Back in White Falls Village.

  Abi suddenly stood up and almost jumped towards Alex. She wrapped her hands around his head and pulled him into her bosom and Alex just obediently let her do whatever she wanted. He wasn't going to stop her from cuddling him.

  His mouth was about to curve into a sexy smirk but it never formed because he could hear her heartbeat going wild and that alone was enough to tell him that this girl wasn't just playing around. She was very nervous and the way she held him that moment was just…


  This made Alex speechless as a slight frown registered on his face. He remembered that Zeke said she was able to tell if a person was a witch from the sound of their heartbeats so judging from her reaction alone, he already concluded that she had probably heard that a witch was nearby. He was pretty amazed at her ability to do this - to be able to distinguish a witch's heartbeat in this busy place - but that was not what surprised him most.

  Alex was most surprised and confused about her reaction and emotions. She acted like a terrified little lamb as she held him, as if she was scared that someone would snatch him away from right in front of her, as if she was scared to lose him. She clung on to him for dear life, but it didn't seem like it was her life she was worried about.

  He then remembered the incident on the rooftop when he fell. Instead of staying put and being safe, she jumped after him, arms wide open, as if she wanted to envelop him into her arms and never let go. She was doing the same thing again, at that cafe. Why did she do that? Why did she jump after him like that? Did she not care about her life at all? Why did she need to go to such extremes for him? She was only human and yet, she had tried to save him, not caring that she could have lost her life in the process!

  And now she was doing it again, pulling him into her arms in a protective gesture. She had pulled him so close to her body that he felt the slight trembling of her fingers and heard the loud, rapid thudding of her heart. Why? Why would she react like this? She had made it clear, time after time again, that she was only his maid and besides… she didn't even like him… so why would she go that far to save him?

  While questions flooded Alex's head, Abi was inwardly praying that Zeke would pop out of nowhere so she could finally breathe again. She was starting to panic because of what she heard. She had just been enjoying the view but she had decided to activate her skill just to take stock of their surroundings. Just because they were only looking around didn't mean that she should let her guard down.

  So, as she sipped her coffee, she listened. She listened to all the sounds around them and once again pictured the sounds as coloured strings woven together. What she then did was block out all the background noises - turning their string colour to black - so that the only noises left were the sound of heartbeats.

  She 'pulled' each of the coloured strings that were left and followed the source. It was when she picked a dark violet one that she heard that familiar heartbeat, fast and high pitched - the same heartbeat she heard when that witch showed up in that dungeon. She was positive that this was the heartbeat of a witch!

  Her concentration broke for a second as she realised that a witch was this close to them! That was why she was scared, not for herself but for Alex. If the witch somehow managed to bewitch Alex or control him, they would be done for! Abi was in a panic because she had no idea how she was supposed to stop this witch from taking control of Alex? She had no super powers like they did! How the hell was she supposed to stop a witch?! Zeke, where the hell are you?! You're supposed to be Alex's bodyguard!

  The sound of the heartbeat was making Abi's hair on her skin stand up. She tried to calm herself down enough to follow that dark violet string so that she could find this witch's location. Where was this witch? Was she inside the café or was she outside?

  Abi tried her best to concentrate, despite her fear, but then Alex's voice disturbed her and pulled her attention back to him.

  "Little lamb, if you don't let me go soon… I might start licking your soft peaches through your clothes."

  Abi: ". . . !"

  Abi looked down at him, utterly shocked and speechless. She finally realized that his face was buried in her chest. Her face burned red as he smiled mischievously, before he teasingly licked his lips at her.

  "S-shameless!" she couldn't help but exclaim as she pushed his head away from her bosom. He really was becoming too much. In fact, his shamelessness was getting worse by the day!

  "What? You were the one who pulled me, Abigail," He lifted his body up to whisper on her ear. "Did you miss my tongue and lips on them? I remember how you loved it when I licked and sucked on them."

  Abi almost wanted to smack him. Why was he being so naughty in this situation? This was serious!

  "Please stop. Stop distracting me!" she begged, blushing hard. She couldn't believe that her main enemy right then wasn't actually her fear, but Alex!

  As she said those words, Abi heard the heartbeat getting louder and her heart almost leapt out of her chest. She subconsciously pulled Alex again and wrapped her hands around him even tighter, like a mother hen sheltering her chick beneath her wings from predators.