SPELLBOUND

"Gavriel!!!" Evie screamed.

She did not know how she managed to even force out a reaction to make any sounds at that very moment. Fear had seemed to paralyze her body and mind and yet the name that came out of her lips before she even realized it, her instinctual response in calling out for help in times of danger, was still his. She remembered belatedly that it was the same response she gave too when the beast attacked her in that Little Forest back at his castle. Whenever she thought that she was in grave peril or felt as if the situation was one that she was going to die, it was Gavriel's name that her lips would call out.

Still hearing the echo of his name reverberating around her, Evie realized that she had fallen backwards and collapsed onto the ground.

She realized that nothing had touched her yet but the extreme force of what seemed to be an aura of bloodlust and deadly power had forced her to fall over on her own.

Gasping to steady her uneven breathing, Evie lifted her face, and she felt the world screeching to a halt and so did her ragged breathing. She was immobilized by the sight of him – of Gavriel just standing a foot away from her face.

Her husband towered over her, eyes blazing incandescently and his clothes… they were all blood stained. In her worry, she quickly scanned her eyes over his body, and it seemed as though almost all that blood covering his clothes did not belong to him, making her breathe out a tiny sigh of relief. However, her fear came rushing back as she remembered her own situation that was not looking that promising either. He did not carry the look of the breathtakingly gorgeous and regal prince anymore. His eyes were no longer red nor silvery. It was as if that those bright pair of moons had been swallowed up by the devil's very own blue flames of hell. At this moment, he looked and felt like the devil himself had become one with him.

As he looked down at her, those pair of devilish eyes regarded her with such an inhuman, soulless gaze that nearly shattered Evie's heart. She told herself this man was not her husband. The outer shell might look similar to him, but the part that matters – on the inside – is definitely not him! The Gavriel she knows, and loves would never look at her this way. But… he had somehow stopped when she had screamed out his name earlier. If he had not stopped in his tracks, it was highly probable that she would have been dead by now!

Evie swallowed nervously and fought to gather whatever strength and courage she had. Her lips trembled. She must call his name again in the hopes of waking him up from whatever that seemed to have possessed him.

"G-gav… riel… it's me. Your wife." she stammered as she peered deep in those flickering blue flames. Suddenly the corners of her eyes stung as she realized that she was wrong when she thought she was seeing nothing of Gavriel at all as she looked into those incandescent eyes. Because despite of all the fearsome bloodlust and suffocating darkness that seemed to be possessing him currently, she could still see a glimpse recognition and shock deep within those unfamiliar eyes.

The fear and panic that had been bubbling over inside her began to subside, faster than she could have imagined. Even though there was no hint of change or reverting to his original self that was shown in his expression or aura at all.

Evie did not know why but she somehow suddenly felt the urge to reach out her hands and touch him, to hold him, to drive away whatever it was that was possessing him. Slowly but confidently, she reached out her hand but before her fingers could reach to brush against his face, the darkness and wildness in him rose to its full height, paralyzing Evie's body once again.

His growl rumbled out from his chest and then a single word was uttered with much difficulty. "Leave!!!" his voice sounded like death, making Evie's soul to shake in fear. He was driving her away. "Now!!!" that roar even shook the walls around them.

Something suddenly grabbed her arms, and she was suspended in the air. Eyes wide, Evie could only look at Gavriel as she was taken away from him. In that very short moment, she saw Gavriel pressing his palms against the sides of his head and then the darkness swallowed him.

Just before the secret door on the floor closed before her very eyes, Evie heard the echo of his bone-chilling roar that shook her heart violently once again.

…

The moment Samuel emerged from the secret door with the princess in his arms, Zolan immediately closed the secret passage. All the five men, including the butler Elias were in the library, bodies utterly tense and faces were grimaced with apprehension. Elias looked worried to death.

When they saw Evie being carried out in Samuel's arms, alive and well, they looked as though they could not believe their eyes. They remained frozen, staring at her for a few seconds until Samuel slowly and carefully put Evie down on a nearby chair.

Elias and Zolan approached Evie as the butler frantically scanned Evie with his eyes from top to toe, especially paying attention to her neck area to check if she was bitten. To their surprise, there was no smell of blood from her at all. How was that possible? It was already a miracle she came out still alive and not a single hair out of place! How was it that nothing happened to her even when she went down there? How in the world… just what did she do?

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