Chapter 56 Firefly.

Chapter 56: 56 Firefly.

"So that’s why you hired me back?" I asked, genuinely impressed despite myself by Glacia’s nerve. It took a certain kind of courage to make demands of Lacey, and there couldn’t be many people who would willingly try it.

At least, not many who were still in a position to make demands afterward.

My attention drifted toward the two muscleheads—or, considering their appearance, stoneheads—who had accompanied her. Neither man seemed remotely bothered by the conversation, their expressions as immovable as the stone that covered their bodies.

Brick and Stone.

Firefly’s resident heroes, villains, mercenaries, or whatever else the corporation needed them to be on any given day. They’d apparently done a little bit of everything throughout their careers, and I had to respect the versatility.

"Well, that’s certainly part of it," Lacey said, pulling my attention back to her. "And naturally, once Captain Zero made his feelings regarding her employment abundantly clear, I couldn’t very well continue keeping her on."

"You could have lied to me," I pointed out. "You could’ve said she’d been recruited by someone else, transferred to another branch, whatever. Instead, you dropped her without so much as a proper explanation and deliberately acted like you had no idea what I was talking about. You knew I wasn’t going to just shrug and walk away. Especially if you genuinely wanted me to stay away from her."

"You really do give me far too much credit."

"I don’t think I do."

"That," Lacey replied, giving one perfectly groomed eyebrow a playful little lift, "is entirely a matter of perspective."

She glanced past me toward the building. "Speaking of which, that’s quite an impressive property you’ve acquired."

There it was.

I didn’t know what angle she was taking yet, but I already disliked the direction of the conversation. "Yeah?" I said cautiously.

"Very impressive indeed. Although I imagine a building of this size comes with rather substantial maintenance costs, particularly when one considers the amount of work it appears to need."

"I’ve got someone handling that."

"Naturally."

Lacey began walking toward me, every step smooth and deliberate, like a snake that had already decided where it wanted to bite.

She reached out and tapped a finger against my chest. Each light contact sent an entirely involuntary jolt of raw attraction through me, which was deeply inconvenient considering the woman attached to the hand.

"But even with that taken care of, you’ll still require considerably more cash flow before long, won’t you?"

She let her palm settle against my chest, fingers spreading slightly as she felt the muscle beneath it.

"So why not come work for Firefly?" she asked, her voice taking on that familiar, almost purring quality. "I’m sure we could arrange something mutually beneficial."

"So that’s why you’re here." I shook my head. "No thanks, Lacey. I’m not joining Firefly."

"What a pity." She sighed dramatically, tilting her head into her waiting hand as though she’d just suffered some terrible personal tragedy. "Although I can’t say I’m surprised."

She straightened again, that smile returning.

"Still, even if you’re unwilling to work for us directly, I do happen to have a job available for you. And your girls."

"My girls?"

"Of course!" Lacey’s face brightened. "As I told you before, Miles, you simply can’t remain a one-man operation forever. And now that Razor is no longer some tiny little outfit scraping together freelance contracts, having several capable sidekicks under your banner becomes considerably more valuable."

She gestured enthusiastically as she continued.

"Think of all the additional work you could take on. Your reputation would grow, your earning potential would increase, and naturally, we’d be able to merchandise the whole thing beautifully. Toys, action figures, perfumes, clothing lines, perhaps even a Netflix original series! Honestly, the possibilities are endless."

"H-hey, wait a second," I protested. "I never agreed to any of that."

"Didn’t you?"

Lacey turned her teasing expression toward Patty.

Patty immediately grinned back at her.

Birds of a feather, I thought.

"What about you?" Lacey asked her. "What do you think about Miles establishing his very own evil organization?"

"I think it’s awesome!" Patty squealed, clapping her hands together. "A whole organization full of hot super girls who are there to take care of all your needs!"

"What?!"

"I believe it would be quite advantageous."

I turned at the sound of Glacia’s voice.

She was emerging from the front of the chalet, wrapped in a fluffy white sleeping robe.

With her pale complexion and regal bearing, she looked like a young Jadis stepping out of Narnia, assuming Narnia had been less concerned with Christian allegory and more interested in being a ruined hotel converted into a villain’s residence.

"You too?" I asked, staring at her in disbelief.

"Of course, sir." Glacia smiled serenely. "Any woman would consider herself fortunate to become part of an organization led by you. It would provide us with a considerable increase in income, while also giving us the opportunity to properly populate your new lair."

She paused, apparently considering whether there was anything else worth mentioning.

"And naturally, many villains maintain several romantic partners, sir. It is hardly an unusual arrangement."

I reminded myself, once again, that Glacia had been raised as the daughter of one of the most notorious villains on the planet. Her understanding of what constituted ordinary behaviour was therefore probably several miles away from mine.

Still, having an absurdly beautiful ice queen calmly encourage me to acquire multiple girlfriends wasn’t something I’d expected to have to process before breakfast.

"And you two are actually okay with this?" I asked, looking between Patty and Glacia. "Seriously?"

"Of course!" Patty giggled. "The more girls, the better! Pity I won’t be here myself. Do you have any idea how much science we could do with that many powersets?"

"Quite." Lacey rested a finger thoughtfully against her chin, amusement evident in her smile. "And there would be another advantage. More security."

She looked directly at me.

"The larger your little organization becomes, the harder it becomes for someone to attack any one of you without consequences. If a potential enemy knew they weren’t simply going after Polaris, but Polaris and an entire harem of superpowered women, I suspect a great many of them would reconsider taking the chance."

I wasn’t entirely convinced.

Taking on greater risks usually attracted greater risks in return. The stronger I became, the more attention I was likely to draw from the bigger players in the game, whether they wore capes or masks.

Still, she wasn’t entirely wrong. I’d already decided that Glacia needed someone to teach her the finer points of professional supervillainy, and if this was the direction things were heading anyway, there were worse ways to go about it.

"Well, sounds like democracy has spoken," I said with a resigned sigh.

Oddly enough, I wasn’t particularly unhappy about the result.

That might have had something to do with the fact that the three women responsible for backing me into this particular corner were all ridiculously attractive.

"Wonderful."

There was something about the way Lacey smiled that made me suspect this had been the real destination of her elaborate little scheme all along.

"Then perhaps you’d be interested in another job?"

"Another job?"

"Naturally."

Lacey reached behind herself.

One of the two security guards—Brick or Stone, and I still couldn’t remember which was which—immediately produced a tablet bearing Firefly’s logo and placed it into her waiting hand.

She turned the device toward us and activated it.

The screen displayed a brightly illuminated stage, lights flashing across rows of performers while several young women danced beneath them. They were all pretty, of course, and dressed in the sort of coordinated outfits that reminded me of those idol groups younger people seemed perpetually obsessed with.

"A collective of villains would make a much more suitable opponent for your debut," Lacey explained. "We’ve already got Mysteria involved, along with several others who I’m sure would be absolutely delighted to meet you and your new associates."

I accepted the tablet from her and studied the information on the screen.

"Well," I said slowly, "I suppose the gallery job didn’t exactly go according to plan."

I glanced back toward her.

"And the payment?"

"Four million."

"Only double?"

"For the moment."

Lacey extended her hand toward me, her smile widening.

"But shall we see where this leads?"

I stared down at her offered hand as though she’d just held out a venomous snake.

I’d already come this far.

With a sigh, I took it and gave her hand a firm shake.

"Alright," I said. "Let’s see what happens."