The Fugitive - Chapter 164

Esme flicked her gaze back at the blonde-haired hunter, whose eyes were filled with sadness as he looked down. It annoyed the hell out of her. The she-wolf spun the silver knife that sizzled on the palm of her hand before she snatched it and marched towards him. She was the one who was made a fool out of, so why was he sad? Or was it because he knew he would be killed by a ‘mutt’?

“Leo deserves it. He’s been sniffing around her for too long,” Gabriel replied to Niko, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

“He doesn’t deserve to be kill-” Esme tuned Niko’s voice out. Surely, Niko should be just as angry as her. Leo had been hiding in the bar much longer than the time she’d been there.

Esme stopped just before him and raised her blade to his chin, tilting his face up to look at her, although she was still smaller than him. Leo’s eyes slowly looked up, and he met hers. “Explain,” She said, her voice as hard as steel, her face void of any emotion.

Leo searched her face, and he smiled sadly. “You’re quite scary, Es. I’ll give you that.. You have a guy twice your size pinned up against a wall-”

“I said explain not compliment me on my ‘badass-ry’,” She snapped, glaring at the hunter, as she felt her blood boiling again at how he appeared the same. He wasn’t looking at her like she was filth, like most hunters. But the trust she had in him was gone; he was a very fricken good actor and was probably trying to save his life.

Leo gulped, then smiled again, “Can you at least lower your blade? I’m not exactly going anywhere.”

Esme narrowed her eyes but conceded and lowered her blade enough that it wasn’t touching his skin. “I WAS a hunter, I’m not anymore-”

“That’s bull,” Esme snapped. “You put wolfsbane in my milkshake to see if I was a werewolf. What were your plans once you found out I was one?”

“It was curiosity, nothing else, and it’s not bullshit, Es. Why would I lie to you now?” Leo replied calmly, like he didn’t have a blade near his throat.

“It’s simple. So I don’t kill you,” Esme answered him like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No. Listen to me. Don’t cut me off,” Leo paused and looked at her intently, making sure she understood. Esme rolled her eyes then raised her brows to tell him to proceed. “I was a part of the hunters.. actually, I specialised in hunting vampires. I had.. issues.. I mean, my parents were killed by vamps, so..” He sighed and lowered his gaze. “Anyway, after specialising and hunting for a few years, I realised killing every fricken leech wasn’t going to change what happened to my parents. And.. not every vampire was bad. I’m not a part of the Hunters Association anymore.”

Esme scoffed. “You expect me to believe that? To be honest, Leo, I don’t even know if I should believe anything coming from your mouth.. Did you ever go from foster home to foster home, thrown into care and get abused? Or was that all some made up lie to get close to me?”

Leo’s eyes widened, and his lips parted before pain flashed across his features, but he swiftly hid it. That was when Esme realised he was telling the truth. “I have NEVER lied to you, Esme,” He said through gritted teeth.

“The only thing I have kept from you is that I’m an ex hunter.”

Leo looked away tiredly and sighed in submission. “If you want to kill me, then kill me.”

Esme studied him for a moment, then lowered her blade completely. “What happened next?” She asked in a low voice.

“Nyx.. What are you doing?!” Marcus’ voice echoed across to her. He spoke quietly, but her werewolf hearing picked it up.

“Letting him explain,” She whispered, which made Leo whip his head up and blink in confusion.

“You didn’t come alone?” He asked, his eyes searching their surroundings.

“Nope. As skilful as I am, I wasn’t going to take any chances. I don’t know how long you’ve been hiding at ONYX, but you have to be pretty decent to be so calm in a vampire bar,” Esme smirked.

“Says the werewolf working in a vampire bar..” Leo smirked back, making her chuckle, then Esme shook her head and cleared her throat, frowning at him, remembering that he was a hunter and one she wasn’t happy with right now.

“What. Happened. Next?” She asked through gritted teeth.

