388 Achilles heel

Abi's eyes immediately flew to Zeke's face and there it was. An expression finally broke through his normally unfathomable face but before Abi even had the time to decipher what it was, it had already disappeared, as if it was only a figment of her imagination. At that moment, she felt like she was reaching out for an intriguing paper plane that was finally falling closer towards her. She was so close to finally grasping it but a strong wind suddenly blew it away from her reach before she could even jump to capture it and all she could do was watch it disappear from her eyes.

The next moment, a chuckle echoed inside the car. It was soft but it sounded like a rolling thunder from a deep, endless abyss. That was the first time Abi saw and heard Zeke laugh. It was a strange sound because she just couldn't tell whether his laughter contained any buried emotions or any meaning in them. This man was still such a mystery even after he saved her life, even after she teamed up with him to try and get Alex's memories back. She still couldn't quite figure out what his real agenda was.

"You don't sound like you're really thinking about it though," he said once his laughter faded. He opened his eyes and stared at Alex through the rear view mirror. "You sound like you're hoping for it to be true, Alex."

A small smile played on Alex's lips and his expression became unfathomable as well.

Abi and Alicia eagerly waited for what Alex would say next but unfortunately for them, he didn't say anymore and just continued smiling, as if he was amused at some private joke inside his head while Zeke simply shook his head.

Abi and Alicia both felt a little disappointed that Alex hadn't rebutted Zeke's comment. They were both really curious about the relationship between these two so they had wanted the conversation to go on so that they could maybe find out something, anything that would give them an idea on why Alex seemed to listen to Zeke.

The car halted in front of an inn. Alex looked out the window, narrowed his eyes as he zeroed his gaze through the open door.

"This inn is owned by humans," he mumbled before he turned to Abigail. "Little lamb, you can take her inside to clean up. We'll wait for you two out here."

Abi was quick to nod. Even though she really wanted to be there to listen to more of their conversation, taking care of Alicia's wounds was more important. She climbed out of the car and then helped Alicia out before covering Alicia's back with her jacket as they both headed inside the inn.

Zeke and Alex also climbed out and leaned against the car, facing opposite directions.

"The flesh, human, the heart of a vampire and the blood of a witch," Zeke started, causing Alex to smirk and throw his head back.

"Seems like it. Or maybe it has something to do with the witch's blood running through their veins. The imposter, Mira, used a royal blood's vampire heart and that heart was much stronger than her blood, therefore the heartbeat remained indiscernible to our ears. But those creatures have been transplanted with a common vampire's heart. The heart is still stronger than a human's but the witch blood managed to affect it."

"To make the human body last longer as well. Witches can withstand severe injuries because of the permanent spells that they cast on themselves to make their bodies stronger. That's why, unlike humans, they don't die easily." Alex glanced at Zeke with a taunting look. "If it's not you who thought up this madness, then I worry that there is actually someone out there who managed to outsmart the most intelligent Prince Ezekiel."

Zeke nonchalantly fixed his sleeve. "I think you are worrying about the wrong thing, Alex." Zeke glanced back at him with a taunting comeback. "I'm worried someone out there might be mad enough to actually recreate what you did in the past; to create a powerful army to subdue you, the dragon, in order to kill you and take that immortal life you possess."

This time, it was Alex's turn to laugh. His chuckle was filled with amusement but they vibrated with challenging power. "Now that would certainly be an interesting development," he said, his eyes turned gold, burning with excitement. "It's ironic though. All these years I have been waiting for something interesting to come along to pique my interest but nothing appeared. I waited for many millennia then all of a sudden, Abigail shows up in my life - a very interesting development, wouldn't you say? And now that I have her in my life, I don't want for anything else. Just when I decide to settle down with her and perhaps live a peaceful life, fate finally throws me a curve ball. I guess that sums up fate or destiny or whatever this is, in a nutshell. It's a right old, grumpy b*tch."

"Hmm… Regardless, whoever this is has certainly chosen the best time to do this because you are in your weakest state right now, Alex."

"Weakest…" he echoed, glancing at Zeke with a challenging smirk. "Did I hear you correctly?"

"What I mean is… after thousands and thousands of years, your Achilles heel finally showed itself. There has never been a more ripe opportunity to take you down."

"My Achilles heel, huh…" Alex contemplated as he threw his head back. The next moment, his smile slowly faded. "Abigail…" he suddenly muttered and his head snapped to Zeke as he narrowed his eyes. "Don't tell me their aim is to get to my little lamb."

Their eyes met. "That's definitely one of the biggest possibilities, Alex. If I were them, I would use Abigail against you. That's the easiest way to bring you down, after all."