"Is this your idea of punishment?" he asked the king.
"Shut up, Gabriel."
Gabriel, so that was his name. At least now I could call him something else but the playful one. I slowly let my eyes run over him, and he noticed me watching him, which made him think it was a good idea to lean closer to me. He was probably going to say something wildly inappropriate, but the king stepped in between us.
"Do you like having the ability to see?" he asked.
"What?" Gabriel just asked innocently.
"You heard me. Look at her that way again, and I will rip your eyes out," he growled darkly, making me take a step back just from that dark tone, but Gabriel didn't look at all scared.He just looked amused, and he took a slow sip of his drink, before watching the liquid swirl around, then he finally looked at the king again.
"So, I seem to get now why you didn't want to come back here," he said. "You seem to have gotten awfully attached to the little half-blood."
"You really don't know when to stop talking," the king sighed.
"You are right. I don't," he said and then tried looking past the king, so he could look at me again.
The king growled deeply, and Gabriel moved back. Then suddenly someone called out to the king from somewhere further in the crowd of people. I couldn't really see them, because his big body was blocking almost everyone out, but I could see the king, and he certainly didn't look like he wanted to go over and talk to them.
"You two keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't run!" he told the other two hybrids and pushed me forward, so I ended up standing in between them. One of them was so quiet. I had not heard a word from him yet, and the other couldn't stop talking. "And Ace, don't let Gabriel get too friendly."
The king pointed at the other hybrid Ace, who had a very dark energy around him, and with a single nod from him the king finally left, and I was left behind with two hybrids that were so tall, I had to tilt my head back in order to look at them.
"What was your name again?" Gabriel asked as he snatched another drink from a server that walked by with a whole silver plate full of them.
He handed me the drink and with a shaky hand, I took it, thinking I probably did need it after a night like this.
"I didn't ..."
I took a sip of the strong alcohol, feeling it burn down my throat and warm me up from the inside. I tried my best not to cough. I wasn't the biggest drinker, and I definitely didn't drink such strong ones. I continued to keep my eyes down, but I could feel Gabriel continue to stare at me, and I knew he wouldn't look away until I gave in and told him my name.
"Lara," I said, my voice a bit harsh.
"Lara," he repeated as if he was tasting the name.
He made it sound way too sexual, and I bet if the king had been here, he would probably have strangled him, even if he was his friend.
"That is me," I said and looked down at my hands which were tightening even more around the drink.
How the hell, had I ended up here again? All I needed was some money. I just wanted a new beginning, and instead, I had caught the eye of the king, and now I was standing between his two friends, just wanting to be anywhere but here.
I felt Gabriel reach out and grab a lock of my hair, but before I got a chance to pull away, another arm appeared right in front of my eyes, and I followed it up and saw the quiet one Ace, had reached out and grabbed Gabriel's wrist.
"Don't touch what doesn't belong to you," he said in this deep and dark voice.
"You know I like to stir up things," Gabriel said and winked. "I just want to see exactly how important she is to him."
"And you will end up dead," Ace said. "Tonight is not the night to test his patience."
Gabriel shrugged as if it didn't matter to him that the king wasn't having a good night, but then soon his attention landed on something else. A group of female vampires was eating him with their eyes, and he quickly downed his drink before looking at Ace.
"You can watch her on your own, right?" he asked.
Ace didn't say anything, and Gabriel patted his shoulder twice, before Ace took a step back, clearly not liking to be touched. Gabriel didn't seem at all offended and had without a doubt done it, because he knew it would annoy him. Then he placed his drink down on a nearby table and joined the women further away.
Great, so that left me with the quiet and scary one. At least, even if Gabriel seemed a bit annoying, he lightened the mood. Ace just made me tense even more, and I discreetly moved a few inches to the side, and when he didn't move or say anything, I did it again and again. He was looking over at Gabriel probably in a way babysitting him as well.
I inched a little further away and a little more. I was starting to see I had created some good space between us, and if I could just keep this up, I could probably make a run for it and onto the dancefloor, where a lot of people had gathered. I hoped to hide among them before finding my way inside the house and then just getting the hell out of there.