Chapter 144: Blood-stained Rug

A man was on his knees, and his body was shaking as he kept his head low. An old blood-stained rug was below him, making Esme wonder what exactly this guy did. Gabriel's men were on either side of him, looking at him menacingly. 

Gabriel himself stood from his usual spot on the sofa; he did not turn to look at her, nor did he show any indication that he knew she was there. But the warm tug in her stomach and the connection she felt with him told her, the vampire knew she was close. He was just very good at composing himself; he had to be. He was the King, after all. As much as Esme really wanted to go into his arms right now, she also had to refrain from doing so. 

Plus, the atmosphere wasn't quite right for her to lovingly go into his arms. 

Gabriel's steps echoed through the room as he approached the man on the floor. He sighed as he stopped in front of the kneeling man. "You know I always find it tiresome that after all these years, my people still think they can get away with atrocities like this.." His tone was stone-cold; gone was her loving mate as she felt the air growing colder and chills going down her spine. 

Marcus shifted on his feet beside her; he, too, was now absorbed with what was going on. 

"Please, sire, I did not mean-"

"You did not mean to betray your own kind?!" Gabriel snapped back at him in disgust; his voice rang out in the room, making even Esme flinch and Marcus gulp. 

"They were going to kill me-"

Gabriel grabbed the man's chin aggressively and tilted his face up, so he looked into his eyes. Even from where Esme stood, she could tell he was petrified, staring into the eyes that she loved so much. Gabriel chuckled darkly, but there was no humour to it. "You are a vampire.. how long have you been alive for?" 

The man did not answer, his lips were trembling now, and Esme swore she could see beads of sweat on his forehead. "Your King asked you a question!" Luther's voice bellowed from the bar. Marcus and Esme whipped their heads in his direction, not realising he was present. They had been so absorbed into what was unfolding before them that they hadn't been acting like their usual selves. 

"T-two hundred years," The brown-haired vampire stuttered. Gabriel released his chin and stepped back, staring at him venomously. 

"Two hundred years and you were scared of some lousy humans.. Do you have a partner of childe?" Gabriel asked quietly. It was somehow even more fearsome than if he was shouting at the man, but that was Gabriel's way; he scared others without raising his voice.

The man gulped and shook his head. "I-I do not."

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Gabriel chuckled again and looked at Luther in mock humour. "He so badly didn't want to die that he gave up a vampire's lair to the hunters yet is acting so useless before me. It sounds more like.." He turned his head back to the vampire who seemed to somehow pale under his scrutiny. "you wanted to snitch on the Duke's whereabouts so you could take his land.."

"No, no, you have it all wrong, your majesty!" 

"Ding ding ding ding… I think you were spot on, your majesty," Luther said mockingly before taking a sip of blood from his tumbler. 

"You know," Gabriel reached his hand out to one of his men while looking down at the man. "the Duke ruled fairly over his lands; I actually liked the guy." A flick blade was placed in Gabriel's hand, and he clasped at it and tilted his head to the side. "Do you know how hard it is for someone like me.. to make friends?" He sighed dramatically and looked at Luther, "How long did it take for me to like you?"

"I'm still working on it now, sire," Luther replied with a cheeky grin.

"That is true.." Gabriel nodded along. "So, I was very disappointed to hear such devastating news." He grabbed the man by his chin again and put the blade inside his mouth. "Don't look so scared.. Normally I would leave you outside to fry in the sun and die, turning into dust like you never existed.. But seeing as you don't want to die so much, I think this punishment will be enough.." 

Gabriel jabbed his hand swiftly to the side, but Esme couldn't see what he had done. The smell of blood quickly filled the air, though, and the vampire's strangled cries resounded in the room. Gabriel reached into his guard's front pocket and pulled out the white handkerchief, cleaning the blade and his hand. The vampire on the floor was crouched over, sobbing, but Gabriel didn't pay him any attention now as he handed the handkerchief and bloodied blade back to the guard.

He turned and faced Luther as he placed his hands behind his back again. "For someone who wagged his tongue so much, cutting it off each time it heals back for the next twenty years should be efficient enough." At his words, Esme's eyes flicked back to the rug the man was crouching over at and saw the man's bloodied tongue lying there. 

"What about after the twenty years?" Luther asked, unfazed by the punishment. 

"Chain him up outside in the sun," Gabriel replied, then turned around. Esme's eyes were fixated on the commotion behind her mate. The guards were dragging the vampire away, who was screaming with blood spurting out of his mouth and down his shirt. "Take him to Bertha; she always likes giving the long punishments."

"Such a sadistic vampiress," Luther muttered, then nodded. "Very well, I will notify them." With that, the golden-haired vampire walked to the back of the stage and through the door, the others had gone through.

Gabriel walked towards Esme and Marcus slowly. His gaze softened when he looked at Esme, causing her heart to flutter.. But then Gabriel's eyes hardened as he assessed her body, and he looked back to her friend. "Marcus, did you not take my warning seriously?"

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