A Heart For The Heartless

Mikhail looked at him, seeming somewhat unimpressed.

“Erik,” he said. “You are aware that I can do mind control on vampires, right?”

Erik swallowed visibly. “R… Right, sir.”

“If I confirm the legitimacy of your information right now through mind control and I find out that you have been lying to me…” Mikhail said slowly, the implications of his words already clear at this point. “I trust you know the extent of the consequences.”

“Y-Yes, my lord! I understand!” Erik said quickly.

“I did not use mind control on you that night to give you a chance to tell me the truth of your own volition, but you still did not disclose the truth until after I threatened you. I hope that you do not disappoint me a second time.”

Erik lowered his head shamefully. “Yes, sire…”

Although he had the power to do so at any time, Mikhail preferred not to use mind control on his men. Mind control meant forcing someone to do your bidding. It was not true loyalty.

Mikhail preferred that his men work for him of their own free will. He did not want false loyalty. Real alliance and trust was what he wanted.

Unless he needed it for investigation and intelligence gathering, Mikhail would not use his mind control for anything else.

“All right,” Mikhail said. “Is there anything else I need to know?”

“I-I can find out more about it if you wish, my lord,” Erik said quickly, intent on saving his hide. “I’ll do anything to gain your trust again.”

“How much inside information did you give him?”

“Huh?”

“You served as Keyes’ spy, did you not?” Mikhail arched an elegant eyebrow. “How much confidential information did you give him?”

Erik’s face went paler than usual, and the panic in his eyes grew. Even for a lesser vampire, his expressions were laughably transparent. “I… Nothing of much importance, sire!” he said quickly. “Just… security information and clients… Nothing of your background or any of the other Guards!”

“Is that so?”

“I-I’m telling the truth, sire!”

“Then judging by your previous words, am I to understand that you are willing to become a double agent for me now?”

“Yes, sire! Like I said, I will do whatever it takes to gain your trust again!”

“My trust?” A ghost of a smirk played on Mikhail’s lips. “My trust is not so easily gained, Erik. You barely had it in the first place. What makes you think I am willing to give a betrayer like you an opportunity such as this?”

“I-!” Erik swallowed, looking like he was seriously considering the words in his head before finally speaking them out loud. “I have a vital piece of information that you might find useful! To tell the truth, I have reason to believe… that Mr. Keyes has something to do with the rogue vampires, sire!”

Now that successfully got Mikhail’s attention. “Oh, is he now?” he said, his lips twitching upwards in intrigue. “What makes you say that?”

“It’s because…” Erik’s voice drifted off, and he seemed quite fidgety this time.

Mikhail could hear his movements and thoughts clearly even without using his mind control. “You seem unsure,” he pointed out calmly. “Is it because you have no proof yet of your speculation? I do not operate on baseless assumptions, Erik. You would do well to remember that.”

“Y-Yes, sire! I understand. I…” Erik looked like he wanted to say something, but didn’t know how to choose his words carefully. “I will be searching for proof from now on, my lord,” he said eagerly. “I admit that what I have right now is conjecture, but…”

“I cannot listen to anything you say unless you have solid evidence,” Mikhail interrupted smoothly. “Now, I will grant you your request and have you search for information for me. However,” he emphasized. “If you betray me a second time, Erik, there will be consequences. Ones that will be far worse than death. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sire! I will not fail you!”

“Good. Now leave. I will have someone keep an eye on you just in case,” Mikhail said. “I am telling you this just so you know that I have no intentions of killing you off just yet. Remember, death is considered a merciful act for vampires. I will not gain anything beneficial by killing you, especially when you are still at least one percent useful to me.”

“…Understood, sire.”

When Erik finally left his office, Mikhail leaned back against his seat and rested his hands on the armrests.

‘So Keyes has something to do with the rogues. Interesting,’ he mused. ‘There’s no doubt that he has someone powerful backing him. After being dismissed from the Council, his reputation was ruined and he no longer has the power and authority to do something like this.’

Mikhail thought about it for a moment. Keyes had been part of the Human Council, so it didn’t quite make sense in light of the current crisis their city was suffering from. The rogues were attacking humans, not vampires. It would have been so obvious if it was the other way around, but in this case, it wasn’t.

If Keyes was truly involved in this case, where something of this magnitude and complexity must have been planned or prepared for at least five or six years – the time when he still possessed the authority, power, and connections to do so – it was of no benefit whatsoever to the Human Council, especially since the human population was steadily decreasing each month.

So, there was no logical reason why Keyes, as a former member, would have anything to do with this at all.

There was also the fact that Erik had yet to provide definitive proof of Keyes’ involvement. Considering Erik’s credibility, it wasn’t too far off to assume that he might have been blurting things out just to save his own skin.

Which was why Mikhail chose to wait for the time being.

He would assign someone capable to shadow Erik for a while. Until he would gain the answers he needed.