Chapter Eight – Gavin
Gavin roared, overturning his desk. Computer, papers, pens, and photographs flew every which way. The human police chief flinched back from him, face paling, and the two vampires that were in the room with them subtly shifted, shielding the fragile human. The king slammed his fist into the wall, cracking his knuckles.
"Are you certain?" he growled.
"M-my lord, the proof is undeniable," the chief stuttered. "Queen Monique is behind these kidnappings."
"That wretched, twisted, evil —" Gavin forced himself to still.
He inhaled deeply, trying to calm down. The scent of the human's blood made his stomach gurgle, reminding him of how long it had been since he'd drunk blood fresh from the vein. Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Aria left him, and he hadn't even visited the humans that lived on palace grounds for the lower-ranked vampires to drink from. He'd been subsisting off of the bagged stuff, and it honestly just wasn't good enough.
But the thought of drinking from anybody but Aria made his stomach churn.
"If you are wrong, there will be severe consequences."
"We have tracked the kidnappers to her kingdom. Our undercover agent saw her himself. We haven't heard anything from him since he reported it. We fear the worst."
Gavin nodded, his rage turning cold in his chest. Monique had made a terrible mistake. He looked at one of his vampires. "Mobilize the army. We will not let her kidnap our people without repercussions. We move out in four hours."
"Sir, that might not be enough time—"
"Four hours." Gavin pointed at the door, silently dismissing them all. The vampires all bowed and left. In the case of the police chief, he all but ran away.
The king closed his eyes once the door slammed shut behind them. He needed blood. Living blood, none of this bagged crap. Maybe if he went to Aria and told her the truth… Maybe if he told her that she was the best thing to happen to him and that he was sorry for the way he acted…
A gentle rap on his door made him snarl. "What?"
The door opened and one of the cleaning women poked her head in. Her eyes were like saucers, one of her small fangs worrying her lower lip. "M-my lord, there is a human here to see you."
"Why would I want to see a human? Send him away."
The door slammed open, revealing Aria's father. The king narrowed his eyes at the man. What was his name? Gavin could only remember his surname, and that was only because it was the same as Aria's. "Mr. Taylor. What are you doing here?"
"I want to see my daughter." The human marched up to the king, eyes blazing. A throbbing vein popped out of his forehead. "I don't care what your rules are, you have no right to keep her from calling me! I am her father."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Gavin was tempted to just throw him out the door. "Aria isn’t here. She left two weeks ago. Didn't even come back for her things – she just cut off all contact."
Mr. Taylor's brows furrowed. His hands clenched. "What are you talking about? The last time I spoke with her, she said she was pregnant and didn’t know how to tell you. But she didn't want to leave. No matter what excuses she gave me —"
"She didn't want to stay, she —"
"She loves you. I don't know why, but she does."
Gavin stared at the little human. Aria's father thought that she loved him? But that was impossible. If she loved him, why would she leave?
Okay, that one might be obvious.
The king turned away. He had acted immature, like he owned her. A girl like Aria wouldn't stand for that. But that didn't explain the pregnancy. Vampires simply couldn't father children.
"She doesn't love me. She slept with another man."
Mr. Taylor snorted. "My Aria sleeping around? No. What makes you think she did that?"
"She's pregnant. Humans and vampires cannot have young together."
"Why not?"
"Because vampires are the undead." Gavin took a deep breath, the pain of Aria's betrayal ripping yet another hole in his heart. He hadn't even let himself hope that somehow the child she carried was his. Hoping was too painful. "Vampires don't have heartbeats. We don't have blood. Both are necessary components to the whole process of pregnancy."
He turned back to see Gavin staring at him with a puzzled look. "Both are necessary for sex. Yet Aria made it clear that you two…" He flinched. "As much as I hate to think of her… doing that, you did, didn't you? So why not whatever process that allows that to happen also allows a pregnancy to occur? I know my little girl. She would never sleep with someone she didn't love. And she loves you."
"Me." Gavin wet his lips.
What Aria's father was saying couldn’t be true, could it? For the past two weeks, he'd been angry and hurt, wondering over and over again what he could have done differently. Could it be that all he needed to do was listen? Put aside what he thought he knew and be open to the impossible?
She had tried to tell him. Sonya tried to tell him, too. But he hadn't listened. He didn't want to listen, and Aria had known that. That was why she cut him out of her life. Because if he wouldn't listen to her when it mattered most, what use did she have for him in her life?
The revelation made his heart rise even as his stomach clenched. He had a chance now. He knew what he needed to do to make this right. At least, he knew how to ask her to come back to him. Whether she would or not was uncertain… but he had to ask.
He focused on Mr. Taylor again. "You said that you haven't heard from her in two weeks."
"I thought that you were stopping her."
"Why would I—" The king shook his head. Humans knew too little about the vampires who ruled them. That had to change. "The last I saw her, she was at her friend Sonya's house. I thought that they might be… getting back together."
Mr. Taylor narrowed his eyes. "Just because she is bisexual doesn't mean she's going to sleep with everybody she finds attractive. If you can't see that she would be monogamous to you —"
"I was an idiot, I know that." Gavin held up his hands. "But the pressing concern is where she is."
The human nodded. His brow furrowed. "I haven't seen Sonya for a while, either, come to think of it. But if you and Aria had a fight, then chances are they would have gone clubbing or something. That's what they always did when Aria had a disappointment."
"That doesn't explain why neither of us has heard from Aria in two weeks."
"If they were out all night… Do you think something happened to them?"
Clubbing.
A ball of dread slipped into the pit of Gavin's stomach. He leaped over his turned desk and grasped the files that contained the missing persons that Monique had taken. All had disappeared from clubs or bars. Bile churned in his stomach as Gavin stood again. Sonya and Aria had most likely gone clubbing and now they were missing. Two women, alone, vulnerable. The perfect targets. Monique's forces must have taken them.
"I think I know where they might be," Gavin growled. He turned towards Mr. Taylor. "I'll get somebody to set you up in a room here so you can stay up to date with what is happening. I promise I will bring her back."
"Where is she?"
Gavin headed for the door. He would get Aria back. And he would get his people, his subjects, back. Monique would rue the day she chose to abduct humans from his kingdom. They were not cattle to be traded or stolen. He was their king and protector. He would get them all back, no matter what it took.
Mr. Taylor jogged to catch up with him. "Where is she?" he repeated.
Gavin's face was grim. "Paris."