Chapter 30: The King's Distraction

Gabriel was sitting comfortably on his couch in the VIP room, his EyePad device in one hand and smartphone against his ear as he ignored his 'guest' and watched Esme and Niko standing on the stairs. One corner of his lips pulled up into a smirk as he stared back at the little she-wolf glaring at him through the camera. She never failed to entertain him with her sassy remarks, no one dared to do it, but this girl really didn't care.

It was refreshing, but he hoped Esme knew when to hold her tongue because there was only so much protection he could give her. However, he was getting ahead of himself; she merely commented on buying her own coat, but he could read right through her even without reading her mind; she did not want to owe him anything more.

Esme already considered herself a charity case; she said so to Lenny the first night she wore that stunning outfit after returning from the shopping spree. But he had money to burn, and why not spend it on someone he finds.. intriguing?

"Sire." Gabriel glanced at Luther, who had leaned close to him to regain his attention though the vampire looked surprised at what he saw on Gabriel's EyePad screen.

Gabriel turned the screen onto his lap and flicked his hand for Luther to step back. Once the vampire stepped away, he turned the screen again and spoke into the phone, "Now, now, Es. There is no need to get so defensive; it was merely a suggestion. I could recommend other ways to keep warm though," His eyes gleamed playfully when he saw her narrow her eyes at the camera but a slight blush formed on her cheeks, revealing how his words affected her.

She parted her lips to respond, but Niko turned away from her, "How is the Duke, Sire?"

Gabriel sighed at the blatant change in subject and glanced at the vampire drinking from one of his feeders, Chloe, the short-haired brunette. "He is yet to finish his meal," He said dryly and maybe a bit irritably. Annoyed by Niko being so friendly with Esme and at himself for being annoyed, this wasn't some teen drama. "Take Esme back and eat. We will talk after," He ordered with a slight growl to his voice.

"Okay," Niko hung up.

Gabriel slowly brought the phone away from his face and watched the screen as the little she-wolf turned away from him. If he wanted to, he could watch her climb all the stairs. The way her hips moved made her all the more enticing, but she was just a sexy distraction from what he needed to do right now. Maybe he could see her after cleaning up this mess..

Gabriel frowned at his thoughts. Why was the she-wolf consuming them so much? It irritated him. Turning the screen off and flipping the tablet over, he tapped his finger against the sleek surface, wondering if he slept with her, then his curiosity might be satiated?

Gabriel glanced at Lennox, a fifth-generation pureblood vampire, unfortunately, announced as the Duke after his father passed away at the hands of the hunters in the 17th century. Unfortunate, because Gabriel liked his father.

They may look alike, with brown hair, light blue eyes with a calculative look in them, but Lennox was dim-witted compared to his father. It was a shame because his downfall would be a disgrace to the Winscon name.

"Your Grace, if you continue to drink from Chloe, she will soon be a corpse," Gabriel said nonchalantly. The Duke pulled his fangs away from her neck obediently to the King's hidden warning.

Gabriel reached out to Luther in his mind while looking at Lennox. "Take her back and make sure she takes some iron and vitamins, and make sure she does not work for a while even if she begs for it."

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The Duke let go of the human who fell to the ground by his feet, and he leaned back into the armchair smiling at Gabriel. The King stared coldly at him while Luther picked Chloe up and handed her to two of his most trusted guards. "Who was the woman you were speaking to? She sounded fun to play with," The Duke grinned then sighed when Gabriel squeezed his smartphone, crushing it in annoyance.

Luther appeared by his side again, pulling another smartphone out from his jacket's inner pocket and handing it to Gabriel. The King turned it on while he continued to stare at his 'guest'. Once it was on, he hit the send button and put his phone away. Gabriel went through roughly ten smartphones a year; now, each one of them had a custom-built text message that would send out his new number to all his contacts.

Lennox cleared his throat. "You summoned me here, your Majesty. If it is not to enjoy myself, then please do tell what it is I can do for you." He leaned his elbow on the armrest, his fist against his cheek, looking extremely comfortable before the King.

Gabriel had to refrain from smirking and instead grabbed his glass of whiskey and sipped from it as he stared at the conceited Duke. Placing the drink down, he said, "It has come to my attention that the domain you rule over has had an issue with a large number of humans going missing."

"It is only a few missing humans. It is nothing I cannot handle or for you to worry about.." Lennox trailed off, glancing at Luther, who placed some papers in Gabriel's hands.

The King flipped over a few pages and placed them on the coffee table with a loud thud, his finger tapping on the numbers on the page. "With the rising cases of missing people, it has now been highlighted not only to the human authorities but to the Hunters Association as well. Do you think taking on the title of Duke means to party and have fun? Or.." His voice dropped menacingly, making all the guards in the room inhale sharply and shiver from what was to come.

"Did you think your playboy act would cover up your negligence? Or in this case.. the crime you have committed in killing multiple humans."

Lennox laughed and looked between Gabriel and Luther as though they were pranking him, but their faces were stoic like usual. "Oh, come on, Gabriel! That is quite an accusation to make! I am not some newborn you can use as a scapegoat to this bullshit."

One of the guards started coughing in shock at the wall, but one look from Luther made him stop and straighten his back even further. In the meantime, Gabriel held the Duke's gaze before he chuckled and leaned back on the sofa, grabbing his EyePad casually.

"It is quite the heinous crime to be accusing you of. I apologise, Lennox. A bunch of numbers on some papers does not mean you are letting the vampires kill their prey in your territory on purpose or that you are the one killing them.." While he had been speaking and staring at the Duke, his fingers were playing on the EyePad's touchscreen.

"Thank you. If others were to hear of your accusation, it could have been troublesome for you.. Sire, it would worry me greatly. Even if you are the King, you ARE still only one man.." Lennox replied as though his careless words were not a threat.

"That is very considerate. But I do have one more question to ask…" Gabriel smiled and turned his EyePad around, tapping the play button. "Do you own the underground club called 'The Playhouse'?"

Lennox's face paled.

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