Taming the Devil

Chapter four

ELENA'S POINT OF VIEW

THE REVENGE PLAN

I stared at the wolf in front of me, its eyes gleaming with hunger, its muscles tensed as it prepared to leap. My heart was pounding in my chest, but I didn’t flinch.

I wasn’t going to run and definitely wasn’t the same girl who had been hunted down and left for dead. I am stronger now, trained still.

Without thinking, I lunged forward first, my ninja dagger gleaming in the sunlight as it sliced through the air. I drove it deep into the wolf’s neck, the cold steel sinking into flesh with a sickening ease. The animal let out a pained howl, its body writhing against me in a last desperate attempt to fight back.

But I was quicker than it, as I snapped its head off with my bare hands, feeling the sickening crack of bone as it gave way. The wolf fell lifeless to the ground, blood pulling out from beneath it.

A rush of triumph surged through me. I stood there, breathing heavily, staring down at the animal I had just taken down. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I tossed its limp body around my neck, letting its weight settle on my shoulders like a victory banner.

With a leap, I shot through the trees, moving with the grace and speed of the ninja I was becoming. The wind whipped through my hair as I climbed higher, faster, reaching the hut in no time at all. Zoey was waiting for me, her eyes lighting up when she saw the wolf draped around my neck.

“Well done,” she said, pride clear in her voice.

I grinned back at her. “Not bad, huh?”

Zoey smiled and gestured toward the fire pit. “Let’s get to work then. We have lunch to prepare.”

We spent the next few hours washing, seasoning, and roasting the wolf. The smell of cooking meat filled the hut, making my stomach growl in hunger. As we ate, tearing into the meat like two hungry animals, I couldn’t help but reflect on the past few days.

It had been six days since I started my training, and while I wouldn’t say I had perfected everything, I was getting pretty damn good. I felt strong—stronger than I had ever been. My body had transformed, not just physically, but mentally…I could condone myself as not just a tech pro, a reporter but also a fighter and a ninja now. And that meant one thing: I was ready.

As we finished eating, Zoey pulled out two brand new laptops and a box filled with quarter cash. My eyes immediately dropped to the box.

“Where did you get this?” I asked, my voice a mix of curiosity and disbelief.

Zoey gave a casual shrug, her grin never faltering. “From my rich, pompous boss’s safety. I sneaked in”

I couldn’t help but chuckle. Her boss was a jerk—a man who bullied the poor and acted like he owned the world, all because of his wealth. He only cared about one thing: money.

She stood up, still holding the meat in one hand, and pulled out a bag from the corner. It was stuffed with clothes, and as she pulled it open, I saw what was inside—two matching sets of bodyguard suits, female ones.

I stared at the suits, a grin spreading across my face. The perfect disguise was ready as well.

“We’re ready,” Zoey said, her voice serious now. “Tomorrow, we are going for the interview.”

I felt a surge of excitement pulse through me. We'd be placing the application online tomorrow and if lucky enough we're chosen, the interview would be the final step before we could infiltrate Dante’s world.

“And after that?..” Zoey continued.

“We’ll be working as Dante’s bodyguards” I replied.

“And he won’t know what hit him.” We both chorused

I stared at her, a fire igniting in my chest. It was time to bring Dante for all his crimes, the city would finally be free for him, my dad would get his justice and Zoey would too.

_________________________________

NEXT DAY

It was morning already, Zoey and I sat side by side in the hut, our laptops open in front of us.

The clock was ticking.

We had been waiting for hours, staring at the screen, praying for the bodyguard application to pop up.

Our eyes were becoming heavy, but we couldn’t dared to blink—couldn’t afford to miss our chance.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the application popped up on the screen with a countdown timer—five minutes to apply. If we didn’t submit our application within that time frame, we’d be out of luck.

I could feel the pressure rising in my chest as I quickly clicked on the application link. My fingers were trembling as I typed in my fake bios and could see Zoey doing the same.

Name: Stacy Pascal

Skill: a taekwondo master, who's now a newly turned Mafia

Purpose: Seeking to serve Dante because of his courage.

Name: Liliana Thrones

Skill: a ninja trainer, who's now a newly turned Mafia

Purpose: Seeking to serve Dante because of his courage.

I nearly laughed at the absurdity of it. It wasn’t exactly a lie.

Apart from the truth? We didn’t want to serve Dante, we wanted to take him down, the fact those weren't our names and that we weren't Mafias. Okay, maybe everything was a lie.

With a final click, we both hit ‘submit’ at the exact same moment. I crossed my fingers, praying that our plan would work. If we didn’t get accepted...well, we’d have to go to Plan B. And Plan B wasn’t going to be pretty.

We waited…And waited and soon I started churning from hunger.

Pulling out the remaining wolf meat from yesterday, me and Zoey settled for it to cleanse the hunger, as we chewed on it, and soon we were done, but there wasn't any response on the application yet.

Then, after what seemed like an eternity, a message popped up on both our screens.

It was from Dante’s manager.

“Meet us at the airport in an hour. We’ll pick you up.”

We both erupted in laughter, relief washing over us in waves. Finally, it was all going as planned. We were in!

Immediately, I tapped on my message and wrote a response, but when I tried to send, a red warning flashed across the screen. My message wouldn’t go through, It was as if we had been blocked.

