435 Masked

Abi felt her body freeze the moment the woman in black looked at her. The woman's gaze was piercing, as if she wanted to see into her mind. Who was this woman? How did she know who she was? What did she want from her?

All these questions went round and round in Abigail's head. She didn't know why this woman would know someone as insignificant as her. Apart from being Alex's wife, there was really nothing out of the ordinary in her life. Or maybe that was how the woman came to know of her - as the woman who managed to tie down the great Alexander.

An even darker aura cloaked Alex's body the moment he heard the woman in black mention his wife's name. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the woman. With just one look, Alex could tell that she wasn't a vampire, nor a witch. He then recalled what Abigail had told him last night about her dream - about a woman wearing a black veil. So this was the woman calling for his Abigail? Why? Who was she?

The woman then gazed down at Alex again after her attention had been on Abigail for a while. "It's been a long time… Alexander," she suddenly said in a lazy drawl.

Why did she talk like she and Alex had met before, as if she knew Alex personally? Abigail's eyes went to Alex's face to see what his reaction would be. Did he know this woman?

Abigail didn't realise that she had been holding her breath as she searched Alex's face. Abigail had thought that the woman was quite classically beautiful when she saw her in her dream, Even though her face was covered by the veil, Abi could tell that she was elegant and beautiful and composed just by the way she carried herself. As Abi searchd Alex's face, she felt immense relief when she saw that Alex had no recollection of this woman. His eyes were questioning, as if he was asking the same questions she was about this woman's identity.

Alex didn't respond. His fiery eyes just glared at the woman and the already heavy atmosphere became almost suffocating.

Everyone was still in a trance when suddenly, like a lightning strike, Alex flew towards the woman sitting nonchalantly on the golden, angel-like throne. He was so fast that he almost became just a shadow in everyone's eyes.

Nobody expected Alex to immediately charge at the woman in black and he did it before the others could even breathe again. Alex's move broke the spell that everyone was under and they all watched with wide eyes as Alex appeared in front of the woman, with his sword raised, prepared to slash her throat but...

A deafening metallic clunk echoed in the large cavern. Alex's move was unexpected but what was even more unexpected was the fact that a man in black had appeared in a blur in front of the woman in black, stopping Alex's attack with his very own sword. The clash of their two swords created powerful sparks.

In that moment, Alex's eyes widened as his grin became even more devilish. The man who had stopped Alex was wearing a full silver mask with only his fiery red eyes visible from behind the mask.

The two retracted their swords and they leapt away from each other with the masked man standing in front of the woman in black, while Alex ended up before the cocooned witch queen. They stood meters away from each other, eyes glued on each other. Neither of them blinked, as if doing so would cause their death. And maybe that wasn't an exaggeration. If one of them let their guard down, even just by blinking, the other would be fast enough to take the other down.

The atmosphere became electrifying, as if the tension between the two swordsmen was so intense that it manifested in the air around them.

Everyone held their breath again. They were dumbfounded. Even the elite vampires had their mouths subconscious fall open. Someone actually managed to stop Alexander's attack?! Who was he?! What was he?! Was this man the secret weapon of this woman in black? Could he be the strongest hybrid that the woman created? But no! The hybrid's eyes were a lighter shade of red, closer to orange, not the glowing, deep, bright red that this man had.

Everyone could tell that this man was no ordinary vampire. They couldn't believe it. This was simply unthinkable. In all their life, they had never seen anyone who could stand against Alexander like this, nobody except for their… Prince Ezekiel…

Silence fell upon the group and it was so silent that they would have been able to hear a pin drop. The elite vampires couldn't help but feel their hearts thud crazily against their chest with great unease. Even Alicia clenched her fists as she too drew the same conclusion as the others. Abi also heard it, that distinct heartbeat. The man in the silver mask was no doubt a member of the vampire royal family. But… how could that be…?

The woman sitting on the throne leaned her head to the side as she rested her face on her knuckles, looking at Alex with an amused gaze. She had that peculiar calmness that felt way too familiar to Abi and the strangest thing was that her heartbeat was not unusual. In fact, it was a very normal heartbeat, like Abigail's. She had a human heartbeat.

"I see that you haven't changed at all, Alexander. You are still as reckless a man as ever," the woman in black said, nonchalantly. She acted so laidback, like she feared nothing in this world, not even death, somewhat akin to how Alex had behaved the first time Abi met him.