Hellbound Heart

Elle's fingers tightening and clenching on her gun, Elle took a deep breath. She stared at the gun in her hand and recalled all the things that Caelian had drilled into her head over the past three days. One of the most important things Caelian had emphasized for her to keep in mind was to never underestimate the vampire's speed because some of them could even move faster than bullets. Mere human vision was not powerful enough to follow their swift movements.

Alexander was one of the Reign royals. A true vampire blue blood. If she could manage to shoot him - no, even to graze him a little - then it would mean that she would be good enough to the extent that she could definitely shoot Elijah as well, right?

"Don't worry, Elle." Abi said. "Even if you manage to shoot Alex, he'll be alright. So don't you worry, and don't be afraid. Just focus on shooting him. You can imagine him as your enemy if that helps to get you to focus." Abi even went to the extent of giving her some pointers and tips on how to properly aim at her husband. Elle was torn between wanting to burst out laughing or sweat dropping.

"Oh, how you love me, my dear wife." Alexander smirked teasingly at his wife. "Your love language did change a little over the years. But I'm loving the little changes anyways." And he then playfully sent her a sexy and playful wink.

"Behave Alex. Don't distract her." Abi replied, feigning a stern look.

"Yeah, don't distract my student with your cheesy lines, boss." Caelian butted in with a cheeky grin, knowing that this was a rare opportunity to dig into his boss while the missus was also in on it.

"If this is enough to distract her then… she's not going to ever land a shot –" Alexander replied before his sentence got cut off.

BANG!

After a moment of silence, everyone nodded in approval.

"Terrific!" Abi clapped and Caelian crossed his arms over his chest in a proud stance, still nodding sedately.

Elle's heartbeats were racing hard within her though outwardly, she held herself still and waited for Alexander to respond. Caelian had told her that one of the most effective ways for her to land a shot on a vampire was to catch her target off guard. He had constantly reminded her that having a gun would still be useless, no matter how high-tech it was, because of the massive difference in speed. But if she could use her top speed while the enemy was being distracted, she would definitely have the chance. And so she applied it all. While Alexander was distracted with Abi, she had caught onto that opportunity and raised her hand as fast as she could and immediately fired a shot. Not forgetting about Caelian's words, that vampires can even snatch the gun from her hands before she could even fire it if she did not shot fast enough.

She did her very best. Believing in Abi's words that Alexander will be alright even if her shot hits him was enough to make her throw her fear and worries to the back of her mind. It was actually amazing how she had reacted because no matter what, this person was Alexander. She should not even be daring enough to point a gun at him. But she did it and even dared to shoot at him.

"Good, but not good enough." Alexander commented. "You didn't even touch my clothes."

What?! She still did not manage to hit him? Elle pressed her lips tight after hearing his words. It seems as though Alexander was not the type to mince his words when he becomes serious?

"Try it again, Princess Elle. You're not fast enough." Alexander immediately called out her weakness.

After Abi and Caelian gave her an encouraging nod, Elle raised her arms and aimed before shooting at Alexander again and again.

She did her best until she was out of bullets. But still, Alexander was untouched and unscratched. None of her bullets even grazed the corners of his clothes.

Speechless, Elle panted as she was out of breath and more than a little frustrated. It seems, it was really hard to harm a vampire even if she was armed with a gun!

"It's okay, Elle. You really are doing great actually. Alex is just on a whole other level." Abi said, trying to console her. But Elle still pursed her lips in disappointment at her own disheartening performance. "Geez. Don't be too hard on yourself. Come, let's have some rest for now. We can try again after this."

As Abi and Elle took their seats, Alexander approached them. "Well… I think Caelian is going a bit easy on you, Elle." Alexander arched a brow as he pursed his lips a little.

"Oh, come on, boss. You're not expecting me to treat the Princess like she's a commando, are you?" Caelian retorted.

"If she's willing to train harder, then why not? I believe that she's the one who wanted this. Isn't that right, Elle?" Alexander replied to Caelian then smoothly turning to look at Elle for her agreement.

Elle sheepishly nodded. She was the one who had wanted this and that was why she repeatedly asked Caelian to not go easy on her. She did not ask to go through this training only for him to treat her like a princess and give her preferential treatment. She wanted this to train very seriously and she wouldn't mind no matter how hard it was because to her, there was nothing harder than being helpless.

"I didn't go easy on her, Alex. I think that she needs just a little more time before she's able to jump to the highest level."

"But she might not have enough time, Caelian." Alexander's words had everyone falling silent. Elle noticed how even Abi looked a little surprised at what Alexander had said. "We don't know if today might be her last chance to learn and train."