Hell's Kings

I leaned back in my chair staring at the phone in front of me, trying to decide if it was worth it to not to fly to Paris and strangle the man who I was speaking to. It was a rather tempting thought. The only problem was that the bastard would be missed. That and it meant I would have to deal with a replacement. While the temporary joy of getting rid of the bastard would have been nice, it simply wasn't worth the effort of training another human.

"Alors dites-moi Pierre, pourquoi devrais-je permettre à cette loi de passer à tous alors que tous mes gens sont opposés à cela?"* I asked him in soft rapid French.

He knew that I had the point. That was why he hesitated. He knew better than to cross me or my kind. It didn't matter that we could not go out in the day or that we could not enter a private residence without permission. Damn those rules. There would always be humans willing to work for us and help us bypass the rules.

"Peut-être il pourrait y avoir un autre arrangement conclu?"^ He suggested instead.

I nodded in approval. This was why I took the place as a diplomat. This was why I did what I did. Any other vampire that I had yet to meet did not have the intelligence to do what I did. The threads that I held within my hands were a fine delicate balance. It was one that I was loathe to upset. Any other might have allowed their emotions to cross over and all would have been ruined. I had long since learned that revenge was something that one had to keep in check. It could be had, but it had to wait. It was not worth it to have revenge when you still needed the person pissing you off.

An hour later, I leaned forward and ended the call sliding down slightly in my chair. God I was surrounded by idiots. And there was no hope for it either. That was the truly pathetic issue of all of it. I was surrounded by idiots and I could not be free of them. If only.

A knock came at my door and I reached out relaxing only when I realized that it was my young fledgling Dylan. Sniffing the air, however, I realized that he was not alone. That was indeed curious. "Enter."

The door opened to reveal Dylan grinning from ear to ear. "I though you might be hungry." His voice was eager to please as ever. It was one of the many things that I liked about the young man that I had chosen in a moment of rare pity. "So I brought you a little treat."

His hand was wrapped around the slender arm of a young brunette with a gag between her teeth. I usually favored blondes, but in this case, I could easily see myself making an exception. There was something about fire that had always caught my attention maybe because I had always forced myself to lack it. "Bring her to me and leave us," I ordered in a soft voice pushing my chair back from my desk and simply watching her.

Dylan stood her before me and left the room, just like an obedient little puppy. It was one of the reasons that I liked my little fledgling so much. I reached forward and snatched the girl's arm before she could pull away drawing her to stand in between my legs. I reached up and pulled down her gag even as I caressed her soft skin. "Don't worry, I'll make it quick," I promised. My hand trailed down clasped her neck.

"No you won't," she growled through gritted teeth.

I chuckled softly as I stood up to tower over her. This one was smart. It would be a pity when I did eventually kill her, but she was going to be fun while she lasted. "You're right," I agreed. "I won't."