27 Vampire-Werewolf Partners: Part One

"If there's one thing I know.. It's how to kill." Esme's gaze darkened, but she felt Gabriel and Niko's intense stares on her face, so she cracked a smile, "I've always killed to survive, of course, ha ha.. and never leave anyone alive." She felt increasingly awkward the more she spoke, but luckily, they didn't seem to read more into her words.

Gabriel glanced at Niko, and much like how she'd seen werewolves mind-linking each other, it seemed like Gabriel was speaking to Niko. The pair seemed to nod in agreement before the King said aloud. "Esme, you will stay here tonight; Niko will search the streets, though by now, if the bodies were found, there would be news about it." He marched past them, his features hardening as the power emanating from him seemed to grow stronger.

"I can help Niko-"

"You will stay in the apartment until the morning, Esme," Gabriel interrupted, his voice a warning in his command. He turned to glare at her after hearing her slippers shuffle behind him in the hall as she walked towards him.

"I will stay at the apartment tonight.."

"Good," Gabriel turned around again, believing Esme was acting oddly accepting.

"But after I have helped Niko." Gabriel sighed loudly, realising the she-wolf would not follow his orders so easily or without a bit of a fight. "I have a good nose. If there are other scents there, I will pick it up," Esme said quietly. She could tell Gabriel was not used to someone disobeying his orders, but he needed to remember that she wasn't just a werewolf but a rogue.

"He's lucky you are a calm Luna," Isana grumbled in agreement though Esme flinched a little at the term Luna because of the baggage of memories brought along with the term.

But generally, for an Alpha and Luna, it was hard to follow others orders because it was in their nature to hand them out, to lead a pack. But there were only a select few that could overrule even an Alpha and Luna's orders, and they were the Alpha Kings and Queens. If another creature commanded them to do something, then the Alpha or Luna might lose their temper and 'put them in their place.'

Gabriel turned his head in her direction but did not look at her. "Fine. Niko, call Luther if there are any issues. I trust only you two will be needed." He started to stride towards the stairs. "If you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend to." And with that, he disappeared in a blur.

Esme sighed and closed the door to 'her' apartment behind her. "I just need to get out of these slippers and get my bag," She murmured while tucking her hair behind her ear. Niko nodded his head and walked by her side back towards Gabriel's penthouse. She felt odd walking through there without the King, and now with someone, she associated more with work.

"I will wait here." Niko plopped down on one of the sofas near the waterfall feature. Esme had to force herself to look away from him, after now only realising he was in 'casual' clothing, wearing jeans, trainers, a black top and a dark green denim jacket. Was Niko technically on his night off? In the time she worked there, he hadn't had a night off.

"Does he only work when we do to prevent us from fighting with the vampires?" Isana whispered her little theory.

Esme rolled her eyes at her wolf's silliness. "That would be such a waste, and it is obvious he worked there beforehand."

After slipping on her booted heels, retrieving her bag and pulling on her leather jacket, she followed Niko back towards the golden elevator. "I'm taking the stairs down; I'll see you outside?" She said, eying the lift before strutting towards the glass doors again.

"Do not be absurd," Niko muttered with a hint of annoyance in his voice. Esme stared at him as he opened the door for her, and the pair ended up walking down the sixty floors. She was pleasantly surprised that he didn't complain or ask why she would rather walk down the stairs than take a lift that could do it in seconds.

Once they were on the ground floor, they exited from another door separate from the club. The night's air hit them with a chilly gust of wind, showing just how quickly the north turned colder once winter hit. Esme placed her hands in her jeans pockets and tilted her head down as the streetlights started to reveal her features to the people walking on the high street.

"So, you went to the alley, I told you?" She asked, starting up a conversation after walking in comfortable silence since the penthouse.

"Our men checked. I was preoccupied when you phoned. But you know you do not really need to come, Es; there's probably no traces of what you left behind. Whatever mess you left would have been tidied up," Niko replied quietly, glancing across at a few people on the other side of the street. Esme followed his line of sight and realised the group of people stepping into two sleek black Lamborghini's, were vampires.

"Of course, they are," Isana muttered bitterly. Esme coughed to hide her chuckle at her wolf's obvious envious streak. But hey, she was allowed her moments; they didn't exactly live a life of luxury.

"Friends of yours?" She asked, and Niko scowled in return.

"No, they are far too young of a crowd," He scoffed before leading her into the darkened alleys of the backstreets.

Esme couldn't help but chuckle at his response. She wondered just how old he was to say something like that.

"Do you not find me young and annoying then?" She asked genuinely. Their usual encounters were of work matters or her teasing him, so it was pretty nice getting to know the vampire that kind of made everything work out for her in Chester.

Niko glanced at her and smirked, "You.. try to annoy me on purpose. But your character does not irk me like newborns or those who have been a vampire long enough to know better."

"Hmm, I was not really expecting a proper answer, but you know.. this makes me feel somewhat arrogant. You find me better company than some of your own kind!" She grinned at him, earning a chuckle in response.

The pair went into a comfortable silence once more as they started to pay more attention to their surroundings, and after another fifteen more minutes, they were at the back alley where she fought the other rogues. As they expected, there were no bodies and nothing else that left any evidence of the fight the night before. Gabriel's men really were a good clean-up crew. Usually, she would bury their bodies in fields and forests or leave them depending on the occasion. But she was in a city that was different to her previous places.

Esme and Niko parted; the vampire was inspecting the bin she had been thrown into the previous night while the she-wolf sniffed the air, following a faint scent. Esme purposely let her boots crunch into the ground, letting Niko know that she was still there. She was very good at sneaking off and keeping her presence unknown, but at the moment, she felt like a character in a cop show with her partner searching for evidence.

She couldn't just leave her partner. Even if she did recognise the scent leading away from where they stood.