Abi’s heartbeats drummed in her ears, loud and fast.

  As she walked closer to the woman, the world seemed to move in slow motion. She didn’t know if she was doing the right thing. She didn’t know who this woman was but she had immortal blood, like Alex. What if she was right and that was indeed what he needed to get better? Nothing else that she had tried seemed to work so even though she didn’t trust this woman, she had to try this out. She knew that this decision was a gamble and she hated that all she could do was this; to sacrifice herself but Alex was running out of time.

  Alicia and the rest of their troops were watching the scene unfold but they were kept occupied by the vampires and witches who were determined to end them. How could they stop Abigail?! They all knew this was a bad idea, especially Alicia.

  "Abigail! Stop!! You don’t have to do this. This isn’t the way!" Alicia yelled but Abigail didn’t hear a thing. It was as if Abigail was in a trance.

  Alicia was in a slight panic and she turned her attention to the enemies before them, looking for a way to slip through their defenses and reach Abigail. Fortunately, Raven and Riev were able to create a gap between the enemy line and Alicia quickly took the opportunity to escape and head towards Abigail.

  However, the moment Alicia landed on the stairs and started running as fast as she could towards Abigail, the masked man blocked her way.

  Alicia looked up as she halted a few steps away from the masked man. She looked into his bright red eyes and in the next moment, Alicia pulled out her silver sword and held it up in front of her. It seemed she had to fight this man to get to Abigail. She knew that she was no match for him, after seeing him fight against the strongest vampire of them all. Even so, she couldn’t let him stop her. She needed to get past him to stop Abigail!

  Taking a deep breath, she looked at her target. Her eyes were fierce with resolve as she lunged at the masked man, swinging her sword in a small arc towards his neck but the man easily blocked her attack and pushed her, causing Alicia to stumble a few steps backward. How the hell was she going to get past this man?! Her gaze went to Alex, who was slumped on the ground, then to Abigail who was only a few steps away from the woman in black and then on her opponent.

  He really did seem familiar. Was he really Prince Ezekiel?

  "Ezekiel? Is that you?" Alicia asked him. "Let me through. I need to get to Abigail!" she pleaded, but the man remained stubbornly silent.

  His response to her words was to walk closer to her and Alicia braced herself for the attack that she knew would come. She had used up most of her energy from the first two battles but she still had some strength left. Even if she had all of her energy, she would still be no match for this man. She would have to use her wits to get past this creature.

  She swung her sword at him again as she chanted a spell and in the next second, a very bright flash of light was released from the blade of her sword, blinding the masked man for a split second. It was all she needed to get past him. She ran with all her might towards Abigail, not wasting a millisecond of time she had. She didn’t look back as her legs fought against time, because she knew it was only a matter of time before the masked man caught up to her. She was getting closer and closer to Abigail. She could almost reach out to her. Only a few more steps and she would be able to drag Abigail away. She knew this was a trap because her queen was telling her to stop Abigail. Her queen was telling her that she had to stop that woman from drinking Abigail’s blood!

  She took another step, reaching out her arms towards Abigail to pull her back but before she could reach Abigail, an arm grabbed her from behind and the edge of his sharp sword grazed her neck. The masked man caught her and she was now under his mercy.

  "No!" she screamed. Alicia gritted his teeth because she saw that Abigail was now in that woman’s hands.

  "Abigail!! No!!!" Alicia screamed. Abi heard Alicia and she stopped and turned around but it was too late. The woman had Abigail in her grasp and pulled out a small dagger.

  Realizing that she couldn’t stop the woman, Alicia looked at Alex and screamed at him.

  "Alexander!!! She will kill your wife!! Wake up!!!"

  Alicia’s words seemed to have reached Alex’s consciousness. ’She will kill your wife……’ those words echoed inside his dark world. Alex felt like he had been drowning in darkness and he was finding it very hard to breathe, as if the world he was in was lacking in oxygen. He was floating, falling deeper and deeper. He felt like he could succumb to the darkness to make the pain go away. If he just closed his eyes forever, then he would never feel pain like this again.

  But those words jolted him out of the pitch black world he wanted to drown in. He opened his eyes again.

  Alex forced himself to lift his face as he crawled on the ground. His wife was before him, with that woman holding her hostage and that was all it took. Just like when they had fallen from the roof of the castle, something in Alex awakened, despite his body feeling like it was on the brink of death.

  Abigail’s face was reflected in his dark eyes and he saw her tears falling down her face as the woman in black brought a dagger to her neck and started to slash her skin.