Chapter 916 Dealing In Concessions
Alex was seething with frustration, his meticulously crafted plan now a mere casualty of the incessant posturing. It was as if his efforts had been flushed down the drain.
Since these women couldn't be talked with, without having to throw out threat after threat, to keep them in line, he no longer had the desire to speak with them. He would rather wipe them out and be done with the problem altogether.
Surprisingly, or rather, unsurprisingly, Kary was the one to cut away his anger.
"Send White back, Alex. This isn't the way to handle them," she urged, her hand on his forearm, a stark contrast to his boiling anger.
Alex looked at her, and saw her serious gaze, as her eyes were locked on Amara, and he sighed loudly.
"I guess it's your lucky day, ladies. My partner here thinks you don't need to die right now. But choose your words carefully as we move forward, because there won't be a warning next time you threaten her or me. I'll just rip your heads off myself."
With a wave of his hand, the enormous wolf hovering above them vanished, and the threat factor that came with it disappeared along with the animal. But Amara could tell the one sitting across from them was hundreds of times more dangerous.
Maria was still reeling from the feeling of dread the wolf had caused her. She'd fought monsters in New Eden, hundreds, nay, thousands of them.
But the feeling of staring down the gullet of one, from such proximity, on this side of reality... It was way more intense than she had expected.
She was always safe inside New Eden. If she died, there would always be a respawn, making death a trivial matter for players.
But staring at death here, in the real world, where respawns were not something she could rely on? It was quite an abrupt wake-up call.
She realized, rethinking on the man's words, why her words didn't threaten him.
He'd faced death already. And came out on top...
Her attitude quickly changed, as she realized her thoughts until now had been wrong.
Maria had thought that with Amara's abilities, the pair before them had been dancing in their palm all along, and that there was no way they could lose. Amara would have seen their loss already.
But she was wrong. As soon as they landed in their backyard, the board had already switched to theirs.
For all of Amara's already envisioned scenarios, and all of her own confidence and strength, they had already flipped the board in their favour.
Alex couldn't read thoughts, but he was good at reading faces, and he could read theirs like open books.
Even though he still wanted to tear them apart, Kary had seen this before him. They were finally in the mood to listen and cooperate.
His tense shoulders relaxed as he exhaled annoyingly.
"Can we get this conversation back on track without veiled or blatant threats? Or are we all wasting our time here?" he asked, looking at the three women in turn.
As he extended his hand to Maria, she slapped it away.
"Fuck off already, you eyesore. I've tolerated your face enough for a lifetime," she spat.
Alex grinned at her.
"Yeah, well, the feeling is mutual, you bull-headed bitch. I just hope next time we meet, you don't cower in fear, so I have a reason to beat the ever-living crap out of you," he replied, his eyes narrowing.
Maria turned away from him, a smirk adorning her face, as Alex walked away from the pergola.
Kary looked at Maria, before gazing at Amara, who shook her head tiredly.
"Men, am I right?" Kary joked.
Amara side-eyed Maria before giggling.
"You most certainly are right. I look forward to our next meeting, Ms. Deveille. I think our cooperation can lead to great things."
Kary nodded, turning away from the table.
"Let's hope you don't play with my trust, Ms. Rossi. Those who do, tend to get burned—in this case, literally," Kary said as she walked away.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Farewell," Amara replied.
She watched as Alex unfolded wings on his back again, appearing almost like an angel from afar. Then, he blasted into the sky, disappearing in a single instant.
Kary quickly followed behind him, as she lit up like a human torch and blasted flames under her feet and arms, lifting off like a rocket.
She left behind a spot of melted stone and soot, which slightly angered Amara, but she sighed dejectedly.
"Those two are way past the point I thought they would be. It's like my visions couldn't follow the speed of their progression," she muttered, as she started making her way back inside.
"Carla, have the men fix the garden and call our house in Italy. We need to warn them to stay away from Montreal, and make sure the other families heed the warning as well. If we cross these two, it will not end well..."
Carla nodded tiredly, branching off from her as she left to complete her task before a well-earned sleep.
"What about me?" Maria asked.
"You? You're coming with me. I'm tired, and I feel like snuggling," Amara said, winking at her.
"It would be my greatest pleasure, my lady," Maria replied, grinning like a child on Christmas Eve.
The night had been long, and the rest was most welcome for all parties concerned.