in the Kremlin will dry up as soon as they hear of Dreykov's death. Meanwhile, we have the biggest opportunity we're ever going to get staring us in the face, and we're too afraid to entertain it. I'm not asking you to trust him. I'm saying work with him. After that, we can strike out on our own and work with whoever we want, with restored bodies and super soldier physiques."
The Widows exchanged pointed looks as if in some kind of Telepathic communication, and Petra twisted her face. She knew the argument was lost but gave voice to the concerns that they still had.
"What about assurances?" Petra asked. "It's stupid to do business with a man with this much advantage over us. And these enhancements… have you actually seen somebody who successfully gone through the transformation?"
"Great questions, Petra," I heard a voice say from behind the tree. It was Dante who had switched back to the same style of oversized clothes he had on when I first laid eyes on him.
I squinted, and somebody blurted it out before I gave words to my suspicions.
"It's the Man Beast," a girl whispered.
"Not very nice," Dante tutted. "He prefers Logan or Wolverine, whichever is easiest. But yeah. Slap an entire foot of height and 30 pounds of muscles on an already impressive man, and you get this. Logan 2.0." He said with a dramatic wave of his arms at Logan.
Logan let out one of his famous grunts.
The women started to get a measure of him, some more sultry than others, but the evidence was undeniable.
"Doesn't hurt his chances with the ladies, too," he chuckled. "And in case you're in doubt. Please, do the thing."
"I'm not your damned Show dog," he snapped at Dante, who didn't react.
"Come on, Logan, we talked about this," he said. "The operations need to happen, and unless you want to have that conversation with the kids, world-class mercenaries are our best bet."
"And what if they go bad?" he asked, glaring holes at the girls.
They returned the favor, but he didn't seem bothered by it.
"Come on. You're the last person to judge someone because of their past, especially if they weren't in total control," he said, dropping his flippant tone. Logan didn't concede, however, and turned his glare to him.
Dante sighed, raising his hand in mock defeat. "Fine. I'm creating a troupe of super-powered soldiers, after all. It's only right I put some limitation on them," he tapped his chin thoughtfully before his demeanor shifted. The air grew heavier and hotter, and it became much harder to organize my thoughts. "Leave ordinary people out of your extracurriculars. Don't play with their lives, and definitely don't kill them. Break these rules, and you die. There will be no negotiations, mercy, or begging. I will find you wherever you are on the planet and kill you. If what I'm asking is too much for you, then leave now."
No one moved. I didn't know if it was because of the fear, blind confidence that they'd be able to manipulate Dante, or genuine interest.
We were all covered in sweat, and I swallowed nervously. I've seen Dante do all sorts of impossible things, but I've never quite internalized just how big of a threat he was until now.
He flipped again, all smiles as he spoke.
"Obviously, I'll want to keep tabs on you at all times so that I can enforce the rule, but it will be nothing invasive. Just a Ring you can never take off," he said. "But in exchange for that, you get…" he gestured to Logan, who pointed his fist at the Lake opposite to us. His claws shot out and lit up like a Christmas tree before expelling a beam of concentrated fire into the water.
A wave of superheated steam rolled in fast, but Dante raised his hand and sent a wave of wind at it. It collided with the wall of steam and summarily snuffed it out.
"Well, you may never quite reach his level, but this is in the cards for all of you. You also get accelerated healing, which works retroactively, and a million bucks."
After those words, the mood shifted. No explicit words were shared between widows, but the verbal confirmation of my promise practically guaranteed their compliance. The power didn't hurt, though, despite the threats.
"Well, at least for those of you who get to stay," he added.
Petra frowned, echoing the thoughts of most Widows. "What do you mean? I thought this was a done deal. You wanted the Widows. Yes?"
"But do the Widows want me or what I can give them?" Dante asked. "You're all very capable, but most are not trustworthy. You'd run away the first chance you get. Some of you are even thinking about it right now. That is why all of you must undergo a rigorous mental assessment before you can undergo the procedure."
"And give you open access to our minds and secrets?" she protested.
"You're already letting me transform your body," he said casually. "What's one more violation between business partners."
Petra and a few other Widows scowled, and I had to step in to stop the arrogant idiot from pissing away this opportunity.
"The girls raise a fantastic point," I said. "We need to trust each other if we're ever going to fight together."
"I'll settle for grudging respect and common interest," he said. "The mind-scan is non-negotiable unless you're willing to comb through the widows and trim the fat yourself personally?"
My eyes widened. That son of a bitch.
The Widows turned their animosity my way, and I glared at Dante. He took my silence for an answer with a clap.
"No weak links, lairs, or double-agents. The final list should be a third as large, barring some major miracle," he said, producing a phone. "Call the number in there. Somebody should be giving you a ride to a safe location I've arranged in the mountains. I will join you shortly."
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