Hellbound With You

This man came back? What was he doing? Didn't he say he wouldn't intervene?

Abi glanced at Alex. He was still emotionless. He didn't react despite seeing Zeke holding her hand. He used to blaze like an inferno whenever something like this would happen. His lack of reaction was even more painful. This was not good. Her will didn't waver but the pain caught her off guard.

"Come, Miss," Zeke spoke again. Abi looked up at him and before she knew it, she stood up and let Zeke guide her towards the dance floor, leaving Alex behind. She needed to calm down and think properly so she accepted Zeke's offer. She should have thought of a plan before just going up to him but her emotions got the better of her.

Zeke put his hand on her waist and they started to dance, drawing everyone's eyes to them as they twirled around gracefully, as everybody wondered who this woman in black was who was bold enough to ask Alex to dance and was now twirling around in the Prince's arms. However, the pair didn't even notice. They were too focused on the situation at hand to care.

"You said you weren't going to intervene," she whispered, taking silent deep breaths. Her eyes sparkled from the water pooling in them that were threatening to fall. She sighed once again, holding her ground.

"What? You haven't even done anything and you're already struggling?" he sounded almost mocking but Abi knew that this man was just painfully straightforward. He wasn't polite to her at all, unlike Kai. Well, it wasn't like she wanted him to be polite. Somehow, she didn't mind that this guy didn't sugarcoat his words even a little, as long as he was telling the truth. As long as he wanted to help her.

"I'm fine. I just need to make a plan and prepare myself mentally. Now that I know what's going on, I can better prepare myself for the things that might come or the things that might not," she answered as she took another deep breath and finally looked him in the eyes. "So, what is on your mind? I believe you didn't come back just to dance with me, Mr. Q –"

"You can call me Zeke when no one's around. Of course, you should call me that around Alex."

Abi's brows slightly creased at his last sentence but she shrugged it off. "And when others are around?"

"Your highness."

Abi fell silent. 'So this guy is a prince.'"You're the prince of the vampires?"

"Crown prince," he corrected.

"What about Alex? What is his position now in this country?"

"His status is above that of the King."

"What should I call him then? When others are around…"

"Alexander. No need to address him with a formal title."

"Why?"

"He didn't like it so now everyone has gotten used to calling him by his name."

"I see." She nodded. Somehow, she finally relaxed a little. "So? What is it that you wanted to tell me?"

"I am going to detain you here. The story I will tell your friends is that you were caught being here illegally. The story for the people will be that I am hiring you to do a job here in the palace."

Abi looked at him and thought about it for a second. His plan sounded like it would work, but she would need to tell Kelly not to kick up a fuss about it. She would have to let her best friend know that she would sort it out herself.

"Alex lives here now?"

"Yes. He doesn't want to return to that small house of his so you don't need to go back there again."

"Because he also forgot that he has a house?"

"No. His home was originally this castle. But the main point is I can't let him out of my sight. He has to stay where I can keep an eye on him."

"Why? Are you afraid he'll disappear?"

"That's right. Now that everyone knows about him, there are others out there who want to take advantage of the situation. There are certain witches out there who want to use him. They see him as an empty vessel they can fill and then control."

"Are the witches powerful?"

"Yes. Some of them can see the future and they are good at hiding and manipulation. They were the ones who controlled Xavier."

"Xavier… is he dead?"

"Yes."

". . . But Alex is powerful. The witches can't possibly do anything to him."

"Listen, Alex is soulless right now. He is prone to manipulation. What fights powerful manipulation is one's will and strength of mind. Alex is in a state where he doesn't really care about anything so he is very susceptible to being manipulated. I seem to be the only one so far that he will listen to and I certainly am not willing to find out if anyone else can do what I do, except for you. I still don't know how that happened. And I don't know how long this will last. He might turn his back at me any moment and become my enemy."

Abi swallowed. Alex becoming the enemy of all the vampires? Abi remembered Alex's story and she tensed up. That can't happen again.

"He wouldn't do that," Abigail managed to say.

"You are too optimistic, Abigail. Listen to me, this is more serious than you can ever imagine." He glared at her. "If I'd known that things would end up like this, I wouldn't have hesitated to kill you at that park."

"You are the one who nearly hit me?"

"Yes, it was me. I decided not to at the last second because I thought... Well, it doesn't matter. In the end, it was a grave mistake, believing that you two idiots would win your battle. Tch! Love conquers all my ass! Love made Alex weak and it cost him his soul just to save you."

Abi could see anger in Zeke's eyes and she understood why but...

"Alex is… he's not weak. He's stronger than anyone else. And please don't jump to conclusions yet, Mr. Zeke, our battle has just begun. It's nowhere near over yet. I will show you what love can do," she glared back at him as she fiercely spouted out those words. She finally realized she wasn't scared of this man anymore.

"Then show me and fix him."

"I will. Just you wait. Also, why don't you go and find someone you can fall in love with? Maybe that will change your pessimistic view of love."

"Shut up. Are you ordering me?"

Abi pressed her lips tight. Why did this man become so annoyingly frustrating? He used to just sit there like a mute male Annabel but now he was now scolding her endlessly.

"What is the job that you want to give me?" she then changed the topic, determined.

Zeke bent down to whisper in her ear. His gaze flew towards Alex as he did that. "You need to watch him close. You need to stick with him and drive the witches away," he whispered as his eyes and Alex's met.

"D-drive the witches away? How am I supposed to do that?"

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