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“I’ve never seen Elijah gamble,” I said.
“Exactly, that’s what his parents said as well. But people are quick to assume the easiest answer. Now, the not-so-easy answer might be revolving around someone with a vendetta and too much cash to spare.”
“No. Gabriel would never hurt Elijah. If something happened, he would’ve told me.”
“Like he told you about buying my parents’ art?”
As usual, Mei came at me with solid arguments.
“You might’ve known him as a different person back in medieval times, but are you sure he stayed the same person after living for hundreds of years?”
“I don’t, but I intend to find out.”
After the puzzling talk I had with Mei, I went straight to the hotel. Gabriel was nowhere to be found, and just looking for him around the penthouse proved to be a workout. Finally, the steam emerging from the bathroom clued me in on where Gabriel might be.
I found a half-naked Gabriel in the bathroom, preparing to enjoy a bath in the massive tub. “I imagined you to be more of a shower guy,” I said.
I assumed he would at least react to my sudden appearance, but he didn’t even flinch. “Most rulers I’ve met preferred a tub,” he said. “There’s more time to think about my business affairs, and there is enough room to host a visitor occasionally.” He slowly approached and hugged me.
“Do you often host visitors in your bathtub?” I asked, almost losing my train of thought in Gabriel’s proximity.
“As of right now, I plan on doing so regularly.” He smiled mischievously and prepared to carry me into the tub.
“Wait. I must ask you something important,” I said, ripping myself from his grip.
“What bothers you, my love? Tell me.” He looked at me with genuine concern.
“Um, I talked to Mei, and she said someone paid a million dollars for a custom piece made by her parents. She thinks it was you, and you’ve done it in order to sway her opinion in regard to our relationship. Is it true?”
“I’m saddened that Mei doesn’t consider her parents’ work as valuable as I do. If you had seen the sketch of the piece, you would know why one would pay so much money. For me, money lost its appeal a long time ago. Now, it is but a tool I use to satisfy my art collector’s taste and pamper the love of my life. The piece happened to check both boxes since it is a life-size statue of us. Something I wished to surprise you on our wedding day.”
“You ordered a statue of us?” The idea itself baffled me.
“When my assistant sent them the picture, I knew they would recognize you. But they were quite excited to make it, especially since you’re Mei’s friend. They probably wanted to surprise Mei with the final result and didn’t tell her the specifics. Also, what your friend doesn’t know, is that in a hundred years, this glass artwork will cost far more than a million dollars. If you wish, you can call it a future investment. It is hard to explain to humans how immortality works.”
“I did tell her some of the truth about my time travel and you being a vampire,” I said, somewhat fretful of his reaction.
At first, he looked surprised but quickly calmed down and said, “Though it is dangerous to share sensitive information with humans, it is your right to choose to whom you divulge such details. But know, there might or might not be repercussions to anything you do. Many present-day humans don’t have their fate sealed, so it is best not to tempt them in doing anything rash.”
“I see. I trust she won’t tell anyone.”
“I admire your faith in humans, but I hope you have more faith in me,” he said calmly.
“I do, of that, there is no doubt. Except…”
“Come on, say it. Do not ever fear asking me anything.” He took my hands in his.
“Mei told me Elijah disappeared. Did you…” I couldn’t even ask if Gabriel had anything to do with my ex-boyfriend’s disappearance.
“Did I have something to do with it? Of course,” Gabriel said nonchalantly.
“What? You killed him?” I almost lost my footing.
“Kill him? I did rough him up, but why would I stain my hands with a lowly insect like him? I paid off his gambling debt on one condition.”
“What?”
“He signed an agreement to leave for Texas, never to return here again. He’s working on a chicken farm now. I believe he told me he wanted to move to a place with a lot of chicks. I granted his wish.”
