Shock filled Alicia's entire being. Her eyes circled wide as she looked at him. And though she was in spirit form, she could swear that she felt her entire frame shook with shivers at his last sentence. What could he mean by saying that?! It was fine if he referred to himself. But… she was already dead!

He kept his gaze concentrated on her a moment longer as a lethal quietness reigned between them. Slowly, he then removed his gloved hand off her mouth, warning her with his eyes that she should not try to be funny and cast that spell when she gets the chance. Alicia released a quivering huff and narrowed her eyes at him.

Her mouth opened and closed as her eyes moved down to their still connected hands. She could see his bare hand clutching her wrist. He was really touching her. He could hold on to her! And… she was… Wait… was she in the flesh now?! How? Could this be an illusion?

"W-what did you do?" she stammered, shock still wreaking havoc within her. "How did… no, this should not be possible." Shaking her head, Alicia threw him an accusing gaze.

It was as if she had figured out something. She then scoffed, smirking bitterly at him. "Ah, you must be trying to make a fool of me again, are you? Like how you did the same when you staged that show with the vampire female earlier…" She sneered slightly and tried to yank her hand out of his grip. But Ezekiel did not let go of her. His hand was like hot metal vice, gripping onto her like chains that would not let go.

"Let go of me Ezekiel!!" She hissed, glaring at him. "Stop this illusion you had created to make a fool of me you… you stone cold vampire!"

His grey eyes glimmered with dark amusement as he looked at her spitting and snarling like a cat whose fur was rubbed the wrong way. Alicia did not know why she subconsciously stopped breathing after stealing a look at his face. She finally realized just how close their faces were right now. She had never been this close to him… never had she had the privilege to observe those slate grey orbs this close.

There should not be anything special with those eyes of his. It was not like it was the first time she had seen it anyway. The other vampire royals, Alexander, Kai and Kyle literally had those similarly hued eyes as his. But why was it that Ezekiel's eyes looked somewhat different to her?

Up close, they looked… hauntingly ethereal. Ezekiel's eyes seemed to promise both hell and paradise all at once.

"You think this is an illusion…" his voice reverberated slowly in her ears, causing Alicia to finally snap out from the trance that she was in.

Fury rose within her, unable to believe that she was being reduced to a dumbstruck fool just by being this close to his beautiful eyes. How could she be admiring the eyes of this very same man whom she was about to kill? What had happened to her?!

"Yes!" she hissed through gritted teeth. "You're not a witch to cast such spells but you have demonic powers at your disposal. Making illusions like this should be a piece of cake for you, isn't it?" A forced smirk flashed over her face next. "The great Ezekiel is finally using his demonic powers. Seems that you're desperate to stay alive. Are you that afraid to die, Ezekiel? You've heartlessly taken countless lives and yet you –"

Alicia suddenly shuddered and choked on the rest of her words as his finger suddenly trailed down her throat in light feathery movements. She did not even notice when he had made a move or lifted his fingers at all.

His finger paused at the throbbing vein beneath her pale skin. "Do you really think this is an illusion, Alicia?" the sound of his voice flowed over her like what she imagined black silk would feel like – cool, satiny and smooth. And Alicia found herself swallowing hard.

Then she jerked back at the feel of her thrashing heart. Infuriated at what he was doing to her, Alicia fisted her hand and sent a punch towards his face. He did not dodge despite the fact that even she felt just how weirdly slow her movement was.

However, the one who was shocked with surprise was not him but her. She had managed to punch him, her fist actually hit his face! This meant that this was not an illusion! She was really…

Wide-eyed, Alicia looked up at him again. "What… what did you do? How could this be?"

He lifted up her hand, showing her his bare hand that was clutching onto hers. "Because I'm holding onto you. With my direct touch, you will turn from a fading spirit back to your physical body. This is the only way for you to stop from disappearing completely for the moment."

Her lips parted in disbelief. She lifted her free hand and pinched her cheek. When she felt the sharp sting of pain, she pinched her arm again, wanting to reconfirm it. She then ran her hand over her chest to her abdomen. She could feel her beating heart, her pulse…

Alicia tried tugging at her hand from his clutches again, but he did not even budge an inch. "If I let you go, you'll turn to spirit form again and disappear."

"No… you're lying." She shook her head. "You think I will believe such nonsense?"

Something ignited within the depths of his eyes, but before Alicia could read what it was, he blinked, and it was gone in the next second. His gaze was back to that unfathomable, emotionless mask again. "I know you know it's not." Was all he said then he unceremoniously pulled her towards a room.

"I want you to let go of my hand this instant!" she commanded, all the while pulling at her hand.

When Ezekiel ignored her, Alicia began to chant a spell.

In the next instant, his gloved hand was over her mouth again. "The next time you try to chant, I will not shut you up with just this hand of mine, Alicia. I'm serious. So just you go ahead and try it." He told her, his eyes daring her to go ahead and try him if she dared.

___

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