Hellbound Heart

Blood. He had smelt the scent of Iza's blood! Though faint, there was no way he could ever mistake it. No one had that unique scent but her!

His heartbeats were thundering loudly in his ears. He knew that he should not panic. She was right there. He could clearly still see her there. Standing. Looking alright. He should stay calm so he could assess everything with precision. But f**k. It was just not possible!

Reaching her in an instant, he seized her by her arms. Not caring about anything or anyone else at the moment.

"Sebastian?" she called out. Her eyes reflected her shock and confusion.

He did not respond. He could not. Because he too, was in shock that the scent was now suddenly gone. He had thought she got wounded hence the scent. But the scent was gone! How... just how was that possible?!

"Honey?" Iza's voice echoed again in his ears as her hand held onto his hand. "What is it?" The slight worry that tinted her voice brought him out of his contemplation.

Sebastian's eyes stretched slightly after realizing what she had just called him. What did she just say?!

His mind that was already reeling from that mystifying occurrence, was now threatening to blow up at that one word from her. That was the first time she had ever called him that!

But he tried his best to shift his focus back to the more pressing issue right now that was the scent of her blood. Thus, he surveyed her again, using all his senses to detect if there was any area on her that she might have been hurt and bleeding. Still, there was not even a trace of that heady scent of her blood anymore. It was as though the source of the scent did not even come from Izabelle, or more like it had actually never been there in the first place. Which was something Sebastian could not even begin to comprehend. What was happening?

"Pardon me, ladies." Sebastian said with a serious tone. "But I'm taking my wife now."

He then looked over at Izabelle to gauge her reaction. And when there were no signs of any protests from her, he scooped her up into his arms. He had expected her to be embarrassed and ask him to put her down as she usually did. But surprisingly, this time she did not. She instead held onto him so intimately. Which was another big surprise.

Everyone just stared at their public display of affection. Some ladies even had their lips parting open in shock as the crowd opened a path for Sebastian to walk freely through with his precious princess cradled in his arms.

But Sebastian could not care less about anyone else's reactions. His gaze subtly assessed the crowd as he slowly made his way out. Because he had just heard several guests whispering, asking their companions if they had picked up a scent. Someone even called it 'spellbinding scent'.

That had told Sebastian that he was not the only one who had caught it! And that made everything even more serious now.

When his gaze met Lucas', the man immediately reported.

Lucas had reported that they did not spot any signs of Elijah or any danger. However, Lucas too, smelt the scent.

'Tell me, can you still smell it?' Sebastian asked through their eye contact.

'Not anymore, Your Highness. It disappeared completely before we could even begin to trace where it came from.'

'F**k that.' Sebastian could not help the irritation that was blooming within him now. Whatever this game was, it was really getting on his nerves. 'Find something... anything about that scent.' He could only order. 'Also, find out if any witches are involved in this. No, I believe a witch must be involved.'

Lucas creased his brows at his last line, but the man still nodded, acknowledging the order given.

Sebastian knew why Lucas reacted that way. Witches no longer stick their noses to the vampire's business unless asked. The vampires and witches were no longer in a feud. However, that didn't mean that it was impossible for the witches to get involved now. There could still be a rogue witch. What happened just now... such a thing was... it was something that might only be possible with the help of magic. Witches' magic to be exact. No matter how intelligent Elijah was, there was no way he could perform such an improbable thing with just his vampiric ability. Witches might really be involved!

Fighting the urge to grit his teeth, Sebastian forced himself to appear calm. He needed to keep his anger and frustration under control as Iza was still in his arms. Then he glanced towards the queen and princesses. 'Keep the party going without us.' He told them and they nodded with understanding.

Once the couple was gone, the emcee spoke and distracted everyone, giving the excuse that the couple had some sort of private celebration going on with just the two of them. The guests nodded and clapped in understanding, some even laughed merrily with mischievous twinkles in their eyes. But of course, there were others who immediately gossiped secretly about the scene they had just witnessed.

'Did you see that? Good god... was that really our Prince Sebastian?' The ladies were in total shock.

'I bet they're just showing off. It's really weird to see the prince acting so unlike himself.'

'Right. He didn't need to scoop her up like that! She can walk! I bet that's scripted.'

'But for what? Why would Prince Sebastian bother doing any of those actions? You know His Highness was never the type to give a shit about things he didn't like doing. We all know he was a man who don't even bother to fake a smile.'

Silence reigned for a while until someone butted in. 'Unless, our prince has been put under the spell of a witch.'

The ladies' eyes widened after hearing that statement. 'Are you saying that the princess is a witch?!'