Thank you so much @Josefina_Kearns and @Now_or_Never for the supergifts. Your gifts prompted me to write this second chapter today.

  "The reason why I didn't tell him your real name was because…" he paused again.

  Alicia kept her gaze on him, almost unblinking, refusing to give in this time until he answers one more question. Right now, Ezekiel's calmness seemed to be being tested, by her.

  He was still able to keep his expression straight but the look in his eyes was not as blank as before. He had some undecipherable look in his eyes right now. She wondered if he was formulating thousands of different scenarios in his head which was causing that look.

  "Because your name will ring a bell." He sounded as though it was already a great struggle for him to tell her that. And Ezekiel… she had never heard him falter before, in words or in actions. This was the first time. And it shocked her.

  The utter misery in her chest was slowly dissipating, the longer she watched him struggle even a little.

  "My name will ring a bell? Why? Sebastian is… he had existed for hundreds of years just like you. I have never met him before, nor seen him in any of the memories that the previous witch queens passed down to me, much less recognised his face. So why would my name ring a bell if you had mentioned it to him?" she asked again, intent on wanting to get the answer to this at least. And he closed his eyes at her insistence to know.

  "I can't answer that question." He finally said after another bout of silence.

  "Why." Alicia immediately threw the word out, her voice hard and stubborn.

  Slowly, he opened his eyes then looked at her. The disturbing calmness was now back. It was as though the earlier uncertainty had never been there at all.

  "Listen closely, Alicia. There are secrets better left buried. Besides, you are not here to seek answers in the first place. You are here with me because you have a goal… and that's to kill me, right? So don't you forget that. You're not meant to know about this, about Sebastian… no one knows about him but me and Alex. You've learnt about a secret I had been trying to hide for hundreds of years… you, a witch who is trying to kill me of all people…" he shook his head, "I can't reveal anything more. You have known more than you already should. I know it's not your fault. I was the one who brought you here after all, and that's why I answered the questions I never wanted to answer. Also…"

  His gaze travelled back to her lips again.

  "What's the point of you wanting to know more about all these? Didn't you accept your fate already? That as long as you meet your goal, it'll be alright for you to be gone now? You aren't even trying to find a way to save yourself. You've long since given up. Anything other than your goal shouldn't matter anymore, is it not?" Ezekiel now bombarded her with questions and statements that were all true, causing her to not be able to retort in the slightest.

  That hurt her, so bad. Why did his words always feel so incredibly painful? Was it because he was right? Or was there another reason?

  Before a treacherous tear manage to fall from the corner of her eyes, he pulled her against him, tucking her as close as possible to his hard body as he stretched his hand and create another spinning vortex. It was the same vortex of darkness he had created before that when they teleported.

  "If the both of us are still alive after these two weeks, maybe I'll let you find the answers to your questions. For now, forget about what you just saw and heard. Forget about Sebastian… and focus only on your goal." He added in a low voice before he wrapped his free hand around her back and stepped directly into the vortex.

  They were back in his luxurious apartment in seconds.

  Ezekiel removed her cloak as they stood there in silence as Alicia kept her eyes trained ahead, as if her mind was somewhere else.

  "Alright," she finally spoke once Ezekiel dropped her cloak onto the chair. "I will not ask about what I saw and heard in the dungeons anymore. But…" she looked up and met his gaze and lifted their inseparable hands. "Tell me why you're keeping me with you, preventing me from disappearing like this."

  Intently, she watched his grey eyes, as if she was searching for something in them.

  "After you answer this, I'll shut up." She added, determined.

  He stared back at her and she silently wished he would drop his perfect fa?ade again. She wanted to see some emotions in those eyes of his again as he answers her – if he ever answers her.

  "Heal that lip of yours first or I'd assume you're deliberately seducing me." He told her bluntly.

  That threw her off. Once again. But she managed not to stupidly let her mouth hang open this time. She knew that he was talking about her blood, not her lips!

  "Tell me that you'll answer me first once I'm done." She needed him to give his word.

  "Stubborn." He muttered, clicking his tongue.

  Alicia did not give in.

  "Fine." He surrendered and Alicia barely stopped herself from sighing or smiling out in relief as his next sentence positively stopped her from having that reaction. "Don't ever think that I will give in to you like this next time, Alicia. The next time you make yourself bleed, don't you expect me to hold back like this again. Keep that in mind. I only give warnings once."

  She could not help but swallow as that warning just sent a little shiver down her spine. But she distracted herself quickly by finally uttering a healing spell.

  Once her small wound closed, she returned her intense gaze at him. "Now answer me." she demanded.

  Ezekiel's gaze seemed to gleam with something that she failed to recognize within that split second that she saw it.

  "Let's just say that…" he started, the small pause made her heart thud faster in anticipation, "… I need something from you, Alicia."