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Before he could say anything, Khan clapped his hands. "Stop it, you two. Black, Miss Vale is under my protection as well, and annoying Yates isn't worth both our wraths. And Yates, you knew he would do this, so stop letting him provoke you so easily. We have more important matters to discuss today, unless you don't want the information we have on that rival gaming hell?"
The sudden strength from needing to protect his bride began to fade, and Yates gave Black one last glare before releasing him and sitting back on the corner of his desk. "Are you going to share freely or do I need to promise a favor first?"
Black spoke first. "I already know my favor. Once your bride is trained, Yates, I want her to find my sister's fated one and bring them here to her."
Leo frowned. Since Black rarely mentioned his only sibling, neither him nor Khan knew much about her, apart from how she was younger than Black. "I thought she was currently hidden away in the wilds of Scotland."
Black nodded. "She is. But I want to ensure she's protected, in case something happens to me."
Unused to the wolf being so serious, Leo cleared his throat to hide his shock. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask why Black was suddenly so worried about his sister's future, but they weren't really on such intimate sharing terms.
He'd never really cared before—the truce had been all that mattered—but for some reason, Leo wanted to help Black's sister.
Pushing aside that thought, he replied, "When her skill reaches that point, it will be up to Yesenia whether she takes her case or not. That's all I can promise."
If she even stays here, Leo left unsaid. And that thought left a sour taste in his mouth.
Before he could think too much on the reaction, Khan jumped in. "We'll see. It's possible your sister's fated one can't be moved through time."
Black grunted. "I want to at least try. Grace deserves that."
Khan shrugged. "I have no objections to you asking for that favor from Yates, even if technically Miss Vale's magic is under my purview." He moved his gaze to Leo. "As for me, I merely want to keep rebuilding relations between the fae witches and vampires. I'd like to see my females walking through this part of London without fear before I die."
It was something Yates wanted as well. But Khan didn't need to know that. "Much like with Black, I can't make a definitive promise. I need to see what I can do, but I vow to try my best to make your wish come true." Leo looked from one male to the other. "But all of this is contingent on your information actually being worthwhile. So tell me, what have you learned?"
Khan motioned for Black to go first. The wolf merely shrugged. "I sent some trusted shifters there to gamble and observe. Also, one of the most popular shifter female courtesans volunteered to flirt with the males and females working and playing there for information."
Knowing how the wolf liked to create dramatic, detailed setups before actually getting to the heart of the information, Leo tried to move him along. "And?"
"The courtesan said the clientele was varied, ran from human to paranormal, from merchant to lord. The staff were all vampires, though. Male ones, to be exact, with accents. And given how they all resisted her flirtations, and the cool touches she did steal, their hearts weren't beating."
Leo tamped down the urge to shake Black to just get on with it. "Did anyone identify their accents?"
Black nodded. "Aye. Most were trying to hide it so they would appear Italian or Spanish, or even Russian. However, the courtesan managed to get two male staff members alone together. And after allowing one to nip her finger, he moaned something afterward and she assures me they're French. And once she'd let the other take a sip too, they became rather chatty during their post-blood euphoria and revealed how most of the core staff are French as well."
He frowned. "French vampires? I can see them wanting revenge on England in general for what happened during the Napoleonic Wars, when my kind slaughtered their females. But why me specifically? I was merely a child back then."
And to Leo's knowledge, none of his family had ever fought against Napoleon either.
Black shook his head. "I have no idea, as none of my people mentioned you being the only target. Maybe Khan has information related to that."
He switched his gaze to the fae witch and Khan sighed. "I do know a few things, but I can't reveal everything because of the Code." Leo was about to say fuck the bloody Code of Fae Witches, but Khan continued before he could. "What I can say is there is an aura of revenge and determination amongst the staff at the hell, mainly focused on you. Maybe something your father or uncle did back then?"
Leo shook his head. "As far as I know, my father and uncle hated the French but kept their distance. They were far more concerned with conquering the shifter and fae witch territories in London."
Khan shrugged. "Or maybe they merely want to focus on you because of your status as a Dark Lord of London, to try and take control of your territory. It'd be a good first step toward trying to conquer the English vampires as a whole."
Leo grunted. "Perhaps. Although if your people sensed revenge, then that is usually more personal than merely driving someone out of business or taking over their territory. Especially as gambling hells aren't my only source of income, as you well know."
Black jumped back in. "All the males working there were in their frozen states, so maybe they merely want to weaken you so they can steal some females for themselves? Rumors say the purist French branch are desperate."
Yes, the French vampires tended to only want to breed with their own kind, regardless of fated ones. As far as Leo knew, once they found their bride or lord and claimed them, if they weren't a vampire, they locked them away and went searching for a vampire to mate with.
It was one of the many, many reasons the British vampires stayed in the UK, for the most part, in recent decades. A few females had been kidnapped two or three decades ago, until Leo's father had banned travel. It was one of the few edicts Leo hadn't rescinded from his father's time.
At the thought of females being subjected to something like what Nora had, Leo clenched his fingers into fists. "There's no bloody way I'll allow them to steal any female within my domain."
Khan said quietly, "But it could still happen. So you may want to prepare for them to try and kidnap females, all whilst finding a way to chase the French vampires back to France."
