SPELLBOUND

Evie could feel a sudden puff of air brush past the tender skin of her neck. Then there were a few short snuffles as a nose nuzzled against her neck as her scent was being deeply drawn in. Terror was a logical reaction Evie should feel first and foremost at this point. A normal human would scream and trash about with mind-numbing fear. No one would blame her if she had gone down this route. She had imagined doing these exact things every time she thought of the possibility when a vampire would one day try to suck her blood. She remembered it was the biggest fear every human girl had back in the human empire. And she was not an exception – until now.

However, the funny thing that is happening is, now that she is about to experience it in reality, Evie did neither of the actions she had imagined she would do. She did not trash about in the hopes to escape him nor did she scream in terror at the top of her lungs asking for help.

She would not deny that her heart had stopped for a moment due to the shock she had received. And yes, there was a little fear too. But the first thing that come tumbling out of her lips was still his name.

"Gavriel!" she called out right in his ear. She took this great opportunity since he was already sticking his face right into her neck, effectively planting his ears nearby where she just needed to turn a little to be able to directly speak into his ears. Of course, the thought of her making the first move to step closer to him when he is in this condition did give her some pause. Thus, this is one opening that she would not waste! She made sure to call his name clearly even though with a gentle tone, making sure he would hear her this time and he went rigid after hearing her voice.

Evie felt like her heart restarted again when he stopped at the very last moment. "W-wait…" her voice shook at the feel of his icy cold breath on her skin. His body was as cold as ice again like that one time.

She raised both her hands and tenderly cupped his face, at the same time pulling her face away to look at him. As soon as her gaze met his, Evie gasped at the fiery blue flames that were surging intensely within his eyes. Up close, they were enthralling and mind-numbingly mesmerizing but still giving off a terrifying feel all at the same time. The insatiable hunger reigned in them.

Evie could not help but feel her heartbeat pick up speed just within that few seconds of staring into his entrancing eyes. She did wonder if this reaction was due to only fear or was it that fatal attraction that she had towards her ever so strikingly handsome husband of hers, or perhaps a mix of both.

Keeping her eyes on his and quietly observing, his eyes told Evie that her life had just been saved by her calling his name. If she had not called out his name right at that moment… she shuddered at the thought on what was probably the end result right now. No! She shook her head. Gavriel will never do that. She has to continue to have that faith in him.

Giving her head a small shake again to focus on him, Evie swallowed hard and regained her composure. She could see him also fighting over for control over himself and she knew he somehow recognized her, though barely.

"Gavriel…" his name rolled from her tongue so delicately and lovingly as her fingers softly caressed his face. Despite the blood smears streaking all over his face and having the look of the most terrifying predator right now, he was still the most beautiful creature she had ever seen in her entire life. It was unbelievable how this man could look both terrifying yet beautiful at the same time. "You can see me, right? It's me, Evie." She added as she searched his eyes, hoping against all odds that he would recognize her as his wife.

She must try to ensure as best as possible that he would at least show some recognition that it was her before letting him bite her.

As Evie continue to carefully observe his physical conditions and how he behaved, she could not actually tell if he was in pain. She immediately remembered what Zolan had said earlier, where he could bear the pain and now, she realized rather belatedly that the pain must have been overshadowed by his extreme thirst – for blood.

He let out a long, agonized groan and her heart clenched in sympathy. His jaw muscles were working – clenching and gritting down hard on his bared fangs.

His hands flew to her wrists and he gripped them. He had indeed been weakened. He was still strong but probably his strength right now was the same as the strength of a human man and not one of a vampire. That was why in her perception, he was still strong but in the eyes of the vampires, he was considerably weak.

Yanking her hands away, Gavriel pushed her off him and he scrambled, weakly rising to his feet, and walking away from her like a drunken man. Evie was initially astonished at his actions and was frozen to the spot for a few seconds, hands still up in the air where Gavriel had pushed them off.

However, as she considered his reactions, it only made Evie more certain that he had already recognized her. He knew who she was and that was why he took the action of moving away from her. She knew it was only because he did not want to accidentally hurt her in the case of him losing his mind.

Her heart swelled with joy but also ached at the same time after perceiving this matter. But there was no way she was going to let him go away, not now when she knew. She must make him bite her and draw her blood in order to regain his strength. That way, she could finally take him out of this dark, desolate place. She can not bear having him stay in this place any longer.

Quickly, Evie got up, jumped on him, and hugged him tightly from behind, causing him to freeze up and turn into a living statue.