Alicia moved swiftly past him, blocking his way and looking up straight into those grey orbs gleaming in the dim light.

"Why did you mention a different name when he asked for mine? Who exactly is Alexa?" she asked again even though Zeke have yet to answer her first question. "Answer me, Ezekiel…" her voice softened. "Please… or I might go crazy from all these questions wreaking havoc in my head."

He simply gazed back at her silently. He looked at her as though contemplating whether to tell her more or just keep her in the dark. Alicia held her peace as long as she could, looking at his face intently, hoping to see if there were any changes to his expression.

Silence continued until Alicia began to bite her lower lip so hard due to her increasing frustration. This man… he was really going to drive her insane! How could he even hold back from speaking for so long?! If it were her, she would have broken the silence and at least said something. But then again, Ezekiel was not her.

"Stop that, Alicia." he finally spoke. However, that was not the words she was hoping for to come out of his lips! What happened to the answers to her questions?!

"What?!" she could no longer hold back and yelled at him. It was starting again. Her emotions were going awry again.

She used to have more tolerance and could still be able to stay calm even when Ezekiel was behaving like this in the past. Him, refusing to give any answer was not something new to her at all. Ezekiel being like this was just so him, and yet, her current self somehow could not take it.

His hand was suddenly on her face. The fiery hot fingers dragged slowly and sensuously across her lower lip. She could feel her frame tremble slightly at his unexpected touch.

Now her entire body seemed to be under his spell again. Even though she was the witch here who should be the one casting spells and curses on him, somehow, he was the one taking on her role now with her being the one that was enchanted by him.

"It seems I need to remind you that I am still a vampire." His sinuous voice echoed lowly in her ears and Alicia finally realized her lower lip was bleeding. She tasted the tangy iron flavour and the sharp sting as she ran her tongue across her lip.

She glared at him. "Stop changing the topic, Ezekiel." Her voice was back to being sharp and fierce. She did not care about such a small wound. What she cared about most now were answers to her questions! She will not let Ezekiel get away without giving her an answer – at least to one of her questions if not to all. Not anymore!

"You're bleeding, Alicia." He stated the obvious and Alicia responded with a huff and wave of her hand.

"I don't care about such small wound! I only care about the answers to my questions –" she brushed his comment off.

"Well, if you don't, I do."

"I… what…?!" Alicia started speaking but got distracted by his last comment.

Again, she was rendered speechless. And the fact that that mere statement had just stolen her very breath even at this moment caused her fury to coil at the back of her throat.

"Just stop driving me crazy, you damned demonic vampire prince!" Alicia hissed at him with so much anger that she started to tremble visibly. She did not even know why her body and emotions seemed to be overreacting like this. This does not seem to be anything like herself anymore. "Or are you aiming for this all along? Chaining me to you like this, then pour a million questions into my head and slowly watch in amusement as you drive me insane?!"

Her free hand slammed down on his chest without holding back. Her palm was stinging after that hit, but Ezekiel did not even seem to feel the impact and had all but ignored it. Did he not even feel anything?! She was close to breaking down just because she could not get a single answer from him. She could not believe it, but she could no longer think of the reason why aside from the thought that Ezekiel was right. She was being reduced to someone totally opposite of what she used to be right now. It finally dawned on her that she was really getting dumber and being reduced into an emotional mess. And she hated this occurrence to her bones.

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And in the midst of all that fury and misery, he suddenly bent over and the next thing she knew, his lips was lightly grazing over hers.

Her whole world seemed to have slammed on the breaks at full force, screeching to an abrupt stop. Then his tongue, fiery and wet… licked on her lower lip, igniting a blazing fire that threatened to burn her entire being to crisp.

But the next instant, he stilled, as though suddenly frozen. It was as if he went catatonic for a while.

Then he moved, slowly, backing off from their intimate embrace. Their eyes met and Alicia finally released the breath she did not realise she was holding in. It came out in a whoosh, rendering her breathless for a couple of seconds.

He tore his gaze off her and stepped past her. "Don't forget you're stuck with a vampire, Alicia." He reminded her. "And now I'm permitting you to utter a spell to heal yourself. That's it. So remember to behave."

Alicia felt as though a bucket of ice was poured over her head at the realization that that was not truly a kiss they had shared. He had been tempted by the blood on her torn lip and that's why...

She could not explain what she was feeling right now. It was as though she could not even move or open her mouth. She could only stare blankly at him, mute and immobile until Ezekiel turned and faced her again.

Whatever he saw on her face seemed to have shocked him. Though once again, he hid that expression almost instantly. She would have missed it of not for the fact that her eyes were glued on his face and was observing every nuance that was expressed.

"I couldn't let him see your face because of your appearance. Sebastian will definitely go ballistic if he sees a witch, especially a silver haired one." He answered in a low voice. That felt like the softest tone he had ever let her hear.

When Alicia remained silent and still did not want to speak, and just kept staring at him even after that, a sight frown appeared on his forehead.

He met her gaze and they engaged in a staring contest. For the first time, Ezekiel gave in first. His jaw worked, and his lips tightened into a flat line as he looked away.

"Fine, the reason why I didn't tell him your real name was because…"