“I left the Hunters Association and became a rogue vampire hunter,” Leo explained simply, but it couldn’t be that simple. Esme knew it wasn’t; the Hellhounds had kept tabs on her, so the hunters must know about Leo.

“How did you become a rogue? I can’t see the hunters letting you go, especially if you specialised in..  killing vampires.” Esme started spinning the knife in her hand again, habitually while thinking about what Leo had to say.

“Er.. well.. I guess you know about Niko and Gabriel..” Leo replied sheepishly, making Esme pause and grip her blade tightly. She waited expectantly for the hunter or, well, vampire hunter to continue. “They helped me fake my death.”

Esme stared at him, and stared at him, and stared at him, blinking slowly as she tried to process what Leo said. It was beyond her comprehension and absolutely- “Ridiculous. Why would they help fake your death? You.. a vampire hunter.. getting help from vampires.. Also, they wouldn’t let me attack you if..” Esme trailed off as she felt the bond tugging at her back. Her mate was nearing them.

Esme spun around to face the two vampires walking towards them. As expected, people stopped and stared at the two male models wearing fitted suits. “Maybe hearing it from me would make it more believable, amica mea.” Gabriel smiled apologetically. “The rumours among the humans were getting on my nerves, so this was the perfect opportunity for some light entertainment.” The vampire shrugged, making Esme gape at him in astonishment.

“What are you trying to tell me right now? I kinda need you to spell it out for me,” Esme said irritably. She sheathed her knife behind her and stepped toward hers mate, her eyes wide. The amusement behind Gabriel’s stunningly captivating blue eyes told her that Leo was telling the truth.

“Leo is a rogue vampire hunter. Niko helped ‘kill him off’ from the hunters’ system, and now he helps track down vampires who go against my laws. Vinnie is my usual guy for the odd jobs and criminal cases but Leo.. like I said, is a rogue.. he gets to the vampires who go undetected,” Gabriel explained, now staring down at Esme, who had stopped just before him.

It was totally unbelievable; Leo was a.. She looked back at Leo and suddenly felt guilty for sticking him to the wall. But before going to help him down, she whipped her head around at Gabriel, her temper flaring. “I almost killed Leo!” She exclaimed, pushing against his chest and almost bouncing off the taut muscle beneath his clothes. He was so sturdy and hard it almost made her salivate from touching him, but that annoyed her even more. She shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts.

“I can’t believe you.. I could have killed him because of some rumours?” Esme searched his eyes, looking for a flicker of madness behind them. There was none, but she thought there bloody should be.

“Niko would have saved him. It was always under control,” Gabriel smirked and reached his hand towards her face, but she grabbed his hand and pulled it away, staring at him angrily.

“Tonight has cost me a ‘friendly date’ with your favourite person,” Esme said tiredly and watched as her mate’s smile dropped. “You could have told me beforehand. I thought he betrayed me.. was trying to get close to me..”

“I mean, I wanted to be friends with a badass werewolf who decided to work in a vampire bar,” Leo muttered from behind them, regaining Esme’s attention. She gasped and rushed back to him, removing the blades from the material of his jacket and jeans. Feeling even worse by the holes it left in his clothes.

“At least it didn’t get out of hand,” Isana murmured; she had completely calmed down now, maybe because Leo wasn’t a threat and Gabriel trusted him. But Esme still had a few questions that needed clearing.

“So, you.. are also a rogue,” Esme cracked a pathetic joke and an awkward smile as she held her hand against her opposite elbow.

Leo chuckled and slowly opened his arms, looking at her with those damned puppy dog eyes. Esme still felt a little shaken, even though her mate confirmed he was on their side, and she could feel through the bond how comfortable and how much trust he had in Leo. Esme walked into the ex hunter’s arms with her chest tightening and her eyes burning. She was still stiff as his arms wrapped around her, but she couldn’t help it.

Within thirty minutes or so, she’d nearly killed her friend, who turned out to be a rogue vampire hunter working for the Vampire King.