CHAPTER 14

[Gabe's POV]

It didn't take long to have a meeting with the royals arranged; blackmailing is still a very powerful tool. I've hurriedly made my way to the Acanthus where the king to be, and the one in charge of the case had agreed to meet me. The man, who looked to be in his early 20's was neatly dressed in a royal blue three-piece suit with an immaculate white shirt and perfectly polished Dr Martens shoes. If I didn't know any better, I would say he was barely navigating through his youth, but in fact, he is close in age to me, after all, he is one of the few other immortal primordials.

"Mister Jäger," he saluted me with a bright smile, fake, nonetheless.

"Your royal highness!" I addressed him, trying to butter him up.

"No need to address me like that King Remus After all you had funded my favourite city. Take a seat,"

"Prince Sebastian," I addressed him before taking a seat, I still hate hearing my true name. Why did I have to be the only one who got to be immortal, after all my brother was my twin, he should have had the same powers.

"So, you're having hiccups with the latest assignment?"

"Sire, in all honesty, I can not possibly agree with you on this one?"

"And why is that? Have you fallen for her beauty?" He asked me with a smirk. It would have felt funny if his words didn't cut as deep. Yes, I am falling for her.

"Sire, she did nothing wrong. Why do you wish for her death?"

"I'll be honest with you, Remus, I don't wish her death at all. I am in fact after Gabriello, well, his true name is Ierudiah. He is much older than his current identity and has a terrible past behind. The matter is that Antonella is his faithed mate in a twisted turn of fate. And by killing her we can weaken him enough for us to be able to eliminate him."

"How can we kill her when she is innocent? How can I kill her? It goes against my code as a hunter for the werewolf kingdom!" I spoke, rising up from the chair. His sole decision angered me to a strange level.

"Remus, please sit down, people are looking at us!" The king to be advised me. I complied with his request; the Acanthus is too open to have such a scene without potentially alerting the media. Who knows what they'll dig up if they get ears of something like this?

"I am sorry," I muttered under my breath, more for myself than for the crown prince.

"Remus, if you can find another way, I will reconsider our approach. But you must do this before the next full moon. Because if somehow the two of them manage to mark each other, Ierudiah will become practically invincible."

"I keep Gabriello in a very secure prison cell, and I keep him sedated with wolfsbane. He should not be able to reach his mate."

"I am not sure if this is sufficient. The two of them, as I earlier said have a twisted relationship. I don't know what the moon goddess thought when she created this pairing. Their link goes beyond matting."

"Explain,"

"They are blood-related," He spoke in one breath, "which also makes her be blood-related with me."

"With you?"

"Gabriello is my grandfather's distant cousin and Antonella's grandfather."

"Huh?! That's...that's..." I trailed off not quite believing what he was saying.

"That's not a usual pairing the moon goddess puts together, she must have other plans."

"Wait, about Gabriello, isn't this making him part of the royal family? Does your family know about this case?"

"No. They don't. I am doing this on my own, for their own wellbeing, and for my personal revenge."

"Revenge?"

"He killed my mother when I was 5." I was shocked to hear such news; is the first time I hear anything about princess Emerald from him. His mother was a very involved princess, she led so many charitable projects and helped so many people. Back then the media had to portrait her death as an accident, but there were many missing details the royal family kept secret. "I do not fully know the reason behind it, but he will pay with his life for this deed. Looking on him a bit farther into the past, he also seemed to be the one behind the Jack the Reaper murders and much other dark events."

"That can't be right! You know I am using the mind transference spell to play his character; I haven't got even the slightest glimpse of such murderous actions." I couldn't believe I was defending the man.

"Try placing him in front of a silver mirror when you use the spell, that should allow you to go deep into his mind and access all his past memories."

"I heard of this before, but I never thought I'll be using it."

"I'll send my PA with the mirror, tomorrow morning. But don't forget if you can't come up with an alternative plan by the night before the full moon, our initial plan will have to go ahead." The crown prince informed me before standing up and making his way out of the restaurant. Of course, he left me with the bill.