Hellbound With You

Outside the mansion, Riev and the other vampires who just stepped out of the house were utterly shocked to see their master. They never expected him to arrive and show up.

”Y-your highness,” Riev blurted out and Zeke just glanced at him, passing him by without a word.

Riev and his comrades fell into a trance that Zeke had already walked through the entrance door before they snapped. Riev could never forget that masked man they saw fight against Alexander and his suspicion about that man being their Prince Ezekiel still lingered within him.

But Zeke was his master and his loyalty to him wasn’t something that was so easily broken from mere suspicions. Despite their doubts, Riev and the other vampires could never turn their back on their master and future king. Besides, they had no proof that the masked man was indeed their Prince Ezekiel. There was still the possibility that someone else out there studied their Prince Ezekiel and impersonated him the way that witch impersonated their Princess Mira. The possibility of there being another immortal was so small and yet, it had happened which made their theory seem not that far fetched after all.

…

Charles, the butler, closed the door after Zeke walked into the living room.

Everyone turned their heads in his direction. It was obvious in everyone’s faces that they didn’t expect his arrival. Only Alex, it seemed, wasn’t as surprised or bothered by this unexpected visitor.

Alex simply glanced at Zeke as the man made himself comfortable before them without saying a single word.

The living room became silent. They all could have heard a pin dropping on the lawn outside. Alicia was staring at Zeke while Abi’s gaze looked at all their faces, waiting to see who would speak first. She felt that Zeke’s arrival made the atmosphere somewhat awkward. She knew exactly what was on everyone’s mind because she thought the same thing. If he had betrayed them, then why was he here, blatantly flaunting his presence?

After a minute of silence and people giving each other confused looks at the new arrival, Alex finally broke the silence.

”So? Why don’t you speak first, Zeke.” Alex said. Abi was watching Alex as he spoke and then she looked at Zeke, expectantly waiting for his answer. It didn’t escape her that everyone else’s eyes were also locked onto Zeke, just as curious as she was.

”I believe that the new witch queen definitely has more valuable pieces of information to relay than me, Alex. So why don’t we start with her?” Zeke finally spoke as his gaze fell on Alicia.

The new witch queen could only sigh. She somehow expected that this vampire prince wouldn’t speak. But she wasn’t bothered by Ezekiel’s suspicious silence anymore. Alicia had already seen everything through the former queen’s memories and she found out that almost everything that Ezekiel had been doing in the last three months had a reason. She now knew why he was doing all these things. Although there were still things that were questionable and incredibly shady about him that Alicia couldn’t understand, Alicia decided not to stick her nose into Ezekiel’s business because she was now more than convinced that everything that this man was doing had a purpose.

Even now, she would bet her life on the fact that he was here for a reason. His actions were never uncalculated or impulsive and she was sure that this sudden appearance wasn’t because he just felt like visiting.

Moreover, Alicia now knew that Alexander was never unaware. The reason why Alexander had never forced Ezekiel to explain anything was because Alexander understood Ezekiel’s way of dealing with things more than anyone else. Alexander knew that this man wouldn’t do anything without a reason and he completely trusted this man, even with his life, it seemed.

The silence dragged on as Alex’s gaze on Zeke became even sharper, causing Zeke to continue speaking. ”Well, the only valuable piece of information we gathered from last night’s encounter is the fact that that woman can be killed and the one who can kill her is your dear wife,” Zeke said, stating the obvious.

Alicia and Alex weren’t surprised with Zeke’s words but Abi was, and so were Kai and Raven. The three of them creased their brows in confusion.

Alex leaned his face on his knuckles, his eyes sharp as he gazed at Zeke.

”Your plan put my wife in grave danger last night, Zeke,” Alex told him with an unhappy and ominous voice but Zeke was unfazed and faced Alex’s sharp gaze head on, as usual.

”There was no other way, Alex. You know that. And don’t forget that you entrusted me with this. If things didn’t get to that point last night, I don’t think you would have ever drank Abigail’s blood and finally got cured,” Zeke argued. ”Last night needed to happen for many different reasons. Don’t expect me to easily fool that woman without fooling every single one of you first.”

Abigail’s gaze could only dart back and forth between Alex and Zeke. What were they saying? What happened last night was part of Zeke’s plan? Did Alex know about it? What the hell was going on? Abigail looked at Alicia and noticed that she didn’t look confused or worried or anything of the sort. It seemed this really was all part of some grand plan that Zeke and Alex cooked up.

”That woman is shrewd. She would not easily fall into anything but a well planned trap. I have spent the last three months trying to bring her out of her lair and planning this trap,” Zeke continued.

”So you gained her trust by experimenting with those hybrids?” Alex asked.

Zeke fell silent for a while. ”Yes. I used the bodies of the rogue vampires you killed in the last three months. But even that wasn’t enough for her to fully trust me so I had to be careful and resort to last night’s plan. My only miscalculation was that I didn’t know that that woman actually wanted Abigail’s blood. She wanted Abigail’s blood and wanted you alive at the same time, Alex.”