SPELLBOUND

Evie swallowed that lump which had lodged at the back of her throat, looking up and staring at him, eyes wide. Her thoughts and feelings were racing like a whirlwind. She was barely stopping herself from confronting him and yelling at him all the questions that was driving her insane right now. The fear that if it turned out to be the one mistake that would trigger him, that could cause an even bigger problem instead of solving the issue was the only thing stopping her from doing it.

She needed to be careful of what to say or reveal to this man whom she still could not quite figure out to avoid more possible trouble, especially after she saw how dangerous he was. He kills without even batting an eye, much less give others a warning. Though Evie was not fearful for herself at all, it was a whole different matter for her men since he was already looking at them with so much fury. She was afraid that the slightest displeasure would tick him off and deal harshly with her men's lives. So, it was imperative that she must think and plan first while figuring out the best way to deal with him.

But how? How could she even think properly and plan when he kept on lingering on her and talking like this to her? How was her mind to work straight when he stares at her like that and says words that kept throwing her mind disarray? He would not even let her speak privately with her men as he had turned them all mute.

As Evie desperately tried to think of something that she could do, she saw him avert his intense gaze from her. She followed the line of his sight, curious on what would draw his overbearing attention away from her. It must be something of great importance. If she could get a handle on it, perhaps she could use it as a distraction later on? That is, if she could even listen in.

A vampire soldier came over and approached him respectfully before they moved away from Evie, seemingly to have some private communication between them. Evie watched his gaze became deadly as he looked at the soldier who was now cowering with fear. Did something happen? Evie could only wonder even as she tried to listen in to the conversation. However, try as she might, she could not pick up a single sound from the exchange. She could only guess what was going on from the actions and body language – which did not tell her much at all, other than the soldier was deathly afraid of the man who was scowling at him. That man then turned around and walked back to where she was standing.

He then stopped before Evie and offered his hand to her, his palms outstretched and waiting.

"Come with me, I'll bring you to a better place where you can rest. While, in the meantime I will need some time to deal with some matters that had cropped up." He intoned.

"Did… something happen outside?" she asked, knowing that she was probing but hoping that he would not get upset. He just stared at her in silence for a moment, as though considering to answer her question or not.

"Yes." He answered, surprising Evie. "But worry not. I'll deal with it very quickly."

"Then go ahead. I'll stay here with my comrades." Evie replied lightly, hoping that the matter was important enough for him to rush off and forget about her for a while.

He narrowed his eyes again. Severely displeased.

"You said you're going to make me fall for you…" Evie did her very best not to stammer. "If you are truly serious about that, don't scare and force me. You know that you can never make someone you are controlling like a damn puppet fall for you, right?" Evie challenged him with his own words.

He seemed to freeze for a moment at what she said. Then his eyes calmed and became expressionless.

"I'm not going to ask you to free us, I just want you to let me stay and speak with my men." Evie continued, trying her best. She already knew that he could somewhat teleport. If he grabbed her like what he did at the wall and brought her away to somewhere or anywhere else he wanted, she would not even be able to struggle.

He stared hard at her as if weighing out and considering her demands. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her, then at the men in the cell, before returning his gaze back on her again. Evie noticed that he stopped frowning and realised he had made a decision.

"Fine," he finally gave in to her demands. "However, in exchange, you will come with me after I am back. I will be taking you out of here once I return." He negotiated and it was Evie's turn to weigh out his demand.

In the end, Evie could only nod.

"I will give you an hour." He told her, and after seemingly struggling to take his eyes off hers, he flicked his fingers before he walked away. Evie's men and Zanya found their voice again and it was then that Evie realised that he had removed the restriction of speech from her company.

"Also," his voice echoed around the area without turning his face to look back. "Don't try to escape. Don't try to call a dragon here as well. Or your men will die." Evie was shocked even as she felt a chill run up her spine. How did he know about her abilities to call on the dragons?

He disappeared before the echo of his voice would even fade off.

Then she heard the sounds of a series of bars closing ahead of the dark and narrow path. After the noise subsided, she could no longer feel his presence or anyone else's. Finally able to relax a little, Evie looked around to take note of the cells and the rest of the area. It definitely was built to be a dungeon. It even felt like they were deep under the earth.