“Doesn’t matter,” Zoey said with a smirk. “We’re already in. Let’s get ready.”

I nodded as Zoey pulled out all necessary materials for our transformation.

Zoey cut her hair to shoulder length, dyed it purple, and slipped on matching purple lenses. I did the same, cutting my hair into a bob and changing my eyes to a bright brown with lenses.

Afterwards, we both used a melanin-changing injection to darken our skin, completing the transformation.

Staring at the mirror, we looked nothing like ourselves anymore.

When we were finished, we quickly donned the bodyguard suits, packing our bags with the essentials: our laptops, a few clothes, and the necessary tools for the job ahead. And with all that set, we were fully ready.

Without a word, we grabbed our things and headed out. We were about to infiltrate Dante’s world—and he wouldn’t know what hit him.

________________________________

The ride to the airport felt like it went on forever, but soon we got there and immediately we stepped inside, two men in black clothing stepped up to us, which were Dante's men.

After confirming our fake ID’s Zoey made, they gilded us to a Benz car outside, and just before we got him, each of the guards blindfolded us. Definitely the move was for us not knowing where they were taking us to, so if any case our cover was blown, we would have no way out, and would easily get killed.

If it were a few days ago, the thought would have made me clench my teeth, but surprisingly, I didn't feel any form of fear.

The car bumped through a lot of potholes because the car didn't only keep swaying but also tilting upward and sideways occasionally.

Zoey and I couldn't communicate, but I knew she must have her head occupied with thoughts as well.

The car finally came to a stop and immediately, the car doors opened up. I felt a hand around my head and soon, the blindfold was undone. It was one of the men and glancing at Zoey, her blindfold was off too.

Suddenly, the bright light hit me, and I squinted, adjusting to the daylight. My heart slammed against my chest as my eyes locked onto him…Dante.

There he was, sitting right in front of me.

Not long ago, I was just a reporter—looking for justice, trying to expose him. Now, I felt nothing but hate.

This man had taken everything from me. My father… he was the reason I was here, the reason my life had fallen apart and now, he stood before me with the same confidence and I had to stop myself from gritting my teeth.

Glancing at Zoey, she looked just as pissed. I could practically feel her anger radiating beside me. We were definitely on the same page.

Dante's hands closed around the cup sitting on the table, right before him, before bringing it to his lips, as he sipped his coffee and eyed me. “Stacy, right?” he said casually.

I nodded, my throat dry, but I forced myself to stay composed.

Then he looked at Zoey. “Liliana, right?”

She gave him a tight nod, her jaw clenched.

I waited for another word but then silence…a suffocating one at that.

The moment stretched almost forever and I could almost feel Zoey’s buzz of impatience, but we didn’t say a word. And then… Dante laughed. Not just a chuckle, but a full, manic laugh. It was unsettling, the kind of laugh that made my skin crawl.

Did he know who we were?

Did he know why we were here?

But before I could finish the thought, his face went cold, like a switch had flipped. His eyes hardened, and everything about him went from unpredictable to terrifying. He waved his hand dismissively.

“You’re hired.”

I blinked, thrown off. Zoey looked just as stunned as I was. We had come here with one plan, one idea: take Dante down. But he… he had just hired us like it was nothing, almost like we were being given a go ahead to destroy him.

This didn’t feel right at all, it was too easy!

“Should I repeat myself?” Dante scoffed, his voice was pretty hard now.

I nodded, but before I could even take another step, the air was split by the sharp crack of a gunshot.

I barely had time to react before a bullet flew past my head. My heart skipped a beat as I dove out of the way.

Zoey rolled toward me and it was no doubt she just dodged a bullet as well.

The hell?!

What was going on!

The room erupted in chaos as more shots rang out. Not wasting much time, Zoey and I pulled out the guns we’d hidden in our suits, in case something like this happened. The plan had always been to be ready for anything.

We fired back, steady and precise, both of us not missing a single shot.

I watched a bullet miss me by inches, then turn to see one headed straight for Dante and I felt time slowed.

We were the only ones in this building, apart from the shooters of course! Dante was wanted and if we were to be dead, we were ruined!

Without thinking, Zoey lunged, throwing herself into him, knocking him out of the line of fire. Immediately, I sprung to action, barely managing to deflect the bullet before it hit him.

“Sorry,” Zoey muttered, looking down at Dante like she didn’t care. She definitely didn't mean it.

Dante stood up, brushing himself off. He didn’t even seem phased. Not a hint of concern on his face as he looked at us with that cold smirk. “Now you’ve proved you’re fit to be my personal bodyguards.You’ve passed the test”

‘Test’ Those words kept resounding.

The hell!

He called almost killing us and himself a test! The guy is freaking crazy! If we hadn’t been trained, we would’ve been dead.

Dante, still grinning, turned and motioned for us to follow him. “Let’s go,” he said, as if this was nothing. He walked out of the room, and we had no choice but to follow.

We climbed into the limo, Zoey sitting beside me. I didn’t even know where to start. Everything had changed in the blink of an eye.

What was happening?

What were we even doing anymore?

I turned the key, and the engine roared to life. Dante sat in the back, already settling in as if everything was fine.

I saw Zoey glanced at him through the rearview mirror and then she asked;

“So, where to, sir?”